ROYAL NAVY SOUTH ATLANTIC COMMAND - ROYAL NAVY P
3)PICT (ARMED TRAWLER)
Image by A. I.
Completed 1939
Displacement: 455 tons
Length: 138 ft
Beam: 23 ft
Draught: 13 ft
Propulsion: 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine, 1 screw
Armament: 2 × 12 pounder guns AA
Complement: 30
During World War II, the Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) armed trawler HMS Pict (Pennant FY 132) played a crucial coastal defense and anti-submarine patrol role under the Royal Navy's South Atlantic Command, primarily operating out of Lagos, Nigeria.
Originally a commercial deep-sea fishing vessel built in 1936 by Smiths Dock Co., the 462-ton trawler was requisitioned by the British Admiralty in August 1939 and heavily armed to reinforce the defense lines of West Africa.
Core Tactical and Operational Roles at Lagos
Anti-Submarine Coastal Patrols: Strategically stationed at Lagos alongside sister trawlers like the HMS Bengali, HMS Pict was responsible for patrolling the Bight of Benin and the Gulf of Guinea. Its primary focus was detecting and deterring German U-boats (Gruppe Eisbär and later deployments) that actively targeted Allied shipping lanes along the West African coast.
Securing the Lagos Port and Lagoon Entrance: Lagos was a critical auxiliary maritime hub for shipping rubber, palm oil, and cocoa essential to the Allied war effort. HMS Pict guarded the outer approaches of the port, enforcing harbor entry security and ensuring that Axis submarines could not lay mines or orchestrate sneak attacks against anchored cargo fleets.
Local Convoy Escort Duties: HMS Pict provided localized escort screens for small coastal merchant groupings routing between the core command hub at Freetown (Sierra Leone), the aircraft assembly port at Takoradi (Ghana), and Lagos. It routinely moved between these strategic bases to ensure continuous anti-submarine protection.
Fleet Support and Docking Operations: Given the heavy mechanical wear caused by the tropical West African climate, HMS Pict relied on the specialized repair infrastructure at Lagos, occasionally utilizing local docking facilities to undergo hull maintenance, cleaning, and machinery refits to preserve its operational pacing.
Vessel Specifications
Displacement: 462 tons
Armament: 1 x 4-inch main deck gun (for surface defense and forcing surfaced U-boats down), supplemented by anti-aircraft machine guns and depth charge throwers.
Crew Complement: Approximately 30 to 35 naval personnel. [1, 2]
By maintaining a persistent patrol presence off Nigeria, unglamorous but heavily reliable vessels like HMS Pict successfully denied German submarines easy access to crucial West African shipping choke points.
HMS Pict rescued the master, 61 crewmembers and five gunners from British merchant Garmula sunk 23/07/42 by U- 752 in pos. 05º 32"N 14º 45"W. Garmula was loaded with 6,000 tons of grains.
HMS Pict rescued 18 survivors from Norwegean Rinda (four of them badly burnt) after being located by aircraft and taken to Freetown, where the wounded men were taken to a hospital ship. SS Rinda was sunk 30 May 41 by U-38 in pos. 06º 52’N 15º 14’W. Rinda had a cargo of 6,719 tons including cotton balls.
