The Ross Tiger, the first of an eventual fleet of twelve 'Cat' class trawlers, arrived in Grimsby in February 1957 from yard No 1416 of shipbuilders Cochrane & Sons, Selby, Yorkshire.
Of the original twelve, one was to sadly meet a premature end when, on April 1st 1968, the Ross Puma was wrecked off Hoy in the Pentland Firth.

The full fleet of 'Cat' class trawlers, in order of building, were;

Ross Tiger, February 1957
Ross Leopard, October 1957
Ross Jaguar, December 1957
Ross Panther, April 1958
Ross Cougar, April 1958
Ross Cheetah, November 1959
Ross Lynx, February 1960
Ross Jackal, April 1960
Ross Puma, August 1960
Ross Genet, October 1960
Ross Civet, October 1960
and the curiously named, for this class, Ross Zebra, November 1960.
This vessel's name came about when a group of children at a Grimsby school were approached by Ross Group and asked to suggest names for the twelve trawlers. They had, it was stipulated, to be names from the 'Cat' family and the kids set about the task with gusto. Gradually the names were submitted, Puma, Leopard, Panther, but one little girl in the group was struggling to find a 'Cat' name. In a flash of inspiration, she suddenly scribbled her suggestion down and handed it in - Zebra. The directors at Ross Group were so touched by the little girl's innocent sincerity that they decided to keep the name so, Ross Zebra it was!

Out To Launch The Ross Tiger takes to the water in 1957

Of the twelve trawlers in the class however, the 355 gross ton, 127ft Ross Tiger was to have the most prolific career, serving as she did 27 years in the fishing industry, 7 years as an oil-rig support vessel for Cam Shipping and now embarked on yet another career as a floating tourist attraction permanently berthed alongside the nationally respected National Fishing Heritage Centre in Grimsby.

On arrival at Grimsby in 1957 however, the Ross Tiger was to be registered to one of Ross Groups subsidiaries, Derwent Trawlers Ltd, as indeed was the case with most of the Groups trawlers. Until the formation of British United Trawlers in 1969, the Tiger and other vessels would be registered under other such subsidiary companies at regular intervals.

Perhaps it should be mentioned here that the Ross Lion, often thought of as a Cat class trawler was in fact only so by her name and her design was not of the true Cat class vessels.

By April 1963,the Ross Tiger was registered with yet another subsidiary, G.F. Sleight & Son with whom she stayed until 1965 when she was again re-registered, this time with Ross Trawlers.
Although originally built as a double-sided trawler, i.e able to fish from the Port or Starboard side, her Port side gallows were removed in about April 1967, the ability to operate from both sides no longer a requisite in the industry.
With the formation of the British United Trawlers (BUT) group in 1969, the Ross Tiger - along with all of the other vessels in the group - adopted the distinctive funnel markings of a broad white band on black with the legend BUT in dark blue. The familiar, and by now famous green house flag with a white 5-pointed star, so passed into history.

Given the then current state of the industry in 1982, the once great trawler fleet having been drastically reduced in the wake of the third and ultimately most damaging 'Cod War', rumours of the laying-up of the Cat class vessels were rife on the docks and, for a time, it seemed as though these rumours did indeed have some foundation to them. However BUT were determined to continue for as long as possible and kept the fleet at sea. The fishermen and indeed Grimsby breathed a hopeful sigh of relief.

What Now, What Next, Where To? The Cam Tiger nearing the end of her days as a standby vessel.

There have been many theories as to just why BUT continued to sail their vessels in the light of the then state of the industry, but we are not concerned with the reasons here.
Suffice it to say that in 1983, the company saw fit to continue with their policy and subsequently, the Tiger underwent a re-fit and continued her fishing career as before.

However, time for BUT, and indeed the trawling industry, was fast running out and January 1984 saw all eleven remaining Cat class trawlers together on the North Wall in the Fish Docks, 2 their future uncertain.

As history now shows us though, there was still a little time remaing for the Ross Tiger as a trawler as she continued her career up until mid 1984 when she landed her last-ever catch at Grimsby.
The career of the Ross Tiger as a conventional trawler was now at an end

It is worth mentioning here, I think, that the very last Grimsby conventional side trawler to land a catch at Grimsby was not the Ross Tiger, nor, as some people believe, was it her sister, the Ross Jackal. That 'distinction' goes to another sister vessel the Ross Cougar in July 1985.


