Ella Hewett

iBase ID

260491

Vessel name

Ella Hewett

Fishing number

LO47

Type of vessel

ST

Official number

185862

Year constructed

1953

Constructed by

Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd

Constructed at

Beverley

Gross tons

595

Length

170.1 ft

Beam

29.2 ft

Depth

14.5 ft

Engines

C D Holmes, 925 IHP, 13 knots, oil fired steam

Construction notes

Yard No. 871

Owner/Manager

Heward Fishing Co Ltd

Date sunk

06/11/1962

Place sunk

Rathlin Island

General notes

ELLA HEWETT (LO47) was built for Heward Fishing Co Ltd, Fleetwood. She was one of the port's top-earning trawlers from the outset.
In November 1957 a strange thing happened to the Ella Hewett when she was sailing past the Mull of Kintyre on her way to Ireland. The white paintwork around the wheelhouse changed to pink and then back to white again. There was also a brilliant flash and the sky lit up. This mysterious fireball blazed the sky all along the west coast and the crew heard that clothing left on washing lines on the west coast of Scotland had turned pink. After 12 hours, the paint returned to white.
This event was reported in The Times, Saturday, Nov 30, 1957; pg. 6 in an article entitled "Mystery Flash and Bang".
In November 1962 the trawler was entering Church Bay at Rathlin Island to land a sick crewman when the vessel struck the wreck of the HMS Drake, which had been sunk by a German u-boat in 1917. The Ella Hewett started taking on water and was sinking. The Portrush lifeboat stood by and 14 crewmen were taken off the ship. This left five men to carry on the pumping operation. However, she was badly holed and the crewmen were ordered off. Shortly afterwards she slipped off the wreck of HMS Drake and sank on November 6th 1962. Following the disaster, the skipper's certificate was suspended for three years and he was ordered to pay 200 pounds towards the cost of the inquiry held at Fleetwood town hall. In October 1978 the wreck of the Ella Hewett was blown up by the Royal Navy to prevent oil pollution.

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