B-15 / LESKOW
Factory trawler LESKOV (type B-15)
Keel laid: 8 May 1959
Launched: 25 November 1959
Delivered: 30 June 1960
The first type of factory trawler designed and built in Poland. With the construction of such vessels, Gdańsk Shipyard quickly became a manufacturer of highly efficient fishing vessels; the first such trawler was built in Scotland in 1954.
Technical specifications:
capacity: 2950 GRT, 1270 NRT; 1250 DWT;
dimensions: 83.0 x 13.8 x 5.8 m
propulsion: Sulzer 8TD48 combustion engine with 2400 hp
speed: 12.5 knots
crew: ca. 100
Thirty type B-15 trawlers were built in 1959-1967: 21 for a Polish shipowner and 9 for the USSR.
Industrial fishing decimated fish stocks in inshore waters and forced fishermen to look for fish in oceans far from the seashore. This meant that fishing vessels had to carry more and more fuel for long voyages, and the longer time that lapsed from the time the fish were caught to their delivery to the market caused the product’s quality to deteriorate.
One of the solutions to this problem was to introduce floating fishing bases that would collect the fish from side trawlers. Another was to build fish processing trawlers: vessels which immediately processed and froze the fish.
The first such ship was the former minesweeper HMS Felicity, which was converted in 1947 into a fish processing trawler and named Fairfree. It had a fileting machine, devices for freezing the fish and a slip at the stern to pull up the fishing nets, modelled on whaling ships. The waste was used to produce fish flour. The Fairfree operated until 1952, but the experience accumulated during its service led to the construction of three processing plant trawlers called Fairtry with the numbers I, II and III. Their design was described in detail in the shipbuilding press and soon other fleets began to build similar vessels, for example the Soviet fleet which ordered factory trawlers from West German shipyards.
One of the Soviet trawlers called at Gdańsk in 1955, where it met with interest from Polish fishermen. Initially, they planned to order a similar fish processing trawler from West Germany, but there was not enough hard currency to do so. As it happened, the Russians placed orders in Poland for similar ships to be manufactured in Gdańsk Shipyard. A month after the first keel was laid down, Gdynia’s Dalmor company signed a contract with Gdańsk Shipyard for a series of such trawlers.
They were designed by the Central Construction and Research Centre in Gdańsk, and the design work was preceded by many visits to the German-built Soviet trawlers both in the port and during the fishing operation. As a result, type B-15 trawlers were built for Poland and the USSR. The first one was the Soviet Leskov, which went on its maiden voyage to the Barents Sea with a Polish crew for test fishing. Only after its return to Gdańsk was the trawler handed over to sail under the Soviet flag.
The Polish type B-15 trawlers were decommissioned in 1979-1989. Several were sold to foreign shipowners, the rest were broken up. The ships built for the USSR served somewhat longer: they were beginning to be scrapped only in the late 1980s.
Industrial fishing decimated fish stocks in inshore waters and forced fishermen to look for fish in oceans far from the seashore. This meant that fishing vessels had to carry more and more fuel for long voyages, and the longer time that lapsed from the time the fish were caught to their delivery to the market caused the product’s quality to deteriorate.
One of the solutions to this problem was to introduce floating fishing bases that would collect the fish from side trawlers. Another was to build fish processing trawlers: vessels which immediately processed and froze the fish.
The first such ship was the former minesweeper HMS Felicity, which was converted in 1947 into a fish processing trawler and named Fairfree. It had a fileting machine, devices for freezing the fish and a slip at the stern to pull up the fishing nets, modelled on whaling ships. The waste was used to produce fish flour. The Fairfree operated until 1952, but the experience accumulated during its service led to the construction of three processing plant trawlers called Fairtry with the numbers I, II and III. Their design was described in detail in the shipbuilding press and soon other fleets began to build similar vessels, for example the Soviet fleet which ordered factory trawlers from West German shipyards.
One of the Soviet trawlers called at Gdańsk in 1955, where it met with interest from Polish fishermen. Initially, they planned to order a similar fish processing trawler from West Germany, but there was not enough hard currency to do so. As it happened, the Russians placed orders in Poland for similar ships to be manufactured in Gdańsk Shipyard. A month after the first keel was laid down, Gdynia’s Dalmor company signed a contract with Gdańsk Shipyard for a series of such trawlers.
They were designed by the Central Construction and Research Centre in Gdańsk, and the design work was preceded by many visits to the German-built Soviet trawlers both in the port and during the fishing operation. As a result, type B-15 trawlers were built for Poland and the USSR. The first one was the Soviet Leskov, which went on its maiden voyage to the Barents Sea with a Polish crew for test fishing. Only after its return to Gdańsk was the trawler handed over to sail under the Soviet flag.
The Polish type B-15 trawlers were decommissioned in 1979-1989. Several were sold to foreign shipowners, the rest were broken up. The ships built for the USSR served somewhat longer: they were beginning to be scrapped only in the late 1980s.
