Humberside trawlers as mine-countermeasure hulls

Keith Speed clarifies that objections to trawlers in offshore-patrol and weather-ship roles did not amount to ruling them out for mine countermeasures; that use was still under study. Duffy presses the case for laid-up deep-sea trawlers on Humberside to return to naval service after conversion. He grounds the proposal in the wartime contribution of Hull and Grimsby as well as the contemporary loss of fishing work. The exchange joins mine-warfare urgency to industrial adaptation by asking whether a commercial hull pool could supply a specialized mobilization capability. It remains a proposal being examined in the debate, not a claim that every trawler was suitable.