SS Ben Dearg

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

SS Ben Dearg was a Castle-class trawler built in 1920 for the United Kingdom Admiralty as the Thomas Alexander. It was renamed Ben Dearg in 1936 and spent much of its life as a fishing trawler in French and English waters. In 1939, during World War II, the British Admiralty requisitioned it as a minesweeper.

The iron-hulled, coal-fired vessel had a single screw and a triple-expansion steam engine. It was about 280 tons, 38.3 meters long, 7.2 meters wide, and drew 3.9 meters. The boiler produced about 180 psi of steam pressure.

Ben Dearg arrived in Albany, Western Australia, in 1949. By 1951 it and its sister ship Commiles were considered obsolete for fishing in the Great Australian Bight and were looking for grounds nearer Albany. Anglo-Australian Fisheries Limited tried to sell the vessel in February 1954. After the company’s liquidation, Krasnostein and Company of Perth bought it in June 1954 and it was later advertised for £8,000.

The trawler was scuttled on 14 April 1956 off Ben Dearg Beach near Swarbricks Beach, east of Albany in Western Australia, close to the coal hulk Margaret. Its propeller is on display at the Western Australian Museum, Albany.