Fishing Trawler Armaments

[trevor]

Hi All,
I am looking to find information or photo's of the type of armaments used on the Trawlers during the WW1 conflict
the documentation states
1 x 3pdr
1 x 6pdr
1 x 12 pdr
or Bomb Thrower and Anti aircraft guns

all of the above are mentioned on most of the hired/requisitioned trawlers

any help is appreciated

regards
Trevor

[David H]

According to Dittmar & College (British Warships 1914 – 1919) Auxiliary Patrol vessels were armed “ …as the supply of small weapons permitted”, so there was no standard fit. The most common weapon initially available was the 3-pdr, but they say - “The 3 pounder guns were removed from trawlers and were remounted in drifters, and the trawlers then received either 6 or 12 pounders.
D & C go on to state that the weapons were –

12 pdr gun with 8 or 12 cwt mountings of 28 or 40 calibre

6 pdr gun, with 6 cwt 42 calibre mounting, (Nordenfelt) or 8 cwt, 40 calibre (Hotchkiss)

3 pdr gun, with 4cwt, 45 calibre mounting (Nordenfelt) or 5 cwt, 40 calibre (Hotchkiss)

Wikipedia seems to have entries for the above weapons and the Imperial War Museum has several photographs in their on-line collection

[trevor]

David, Thank you for this information, looks like a trip to IWM is on the cards

I have also found out that the bomb Throwers were discarded after WW1 as they were apparently useless at hitting anything

thanks
Trevor