The Margaret Paton,Fishing Vessel 1948-1949

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david macdiarmid
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 8:10 pm
Location: Fife,Scotland

The Margaret Paton,Fishing Vessel 1948-1949

Post by david macdiarmid » Wed Mar 25, 2009 11:56 pm

Hi All,can anyone guide me in the right direction of finding out about the mystery surrounding the sinking of the Margaret Paton 1948-1949.My uncle should have sailed with the MP but changed boats at the last minute,his best friend died when it went down,thanks,david
Banks,Bennet-Clark,Bird,Cholat,Clark,Clay,Dupre,Dupuis,Fraser,Grant,Gunn,Hooper
Kelly,Leburn,Livingston,MacDonald,Paris,Reymond,Russell,Sommerville,Sutherland & Watson.All Scottish searches,apart from the four obvious French names.Merci Beaucoup !!!

Ann In the UK
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:44 pm

Post by Ann In the UK » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:30 am

There are tons of links on this site that will be useful. Do a search on 'seafaring' and you'll see pages and pages of them all in one tidy thread. It might be useful to know a bit more about her - what sort of ship she was - merchant vessel, passenger, military...? And where she sailed from, or was registered - if possible, her Official Number.

As this was quite recent, I'd imagine you should have too many problems locating info about her. However, having said that, I've been unable to find her in the quick scan I've done of the websites I know - are you sure of her name?

The New York Times usually throws something up, but I can't see anything
http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srchst=p

http://library.mysticseaport.org/initia ... earch2.cfm
http://daryl.chin.gc.ca:8015/Webtop/Sea ... SearchForm
http://www.lr.org/Industries/Marine/Ser ... ervice.htm
And you should try the National Archive
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cata ... afletID=52

Regards,
Ann

Currie
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Location: Australia

Post by Currie » Thu Mar 26, 2009 3:34 am

Hello David,

I don’t have a current Scotsman subscription, and cannot access the whole article, however if you search there with Margaret Paton as an exact phrase in the 1945-50 period you’ll find in the results at least five article headings from 3rd January, 1950, about a missing Granton trawler, R.A.F. aircraft searching the North Sea, and reports of items washed ashore etc.
http://archive.scotsman.com/search.cfm? ... asc&page=6

The Scotsman article of 5th January is quoted here
http://www.wanlessweb.org/Scotland/Scot ... paper.html

Granton - The fishing trawler Margaret Paton is six days overdue and was last heard from 8 days ago, when they were fishing in the Coral Bank area of the North Sea. An RAF bomber searched a very large of ocean at first light yesterday and will be resumed today. The Leith Trawlermen's Association decided to delay normal sailing until Monday of next week if there is no news today (about a dozen trawlers in the Granton fleet go out from Leith). The 13-man crew of the Margaret Paton includes Henry Wanless (age 34), 6 Wilkie Place, Leith, second fisherman.

There are brief London Times articles on 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 7th January, 1950 that may be accessible down this path. Let me know if you need them but can’t access them. search for “Margaret Paton” including the quotes. http://talkingscot.com/forum/viewtopic. ... yinfomarks

Info about it, crew list, and photo of a sister ship here
http://www.grantontrawlers.com/Trawlers ... W%2024.htm

Discussion about it here
http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?p=301466

Some recollections about it here
http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_edin/1_ed ... d_1960.htm

Hope that’s the right one,
Alan

Ann In the UK
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:44 pm

Post by Ann In the UK » Thu Mar 26, 2009 9:45 am

Hi David,

Sorry I missed the word 'fishing' earlier. Duh!

Anyway, I'm assuming you're at the beginning of your search. Have you Googled it? For example, I've just done a Google search of 'Margaret Paton', fishing vessel' and came up with this:
Paton's Trawlers

"I sailed on several of Paton's boats, including the 'Mary Paton', the 'Walter Paton' and the 'Meta Paton'. I can't remember the others.

The 'Margaret Paton' was lost late 1949 and good friend of my Dad's went down with her. I think his name was Goodall. I recall the gossip at the time, because I was at sea myself then.

It was rumoured that because she had been built for the Admiralty, she was 'top heavy' and had probably rolled over in heavy seas."

Stuart McCann, Swift' Creek, Victoria, Australia: January 10, 2008

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_edin/1_ed ... _1960.html

Maybe it'd be worth contacting the site and asking to them to put you in touch with this guy. He may have more info.

And if you join this site http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/showthread.php?p=301769 there's a discussion about it, and someone even appears to have uploaded her last log book. He sounds like he maybe someone to talk to too.

