An Cosantóir

20 The use of commercial vessels and their crews on charter could only be a short-term expedient. Matters came to a head early in 1923 when the government refused to pay for damage to some of the chartered vessels, arguing that the vessels were under the command of the civilian captains and therefore the responsibility of the company that owned them. General Joe Vize put forward a scheme for the establishment of an effective sea-going patrol service which would interdict gun-running and protect sea fisheries. The establishment of the Coastal and Marine service was officially announced on 4th May 1923, but preparatory work had gone on before that. Haulbowline had been handed over to the Free State on 31st March 1923 and two days later the Tricolour was formally hoisted at the signal station in the presence of Major General Vize. With the base and dockyard came a number of small vessels and the almost new and powerful tugboat, the Dainty. Equipped with wireless and armed with a 12lb gun, the Dainty became the unofficial flagship of the new service. Vize identified armed trawlers as cost-effective patrol boats fit for service on the stormy Atlantic coasts of Ireland. On the outbreak of World War 1, the Admiralty requisitioned hundreds of trawlers. Armed with a 12lb gun and depth charges they gave excellent service as patrol vessels, minesweepers and in anti-submarine warfare. They were noted for their sea-going abilities and over a hundred of them served from Irish bases at Lough Swilly, Larne, Kingstown (Dun Laoghaire) and Cobh. In 1917, as the submarine war escalated, the Admiralty decided to build more of them to a naval specification. The first class of these new ships, called admiralty trawlers, were modelled on the commercial ship the Raglan Castle. 195 ships of the Castle class were built in 1917. More were built to the same design in Canada and were called the Canadian class. All were 135 ft (41) in length with a standard displacement of 360 tons with a crew of 15 to 17. The names of the vessels were taken from the crew lists of ships that had fought at Trafalgar. A further class, the Mersey class, was also built. These were slightly larger. After the war, many were sold off for commercial use, but some were retained by the Admiralty. In 1923 these were readily available and the obvious choice for patrol vessels for the new service. In February 1923, the government agreed to purchase six of the Mersey class for £57,000 and six of the Canadian class or Castle class for £30,000. Mersey class vessels retained their original names, the John Dunn, Robert Murray, Thomas Thresher, Christopher Dixon, John Dutton and William Honner. Similarly, the Canadian class ships retained their admiralty designations – Tr24, Tr 25, Tr 27, Tr 29, Tr 30 and Tr 31. There is no record of when these vessels arrived in Ireland, but it must have been quite soon after the sale was agreed since there is a report of the John Dunn going to the rescue of a trawler, the Harry Milling, on 25th March and successfully towing it to Fenit. After being laid up for a couple of years, the trawlers required some maintenance and repair. They had been disarmed so guns had to be purchased separately and installed. When the establishment of the Coastal and Marine Service was officially announced on 4th May, it had a sizeable complement of armed vessels: The Helga (renamed the Muirchu after a refit COASTAL AND MARINE SERVICE The Irish delegation (from left) Arthur Griffith, Eamonn Duggan, Erskine Childers, Michael Collins, George Gavan Duffy, Robert Barton and John Chartres. Photograph: Hulton Archive

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