The Isles-class trawlers were a class of

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers ...

used by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; , ''MRC'') is the Navy, naval force of Canada. The navy is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of February 2024, the RCN operates 12 s, 12 s, 4 s, 4 s, 8 s, and several auxiliary ...

and

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The type comprised 197 vessels built between 1939 and 1945 in the nearly identical Isles, , and classes. Generally similar to the s of 1916–1918, though somewhat larger, they were mainly used on

minesweeping Minesweeping is the practice of removing explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that purpos ...

and harbour defence duties. Most were armed with one

12-pounder gun 12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds. Guns of this type include: * 12-pounder long gun, the naval muzzle-loader of the Age of Sail * Canon de 12 de Vallière, French cannon of 1732 * C ...

(76 mm) and three or four

20 mm Oerlikon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models employ ...

AA guns with 30

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s. In the Dance class a 4-inch AA gun (102 mm) was fitted in place of the 12 pdr, and there were six 20 mm Oerlikons in ''Annet'', ''Bressay'', ''Damsay'', ''Fiaray'', ''Foulness'' and ''Lindisfarne''. Four of the trawlers were given "bird" names when converted to controlled minelayers in 1943–44: ''Blackbird'' (M15), ''Dabchick'' (M22), ''Stonechat'' (M25) and ''Whitethroat'' (M03). A total of 23 of these trawlers were lost during the war. Six trawlers were loaned to Canada in 1942-45 and five to Norway in 1943–45. Postwar, 17 of the trawlers were disarmed as wreck disposal vessels: ''Bardsey'' (DV13), ''Bern'' (DV4), ''Caldy'' (DV5) ''Coll'' (DV6), ''Earraid'' (DV7), ''Fetlar'' (DV8), ''Flatholm'' (DV9), ''Graemsay'' (DV10), ''Lindisfarne'' (DV11), ''Lundy'' (DV12), ''Neave'' (DV14), ''Scalpay'' (DV15), ''Skomer'' (DV16), ''Steepholm'' (DV17), ''Switha'' (DV18), ''Tiree'' (DV19), and ''Trondra'' (DV20). At least five were employed as

danlayer A danlayer was a type of vessel assigned to minesweeping flotillas during and immediately after World War II. They were usually small trawlers, fitted for the purpose of laying dans. A dan is a marker buoy which consists of a long pole moored ...

s (laying and retrieving dan buoys during minesweeping operations): ''Imersay'' (J422), ''Sandray'' (J424), ''Shillay'' (J426), ''Sursay'' (J427) and ''Tocogay'' (J451). After decommissioning, ''Switha'' and ''Coll'' were converted to oil tank cleaning vessels for dockyard service in 1949–50. By 1949 there remained in service of this type 31 trawlers and four controlled minelayers in the Royal Navy, one controlled minelayer in the Royal Canadian Navy, and four trawlers in the Royal New Zealand Navy. An additional 16 were in service in the

Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

and six in the

Portuguese Navy The Portuguese Navy (), also known as the Portuguese War Navy (''Marinha de Guerra Portuguesa'') or as the Portuguese Armada (''Armada Portuguesa''), is the navy of the Portuguese Armed Forces. Chartered in 1317 by King Dinis of Portugal, it is ...

.Francis E. McMurtrie and Raymond V.B. Blackman (eds.), ''Jane's Fighting Ships 1949-50'', pp. 62, 63, 92, 94, 217, 258. New York: The McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1949. Most of the surviving Royal Navy examples were discarded in the 1950s, but a few remained until the 1960s. Two acquired postwar by the Federal

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

remained in service as training vessels well into the 1970s, with one, ''Trave'' (ex-''Dochet''), resold to Turkey for further service in 1977.

Builders

* Ardrossan Dockyard Company,

Ardrossan Ardrossan (; ) is a town on the North Ayrshire coast in southwestern Scotland. The town has a population of 10,670 and forms part of a conurbation with Saltcoats and Stevenston known as the 'Three Towns#Scotland, Three Towns'. Ardrossan is loca ...

, UK * George Brown & Company (Marine) Ltd., Greenock, UK * Cochrane & Sons, Ltd.,

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

, UK * Collingwood Shipbuilding,

Collingwood, Ontario Collingwood is a town in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is situated on Nottawasaga Bay at the southern point of Georgian Bay. Collingwood is well known as a tourist destination, for its skiing in the winter, and limestone caves along the Nia ...

, Canada * Cook, Welton & Gemmell, Beverley, UK * John Crown & Sons Ltd.,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, UK * G.T. Davie & Sons, Lauzon, Quebec, Canada * Ferguson Bros. Ltd., Port Glasgow, UK *

Fleming & Ferguson Fleming and Ferguson was a Scottish Marine propulsion, marine engineering and shipbuilding company that traded between 1877 and 1969. History 1877–1914 William Y. Fleming and Peter Ferguson (1840–1911) founded the company in Paisley, Renfre ...

, Paisley, UK * Goole Shipbuilding & Repair Company,

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

, UK * Alexander Hall & Company, Aberdeen, UK * Hall, Russell & Company, Aberdeen, UK * A. & J. Inglis, Glasgow, UK * Kingston Shipyards,

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

* John Lewis & Sons, Aberdeen, UK * Midland Shipyards,

Midland, Ontario Midland is a town located on Georgian Bay in Simcoe County, Ontario, Canada. It is part of the Huronia/Wendat region of Central Ontario. Located at the southern end of Georgian Bay's 30,000 Islands, Midland is the economic centre of the region ...

, Canada *

Henry Robb Henry Robb, Limited, known colloquially as Robbs, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based at Leith Docks in Edinburgh. Robbs built small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly tugs and dredgers. History The company was founded on 1 April ...

Ltd., Leith, UK *

Smiths Dock Company Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilder, shipbuilding company. History The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcas ...

Ltd., South Bank-on-Tees, UK

Ships in class

Royal Navy

The following 21 trawlers may be described as comprising the Repeat Isles class:

Royal Canadian Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

References