‘Ross Eagle’ (GY.656) on the Slipway, Grimsby Fish Docks – August 1966.

This original photograph shows the Grimsby motor trawler ‘Ross Eagle’ (GY.656) undergoing maintenance on the slipway at Grimsby Fish Docks in August 1966. Raised clear of the water on timber blocks, her streamlined hull, rudder and four-bladed propeller are fully exposed, illustrating the routine dry-docking required to clean, inspect and repaint vessels working in the demanding conditions of the North Sea.

Built by Cochrane & Sons Ltd. of Selby (Yard No. 1459), ‘Ross Eagle’ was launched on 22 September 1960 and completed in April 1961 for Ross Trawlers Ltd. Registered GY.656, she was one of the company’s ‘Bird Class’ trawlers, the smallest of the Ross Group’s three standard post-war classes, designed primarily for fishing the near and middle-water grounds. The steel motor vessel measured 109 ft 8 in (33.4 m) in length, displaced 288 gross tons, and was powered by an 857 bhp five-cylinder Ruston & Hornsby diesel engine driving a single screw.

Following a brief period with T. C. & F. Moss Ltd., ‘Ross Eagle’ returned to Ross Trawlers in March 1966, only a few months before this photograph was taken. She later passed to Goweroak Ltd. in 1969, was converted into a North Sea safety vessel in 1975, and was renamed ‘Inagua’ in 1983. After more than three decades of service in both the fishing and offshore industries, she was broken up at Bloors Wharf, Rainham, in January 1992.

Beyond recording a single vessel, this image captures a familiar scene from Grimsby’s fishing industry during its final years as one of the world’s foremost fishing ports. The slipway, dockyard equipment and neighbouring vessels provide a valuable record of the maintenance facilities that supported one of Britain’s largest fishing fleets.

Original black-and-white photograph from a 126-format Kodak Safety Film negative from the Grimsby & Cleethorpes Museum collection.