RV ''Sir Lancelot'' (LT263) was a

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

that was operated by the Directorate of Fisheries, now known as the

Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It carries out a wide range of research, advisory, consulta ...

(Cefas). It was based at the port of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the most easterly UK settlement, it is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and sou ...

and was originally ordered by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

as one of eight

Round Table-class trawler The Round Table class was a small class of trawlers built for the British Royal Navy in 1941–1942. The class were built by two Aberdeen shipbuilding firms Hall, Russell & Company and J. Lewis & Sons Ltd. All were built to a 1936 design, the ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

HMS ''Sir Lancelot'' (T228) took part in

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the D-Day landings in June 1944, attached to the 14th Minesweeping flotilla in Force U. She was primarily responsible for marking swept passages to

Utah Beach Utah, commonly known as Utah Beach, was the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), during World War II. The westernmost of the five code-named la ...

.Operation Neptune the Minesweeping Operation 5–6 June 1944, by David Verghese. http://www.mcdoa.org.uk/operation_neptune_minesweeping.htm Accessed 18 May 2018. After the war and conversion to a civilian trawler ''Sir Lancelot'' came into service as a

in December 1946. In 1962, she was sold to Mrs Karin Meta Alexa Husseini,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and renamed 'Hair-Ed-Din Barbarossa'.

Construction and wartime history

The ship was constructed by J. Lewis & Sons Ltd of Aberdeen, Scotland. The order was placed by the Admirably on 20 January 1941 and was allocated the yard number 160 by Lewis'. The keel was laid down on 17 July 1941 with the ship launched on 4 December 1941 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 26 March 1942. In June 1944 HMS ''Sir Lancelot'' (T228) was converted to a

danlayer A danlayer was a type of vessel assigned to minesweeping flotillas during and immediately after World War II. They were usually small trawlers, fitted for the purpose of laying dans. A dan is a marker buoy which consists of a long pole moored to ...

ahead of the D-Day landings. She was attached to the 14th Minesweeping flotilla in Force U and was one of the first Allied vessels to approach the French coast. In respect of each of the five beach Assault Forces (designated U, O, G, J and S), two channels would be cleared through the mine barrier for the first wave of amphibious infantry. HMS ''Sir Lancelot'' was responsible for marking swept Channel 2 ahead of force 'U' on

. On 5 February 1945, HMS ''Sir Lancelot'' (T228) picked up survivors from the American merchant ship SS ''Henry B. Plant'', that was torpedoed and sunk by , about east of

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

in position .

Service as a fisheries research vessel

RV ''Sir Lancelot'' was the primary fisheries survey vessel used by the

Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (United Kingdom) The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) was a United Kingdom government department created by the Board of Agriculture Act 1889 (52 & 53 Vict. c.30) and at that time called the Board of Agriculture, and then from 1903 the Board ...

throughout the period 1947 to 1960. She was used extensively to assess the status of fish stocks in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

and

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

as part of the UK contribution to the

International Council for the Exploration of the Sea The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES; french: Conseil International de l'Exploration de la Mer, ''CIEM'') is a regional fishery advisory body and the world's oldest intergovernmental science organization. ICES is headqu ...

(ICES) In 1950, RV ''Sir Lancelot'' was used together with 'frogmen' to take photographs and Ciné film of trawl gears in action off

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. In 1951, she was re-deployed off

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

as there was a need for good underwater visibility. The film obtained showed the meshes of the net to be wide open whilst it was being towed and so helped in the acceptance of mesh regulation by fishermen everywhere. Datasets collected aboard the RV ''Sir Lancelot'' were instrumental in the ground-breaking book ''On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations'' written by

Ray Beverton Raymond (Ray) John Heaphy Beverton CBE FRS (29 August 1922 – 23 July 1995) was an important founder of fisheries science. He is best known for the book ''On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations''Beverton, R. J. H., and Holt, S. J. 1957. ...

and

Sidney Holt Sidney J. Holt (28 February 1926 – 22 December 2019) was a British biologist who was a founder of fisheries science. He was best known for the book ''On the Dynamics of Exploited Fish Populations'' which he published with Ray Beverton in 1957.Be ...

in 1957.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir Lancelot 1941 ships Ships of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science Ships built in Aberdeen Ships built in Scotland Research vessels of the United Kingdom Round Table-class trawlers

Construction and wartime history

Service as a fisheries research vessel

See also

References