[Peter Clare]

DEEP SEA RESCUE TUGS (D.S.R.T)

Thousands of seamen of all nationalities owe their lives to the brave men who manned the Deep Sea Rescue Tugs. Introduced in September, 1939, they were manned by volunteers from the Merchant Navy and from the Fishing Fleets. All came under the authority of the Royal Navy. A base facility was set up at Campbeltown on the Mull of Kintyre in Scotland and named HMS Minona. As the war progressed, the tugs were based at Loch Ewe, Oban and Londonderry in Northern Ireland and even at a base in Iceland. Later on in the war, the Deep Sea Rescue Tugs were based at ports around the Mediterranean. As more tugs became available, they even accompanied the slower convoys across the Atlantic and were responsible for saving hundreds of ships that were towed to safety after being torpedoed or bombed. On and after D-Day about 160 of these tugs were deployed in the transportation of the Mulberry Harbour across the English Channel to the Normandy beaches. The 59 merchant ships, used to form the breakwater, were also towed across to be sunk. The huge drums containing the Pluto pipeline, which supplied 1.25 million gallons of fuel every day to the Allied armies, were also towed across the Channel by these tugs. In all, 41 Deep Sea Rescue Tugs were lost during WWII. The American equivalent is the N.A.F.T.S. (National Association of Fleet Tug Sailors).