I'm sure there's probably more online if you play around with the key words to search which will give you a pile of information you may not already have.
Regards, Ann

david macdiarmid
Posts: 88
Joined: Sat May 31, 2008 8:10 pm
Location: Fife,Scotland

Margaret Paton

Post by david macdiarmid » Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:16 pm

Hi Alan and Ann,ive had great fun trawling,no pun intended,through these sites,thank you to both of you.I need to work out where to put all the info safely to make it easy to access,David
Banks,Bennet-Clark,Bird,Cholat,Clark,Clay,Dupre,Dupuis,Fraser,Grant,Gunn,Hooper
Kelly,Leburn,Livingston,MacDonald,Paris,Reymond,Russell,Sommerville,Sutherland & Watson.All Scottish searches,apart from the four obvious French names.Merci Beaucoup !!!

molz
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:12 am

Re: The Margaret Paton,Fishing Vessel 1948-1949

Post by molz » Mon Jan 18, 2010 9:14 pm

Hi Im from Christchurch New Zealand my sister who was 60 in December 2009, father George Swift was on the Margaret Paton, she was only a few days old when the ship went missing, it was a sea trawler, they didnt want to go because of supersticion, with a 13 man crew and I believe they left on the 13th of December never to be seen again, she still has the news paper article in which she is on the front page being held by our mother. My mother remarried my father and immigrated to New Zealand when my sister Gladys was six years old, she lives in Dunedin, New Zealand and asked me to see if the trawler was ever found.

Molly Chapman
New Zealand

Currie
Posts: 3924
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2007 3:20 am
Location: Australia

Re: The Margaret Paton,Fishing Vessel 1948-1949

Post by Currie » Tue Jan 19, 2010 5:44 am

Hello Molly, and welcome to TalkingScot,

I’ve typed out the articles in the London Times. All that appears to have been found was a lifebuoy marked Margaret Paton and a herring case marked Walter Paton Ltd.

The Times, Monday, Jan 02, 1950
SEARCH FOR MISSING TRAWLER
An R.A.F. Lincoln aircraft left Hemswell, Lincolnshire, early yesterday in search of the missing 276-ton steam trawler, Margaret Paton, which is believed to be in the Skaggerak.
The trawler left Granton, Firth of Forth, for the North Sea fishing grounds over two weeks ago, and was due back on Thursday. Her last signal was sent on December 22.

The Times, Wednesday, Jan 04, 1950
TRAWLER STILL MISSING
From our correspondent.
EDINBURGH, Jan. 3
Three sets of brothers are on board the Granton trawler Margaret Paton, now six days overdue from North Sea fishing grounds with 13 men on board, all of whom belong to the Edinburgh district.
The air search of the North Sea, which began on Sunday, was continued to-day, when a Lincoln bomber searched close to the Norwegian coast. About 8000 square miles of the North Sea have now been covered, and Norwegian radio stations are giving every assistance.

The Times, Thursday, Jan 05, 1950
CLUE TO MISSING TRAWLER
From our correspondent.
WICK, CAITHNESS, Jan. 4
A message from the Norwegian coastguard radio station at Farsund was received here to-day reporting that a lifebuoy marked Margaret Paton had been found on December 29 outside Egersund.
The trawler Margaret Paton left Granton, Scotland, on December 18 with a crew of 13 for the North Sea fishing grounds and was due back last Thursday. The last heard of her was on December 22 when Skipper P. Stevenson, of Portobello, radioed Christmas greetings.
The R.A.F. is to start an intensive search in the sea area outside Egersund, Norway, this morning.

The Times, Saturday, Jan 07, 1950
MISSING BRITISH TRAWLER
From our own correspondent.
OSLO, Jan. 6
A herring case marked Walter Paton Limited, Glasgow, has drifted ashore at Varhaug, near Stavanger. The case is believed to belong to the British trawler Margaret Paton, which is missing with 28 men who were on their way from Iceland to Germany. The trawler was loaded with herring. Later to-day it was reported that wreckage made of teak has been found at Ogne.

The last article is a bit odd and is probably a mix of two separate occurrences that got jumbled in the translation. See also the link previously posted http://www.grantontrawlers.com/Trawlers ... W%2024.htm

All the best,
Alan

molz
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2010 7:12 am

Re: The Margaret Paton,Fishing Vessel 1948-1949

Post by molz » Wed May 05, 2010 10:43 pm

thanks allan thats more than the information she has every had.

cheers from down under

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