Viola (trawler)

The Viola is a steam trawler built in 1906. During her long career, she has also been known as Viola III, Kapduen and Dias.

History
Viola was built for the Hellyer Steam Fishing Company in 1906 by Cook, Welton & Gemmell of Beverley, then floated down the River Hull to Hull where she was fitted with steam engines by the engineering firm of Amos & Smith. She burnt coal until 1956 when she was converted to oil. She was part of the Hellyer Steam Fishing Company's North Sea fleet, and like much of Hellyer's fleet was named after a Shakespearean character.

Hellyer's trawlers stayed out at sea for weeks at a time, transferring their catch to a fleet of five fast steam cutters which commuted between the fishing grounds and the fish markets of eastern England. Viola was regularly at sea for more than 310 days a year.

Viola at war
In September 1914, Viola was requisitioned by the Admiralty, renamed Viola III (FY 614) armed with a 3 pound gun and moved to Shetland, patrolling the waters out as far as Fair Isle looking for U-boats and escorting other vessels.

Later in the war, the Viola was armed with a 12-pound gun, and transferred to the Tyne for minesweeping duty. She was one of the first vessels to use depth charges. She was also fitted with hydrophones. Along with other armed trawlers she was involved in actions resulting in the sinking of at least two U-boats: the UB-30 off Whitby on 13 August 1918, and the UB-115 off the Northumberland coast on 29 September.

Kapduen and Dias - whaling
Many vessels from Hellyer's North Sea fleet were lost during the war, and after the war they decided to concentrate on the distant fishing grounds off the coast of Iceland and the Barents Sea, selling off the remaining North Sea trawlers. Viola was sold to Massey & Sons in 1918, and in the following year sold to L. Thorsen of Norway and renamed Kapduen. Thorsen were taken over by the whaling firm of Nils Torvald Nielsen Alonso, and the Kapduen was converted for whaling, being fitted with a new bridge forward of the funnel. She was renamed Dias in 1924 and over the next few years whaled off the coast of Africa. By 1927 she was laid up at Sandefjord.

Dias - sealing and expeditions
Dias was then sold to Compañía Argentina de Pesca, and moved to Grytviken in South Georgia for sealing. She was also used as a support vessel for expeditions in the South Atlantic, supporting the Argentine weather station at Laurie Island, the Kohl-Larsen Expedition of 1928/9, the British South Georgia Expedition of 1954/55, the topographical surveys carried out by Duncan Carse between 1951 and 1957, and the Bird Island Expedition of 1958.

Retirement and dereliction
In 1964 the whaling station at Grytviken closed, and Dias, along with another sealer, Albatros, was laid up. A caretaker was responsible for maintenance, painting and running the engines, but he left in 1971. Over the next few years snow and ice built up on the superstructure and the Dias foundered at her mooring in the winter of 1974. Albatros sank the following year.

Rescue campaign
In 2004, as part of a project to restore and conserve Grytviken, the Dias and the Albatros were refloated and cleared of all remaining oil. Both ships have now been beached.

An organisation, the "Friends of Viola/Dias", seeks to preserve the ship, either in situ or by bringing her back to Hull. The "Friends of Viola/Dias" estimate the cost of repatriating Viola at £1 million, and restoration costs at £5 million.

In 2006 the Viola's original bell was discovered on a farm at Sandefjord and purchased by Hull Maritime Museum. In 2008 the bell was returned to the ship.