,
CD 27, built during World War I for the Royal Canadian Navy. Many became fishing vessels after the war. drifter
George Albert during the war Like fishing trawlers, the
Royal Navy requisitioned many fishing drifters for conversion to naval use during
World War I. In addition, 362 naval drifters were ordered to
Admiralty specifications (and thus are often referred to as "Admiralty drifters"). Shipyards used to building fishing trawlers or drifters could easily switch to constructing naval versions. As a bonus these drifters could be sold to commercial fishing interests when the war ended. There were two basic types of Admiralty-built drifters, wooden hulled and steel hulled. • The wooden hull vessels displaced 175 tons, were 86 ft (26.2 m) long, with a beam of 19 ft (5.8 m). They had a speed of 9 knots and carried one
6 pounder gun. 91 wooden hull vessels were launched 1918–20, and 100 similar Canadian-built craft were ordered in January 1917. The Austro-Hungarians gave most drifter crews warning to abandon ship before opening fire. Of the 47 drifters in the barrage at the time, 14 were sunk and 4 were damaged. ==See also==