HMT Richard Bacon HMT " Richard Bacon " was a British Castle class naval trawler completed in 1918 . She served through both world wars under two different names and also had a lengthy career as a civilian fishing trawler . For a short while , she functioned as a support vessel for a famous transatlantic flight by a group of Italian bombers . She was scrapped in 1954 after her boiler failed during a storm . History . First world war and subsequent civilian service . " Richard Bacon " was one of 217 Castle class trawlers laid down for the British government in the First World War . Displacing standard and armed with a single 12 - pounder gun , she was mostly used for coastal anti - submarine patrol s . " Richard Bacon " was built at Cook , Welton & Gemmell , in Kingston upon Hull . Upon completion on 12 March 1918 , she had a crew of 12 men and served an uneventful few years on anti - submarine and coastal patrol duties . After the war , she was registered as a fishing vessel at London under registry number LO438 , taking up that role officially on 24 August 1920 . After two years under Admiralty ownership , she was sold to the Boston Deep Sea Fishing & Ice Co Ltd , Boston , Lincolnshire , and her London registry was closed . As a result of the sale , she was renamed " Haganby " and registered at Boston under registry number BN179 and manager Fred Parkes . In 1923 , she was transferred to Fleetwood , near Blackpool , when the Boston Deep Sea Fishing & Ice moved location . Some time in February 1925 , she was sold again , this time to a French fisherman named Victor Fourny . She was renamed " Professeur Bergonié " , after Jean Bergonié , and registered at Boulogne . After several years in France , the Boston Deep Sea Fishing repurchased her on 4 March 1930 , and she was renamed again , this time to the " Daily Chronicle " ( FD69 ) , registered at Fleetwood . She also returned to the same manager as in Boston , Fred Parkes . It was during this time that she had her first unusual duty – on 5 July 1933 , she was chartered by the Italian Government to support a transatlantic flight by 24 Savoia - Marchetti S . 55 X seaplanes . The flight was remarkable in that it was led by General Italo Balbo , and covered , from Orbetello to Chicago , via Iceland , in 47 hours 52 minutes . She collided with the steam trawler " Jacinta " ( FD235 ) at St Kilda fishing grounds on 12 August 1934 . Although the starboard side of " Jacinta " was damaged , the " Daily Chronicle " remained undamaged . On 5 November 1934 , her registry at Fleetwood ended , and she was sold to Thomas L Devlin & Sons of Granton , registered there , and renamed " Commodator " ( GN6 ) . Second World War . On 29 August 1939 , with the Second World War imminent , " Commodator " was requisitioned by the Admiralty once more , and converted to a minesweeping trawler , becoming HMT " Commodator " ( FY634 ) . The hire rate was £84 . 6 . 0d per month – approximately £2 , 500 . Some time in 1943 , she was sold to Mrs E D Breen of Edinburgh , though she remained in use by the Admiralty . In June 1945 , after the end of the war in Europe , she was sold to Grimsby Merchants Amalgamated Fishing Co Ltd and gained pennant number GY57 but remained under military command . Finally , on 4 October 1945 , she was re - classed at Glasgow and returned to her owner . Post - war . After the war , she stayed briefly in Grimsby , before being sold in February 1946 to Don Trawling Co ( Milford ) Ltd in Milford Haven . On 20 April 1946 she was in the fishing grounds off the west coast of Ireland during an gale . The gale shifted of coal in her bunker , forcing the ship onto her beam ends – so that the deck was near - vertical . The crew spent five and a half hours moving the coal by hand to restore her to an even keel and were eventually forced to put into Berehaven , County Cork . In July 1948 , she was renamed again , to her final name : " Lynandi " . She had a relatively uneventful few years , until 1954 , when she had an accident which ended her career . On 14 January 1954 , she was fishing off Old Head of Kinsale under her skipper W G King when her boiler developed problems . She was forced to blowdown her boiler and as a result , lost power . The steam trawler " Inverforth " began to tow her back to Milford , but two days and later , during heavy weather , the tow parted and two attempts to reconnect it failed . She was in danger of drifting onto St Ann ' s Head , distant . The Angle lifeboat and the tug " Empire Rosa " launched from Pembroke Dock but were unable to reach the trawler , which was in the middle of waves . " Inverforth " and another trawler , the " Thomas Booth " ( M274 ) stayed close , however , and allowed " Lynandi " to keep her bearings . The storm abated through the morning , and by 11 am the " Empire Rosa " had returned and was able to connect a tow line . By 4 : 15 pm , the " Lynandi " was safely back in Milford harbour . Her skipper commended the actions of both his own crew and those crews who assisted , and praised the seaworthiness of his ship , saying " Although out of control , she proved a perfect sea ship and throughout the night never shipped a drop of water . " Later in 1954 , she was sold to BISCO and allocated to Thomas W Ward Ltd . On 27 August she was delivered to Castle Pill for breaking up , and finally , in October , her Grimsby registry was closed .