HMS Fleetwood May 1937

Presented to HMS Fleetwood by the Fleetwood Fishing Vessel Owners Association Ltd upon the vessel’s visit to Fleetwood in May 1937. After its commissioning in early 1937, HMS Fleetwood served as a trials ship for the new armament and then visited Gibraltar, Tangier and Cartagena in Spain. She then carried out a number of visits around the coast of Britain, including her namesake town of Fleetwood and carried out more trials work before leaving for her station on the Red Sea.

The Fleetwood Fishing Vessels Owners Association was active during a period when Fleetwood was one of England’s main fishing ports, a status that began to decline in the 1960s. It was a group that represented the interests of the fishing boat owners in the port of Fleetwood. They participated in negotiations with unions, organised exploratory voyages for new fishing grounds and acted as a collective body for their members.