On 27th of February 1940 the Dundee based trawler the Ben Attow headed out to sea on a routine fishing trip. This trip was undertaken during the early stages of world war 2, nicknamed the “phoney war” by a general public that remained largely untouched by the declaration of war which had occurred five months earlier. The crew of the Ben Attow had little cause for concern for a war happening in central Europe and their minds were no doubt concentrated on the work aboard the vessel to ready the nets and lines for a day’s fishing. But it was not to be.
Approximately seven miles from May island near the Firth of Forth, The Ben Attow struck a sea mine recently dropped by a German aircraft and the trawler was lost with all hands. The story of the Ben Attow and her nine crew only started to emerge days later when debris started to be washed ashore bearing the ship’s name.
Collectively the crew left 26 children without fathers: The crew were:
From Broughty Ferry: David Lorimer, Luigi Schiavetta, George Anderson, Norman Ross, Alexander Gall and John Robertson
From Tayport: W.J. Briggs and Robert Mayes
From Monifieth: Arthur Lawrence
By a strange quirk of fate Luigi Schiavetta’s son was also on a trawler around that time and rescued the crew of the German aircraft that is believed to have laid the mine.
A plaque in dedication to the crew was installed on the sea wall at Broughty Ferry in 2022 and new streets named after the trawler.
References:
Canmore Historical Directory: https://canmore.org.uk/site/96711/ben-attow-north-sea