His Majesty's Trawler “Aston Villa”
HMT Aston Villa was part of a fleet of 'little ships' named from a class of 16 famous football clubs from the 1930s, among them Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers, Derby County and Leicester City. Given the Registration Number GY428, she was built in 1937 for Consolidated Fisheries Ltd at a cost of £29,352 at Smiths Docks, Middlesbrough.
Gross Tons 546
Nett Tons 196
Length 173.6ft (52.9m)
Breadth 28.6ft (8.7m)
Depth 15ft (4.6m)
Official No. 164431
On Thursday 3rd June 1937, it was reported that work on the building of the Aston Villa had been halted because of a delay in the delivery of the boilers for the vessel. This was also due to the pressure of work on armaments for the nation. The name Aston Villa was secured on the 9th June for the vessel being built in yard number 1029 at Smiths dock, Middlesbrough. The fishing number GY428 was allocated to the Aston Villa on the 15th. After completing a successful trial trip on the 3rd September, the Aston Villa proceeded on to Grimsby. The Aston Villa was delivered from the builders yard on the morning of 4th September at 0435hrs and hit the middle pier as she entered the dock. Damage to the pier was set at £3 16s 6d. The new trawler sailed on her maiden voyage on the 7th September to Bear Island under the command of Skipper W. Mogg. In September 1939, The Admiralty requisitioned the Aston Villa where she served as an anti-submarine vessel FY261.
Arriving at Blyth for her On-Survey on the 23rd November, the Aston Villa had her hull examined which was found to be in good condition as were her boilers. The survey report, however, showed 39 items that had to be examined and/or refitted. A satisfied engineer finally stamped the Aston Villa as cleared on Saturday 23rd February 1940.
The crew of HMT Aston Villa
The photograph on the RHS is of Patrick Archibold Thomson, Chief Petty officer, from Hull. He is in the second row of the group photograph, on the right, wearing the scarf, behind the crewman with the hood. He died in 1960.
H.M.T. Aston Villa became part of the 16th A/S Striking Force. She was eventually lost in the Namsen Fjord immediately prior to the evacuation of Namsos on the 2-3 May 1940.
HMT Aston Villa was on patrol at Ornskaget on the morning of Monday 29th April. She came under fire at 0700 and at 1300 was examined alongside the wharf behind Hoo Island where it was found that most of her castings in the engine room had been fractured by near misses. Commander Congreve was busy, with the assistance of a group of Norwegians, in disguising the Aston Villa with fir trees.
H.M.T. Aston Villa disguised with firs and looking more like a Christmas tree than an anti-submarine trawler.
On 30th April a call was made by HMT Aston Villa to the Arab to close and assist her. An inspection was undertaken of a number of vessels by Commander Congreve, including the Janus, the Gaul and the St Goran. A message was sent to Admiral CS20 stating that both the Gaul and the Aston Villa were disabled.
On Wednesday 1st May, Commander Congreve and his crew from HMT Aston Villa had changed over to the Angle in order to give the latter a rest. At 0530 HMT Aston Villa made fast around 100 yards south of the Arab. Continuous bombing and machine-gunning by high and dive bombers came over in flights of 6, 9 and 12 planes. At 1200 bombs were dropping all around and a conference was called for 1600 with the Captains of the Gaul and HMT Aston Villa. At 1700 the Aston Villa was set on fire by a direct hit from a dive bomber. Luckily, only a few of her crew were on board. At 2000 HMT Aston Villa was still on fire. It was considered that her magazine might blow up and damage the Arab. Permission was requested from Commander Congreve to board her but the answer was, “Keep away, it is too dangerous.” Shortly after this communication, HMT Aston Villa blew up.
On Thursday 2nd May at 0200 the surviving crew of the Aston Villa transferred to HMS Griffin. Shortly afterwards, HMT Aston Villa sank.
The precise location of the Aston Villa is well recorded. In the mid 1950s the bell from the trawler was raised by a team of private divers from the Namsos area and there it remained in private ownership until May 2001. This bell was then presented to the town of Namsos and is now being displayed in the Namsos Cultural house.
The precise location of HMT Aston Villa
Close up photograph of precise locations of the Gaul and Aston Villa taken in May 2001.
The British War memorial in Namsos, unveiled by the British Ambassador to Norway on 17th May 2000 in memory of the casualties suffered in H.M. Ships Afridi, Bittern, Maori, Grenade, Arab, Gaul, Aston Villa, Rutlandshire, St. Goran & Carlisle. After the war the fleet was rebuilt and once more Aston Villa left Grimsby to fish the wild Arctic Ocean and the North Seas.
Article written with permission from and grateful thanks to Forbes Wilson of the Royal Naval Reserve.
