THE fascinating story of how Blackburn Rovers went to war has been researched by David Whalley, a community history volunteer at Blackburn Library.

Before football fans raise a quizzical eyebrow, the Blackburn Rovers in question was not the town’s team but a trawler which bore the team’s name.

Blackburn Rovers was one of five new ships built in 1934 for Consolidated Fisheries of Grimsby at a cost of £20,00 each, each of the trawlers carrying the name of a football club - Arsenal and Aston Villa were two other trawlers and one was even named Real Madrid.

Before the Second World War, Blackburn Rovers operated in the treacherous fishing grounds around Iceland.

In anticipation of war, the Admiralty requisitioned a number of trawlers including Blackburn Rovers which were taken to the Cammel Laird shipyard in Birkenhead and equipped with submarine detection equipment, depth charge racks and a cannon mounted on her foredeck.

Now a fully-fledged anti-submarine trawler, Blackburn Rovers role was to detect German U-Boats who were targetting convoys in the North sea and in the Channel.

Blackburn Rovers didn’t make the most auspicious start to her career when following a gale while patrolling around the Goodwin Sands near Dover a cable became wrapped around the propeller causing the boat to drift into a minefield.

All 16 crew were rescued and all the vital; equipment was taken off the vessel as it was deemed too dangerous to try and save the trawler and the decision was taken to scuttle it. The lifeboat crew who rescued those on board were awarded medals for their bravery

Somehow, Blackburn Rovers did not sink and managed to avoid the mines and was found 30 miles away drifting off the Kent Coast.

By February 1940, a newly-refitted Blackburn Rovers was back in action as part of the 21st Anti-Submarine Group boasting increased firepower and anti-aircraft protection.

It was during the evacuation of men from the British Expedition Force in May 1940 that Blackburn Rovers was to meet her end.

With a crew of 17 on board, she was the lead boat of three trawlers, the others being Westella and Soan, and heading away from Dunkirk.

Although the mass evacuation from Dunkirk was underway, there is no evidence that Blackburn Rovers collected any soldiers from the beaches of France. It’s more likely her task was to protect the larger Navy ships, as the German Navy and Luftwaffe made a determined attempt to halt the evacuation.

When the three trawlers detected a possible German U-boat, they turned to investigate unknowingly heading into a British minefield.

Blackburn Rovers struck a mine (Admiralty records say possibly she was torpedoed) and broke in half. The explosion and sinking also triggered the depth charges on board.

Westella went to the rescue, but also struck a mine and had her bow blown off. Amid the mayhem and carnage Soan managed to rescue the survivors from her stricken sister ships.

Due to the exploding depth charges, many of the Blackburn Rovers crew suffered from internal haemorrhage. Six of the crew died on that day. Two more died a few days later. The skipper of HMT Blackburn Rovers, W. Martin RNR, was injured but survived

​The wreck of the FY116 (the pennant carried by Blackburn Rovers) now lies in the Dover Strait at a depth of 24 metres (about 13 fathoms in old nautical language) on a seabed of soft sand, about 18 miles north of Dunkirk. Close by lies the Westella.

An interesting footnote - the name Blackburn Rovers was revived as a fishing vessel in 1962 when the Goole Shipbuilding and Repair Company built a new boat, which was registered GY706. She made her maiden voyage from Grimsby in January 1963.

On several occasions GY706 set new records for catches by a vessel of her type.

In 1978, the boat was sold to the Huxley Fishing Company, Lowestoft, and re-numbered LT306, and was converted to become an oil rig supply vessel.

Nine years later, Blackburn Rovers, having been sold to the Y & P Fishing Company of Limassol, Cyprus, left British waters for the final time. After arriving in Piraeus in November 1987, she eventually resumed her fishing duties in the warmer waters of the Mediterranean, now glorying in her new name ‘Giant Fish’.

For David Whalley’s detailed account of the history of the trawler Blackburn Rovers visit www.cottontown.org