Faced with the stark reality that the fishing industry, at least for conventional trawlers, was now finally at an end, BUT decided to de-commission its fleet. The company accepted an offer fron Cam Shipping to buy the vessels for use as oil-rig supply ships and the relevant contracts were exchanged on January 25th 1985. As a consequence of this, the Ross Tiger arrived in Lowestoft on 28th/29th June of that year to undergo her conversion at Priors Slip, the conversion due to start in July.
During the conversion, which took three months, the Tiger was stripped of all of her trawling gear. The gallows, bollards, deck-board stanchions, trawl winch, main mast and fishroom hatches were all removed from her deck to make way for the new fittings required for oil-rig standby work.
In the fishroom, the stanchions there were cut down to about four feet in height to provide support for a false floor. The original middle fishroom hatch was replaced with a hooded companionway and a staircase led down to this new accident recovery area.
A false ceiling and walls completed the re-fitting of the fishroom.

Chips With Everything. The galley on the Tiger remained largely unchanged throughout her entire career.

To the now bare deck, Cam Shipping added two boat davits to the port and starboard fore-deck, situated where the gallows had been. These two davits were for the launching and recovery of the two high powered rescue launches situated on their cradles each side of the foredeck.
In order to facilitate the crews access to the vessel whilst at sea, two apertures were cut in the gunwhales of the ship on the port and starboard sides. Sealed off by two doors, these 'Rescue Zones' were situated adjacent to the bridge with the other rescue zone situated a little further aft.
The boat-deck was slightly extended a few feet on both sides to allow the addition of two ladders and the original boat and its davit were removed. A craft similar to the ones on the deck took its place.
A new radio mast on the funnel and a small main mast on the Whale-back almost completed the conversion save for some additional vents and a final painting which took place on 25th September at Priors Dry Dock.
It is perhaps interesting to note here that, at this time, the vessel carried both the name Ross Tiger and, just above it, her new name of Cam Tiger on the stern. This was the first, but not the last time that this would happen.

With the conversion now complete, the Cam Tiger arrived back in Grimsby in October ready to serve her new owners and to embark, like her sisters, on the second phase of her career.

Many ex-fishermen found work on these newly converted Cam ships and for a time, enjoyed steady employment on them, but, just as problems had hit the fishing industry, so the oil companies began to experience problems too and the crews began to find themselves being laid off for longer spells between trips. Partly because of this, but largely due to the age of the Tiger, Cam Shipping decided to de-commision the vessel for good.

At this juncture, it seemed as though the Tiger's days were indeed over but fate decreed she was to be reprieved from the breakers yard when, on May 19th 1992, a heading to an article in the Crimsby Evening Telegraph proclaimed, "Cam Tiger Set To Sail Into History". The remainder of the article reported plans for the vessel to be handed over to the town as a 'lasting tribute' to the fishermen of the port.The article went, on to say that Cam Shipping would hand over the vessel at the end of June of that year and that the vessel may be receiving visitors as early as Christmas

With the de-commisioning of the Tiger, Cam Shipping had removed some of the fittings she had had on her conversion. These included the rescue launches, radio equipment from the W/T room, the radar and other navigational equipment.
As she now stood, berthed on the North Wall in the Fish Docks, the Tiger was in limbo, no longer a trawler nor a support vessel.

By the 14th July 1992, Grimsby council had signed a £188,000 deal to restore the Cam Tiger back to a trawler and move her to a permanent berth alongside the National Fishing Heritage Centre. It was initially planned to move the vessel by road but it was soon realised that the sheer weight of the former trawler would make this idea impossible.

"It'll Cost You a Quid Guv!" The Ross Tiger changes hands for £1

On the 30th July, the Cam Tiger was officially handed over to Coun Noel Perkins, the Mayor of Grimsby, by Cam Shipping director Rodolfo Garlinzoni. Perhaps to say that she was handed over is not quite correct because the council had to buy the vessel-for the princely sum of just £1.00.
Presenting the log book, Mr Garlinzoni said that he realised that the Tiger, and other trawlers like her, meant a great deal to the people of Grimsby and that, because of this, he was 'very proud and happy' to be able to hand the Tiger back to the town. Asked by a BBC Radio Humberside reporter if he had any regrets in losing the Tiger, Mr Garlinzoni said that he hadn't because of the fact that she would be going to the Heritage Centre and would give people many good memories.
For the Mayor, the Tiger had a special memory for, when he came to Grimsby in 1971 as a training officer, it was his job to recruit apprentices who worked aboard the Tiger. He also stated that he was very pleased' to accept the vessel on behalf on the Heritage Centre.
Derek Masson, the Project Manager from Shiptech UK Ltd, told the reporter and the listeners what the project would involve and he outlined the various tasks ahead of the companies concerned. He likened the necessary removal of the bridge to 'slicing the icing off a cake'.

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