Hms Asia

Steam Trawler-(1917)

What is recorded here

The hired minesweeping trawler HMT Asia struck a German mine south of Kirkabister, Bressay, on 12 September 1917 and sank stern first. Seven crew members died, and their bodies were not recovered.

Read the whole record

The hired minesweeping trawler HMT Asia struck a German mine south of Kirkabister, Bressay, on 12 September 1917 and sank stern first. Seven crew members died, and their bodies were not recovered.

The vessel and voyage

Asia was a 309-ton steel fishing trawler built by Earle's Shipbuilding at Hull. The Royal Navy hired her for wartime minesweeping. That work placed ordinary trawlers and fishing crews at the front of the effort to keep the approaches to Lerwick open.

How it was lost

On 12 September 1917 Asia struck a mine south of Kirkabister Light off Bressay. German minelaying submarine UC-40 had laid the field two nights earlier. The explosion opened the trawler and she sank stern first in deep water.

Deaths and survival

Seven members of the crew died. The checked accounts state that no bodies were recovered. They do not establish a complete total aboard or a named list of every survivor, so those details remain open.

What remains

Asia lies in about 72 metres of water and is a demanding deep dive. Dive accounts describe a recognisable trawler wreck with marine life gathering around it. Its depth helped preserve more structure than would usually survive on a shallow exposed site.

Why it mattered

Asia is a direct reminder that mine warfare did not end when a submarine sailed away. A small hidden field could close a route and kill days later. Her loss also records the price paid by fishing vessels and fishermen converted into naval minesweepers around Shetland.