Dear Joe I am really surprised that I didn’t pick up on this as pilotage and pilot vessels, principally UK, are my special interest. Georges Leverdier was among a number of vessels that escaped to the UK after the Fall of France in 1940. After a short spell in lay-up she was requisitioned into the RN in November 1940 for service as a combined examination vessel/pilot cutter and served principally at?? She was returned to nominal French control in Oct 1944? To help with putting a context on the matter it is perhaps worth considering the situation further north east with the capture of the Schelde estuary and soon after the capture of Antwerp. Walcheren was captured by British forces in late October 1944 by landings at Westkapelle and by an advance from the east by the Canadians over the causeway from Bergen. Breskens to the south was taken by the Canadians. This allowed mine clearance operations to commence and the institution of the TAM (Thames-Antwerp Military convoys) in November 10944 initially to Terneuzen but soon after to Antwerp. This created a requirement for pilot vessels. The Admiralty agreed to release four of the Dutch pilot vessels serving on Examination Vessel duties and they took up station at the Wandelaar and Steenbank stations in November 1944 as part of a joint Dutch/Belgian operation. Still under Admiralty nominal control but with Dutch/Belgian crew they retained their RN naval gunners until at least the end of 1945 when with the return of two Belgian cutters from the RN and the release by the Spanish authorities who had interned the remainder at St Jean de Luz both nations took responsibility for their own service. The vessels were renamed Let Op, Pas Op, Recht Op and Merk Op. Due to the kindness of a lady in Canada I have a copy of a photograph of two of the gunners with an RN cap tally LET OP. One of the gunners is her father who was a Sheringham fisherman. To return to Le Havre and the Seine a similar situation arose as the Allies were keen to reduce the logistics tail and as American forces pushed further into France the distance of the front line from the port of Cherbourg was increasing the logistics tail. Very few of the French cutters were to escape to the UK, those that remained were inducted into the Kriegsmarine for service as Voorpostenboots (or patrol vessels) and two were found in Germany at the end of the war in very poor condition. In a similar manner to that which pertained on the Schelde the two French services (Le Havre and Seine (Rouen) were temporarily merged. Georges Leverdier was apparently released for this service in late June 1944, although still under Admiralty control, but other evidence shows that she did not take up pilotage duties until October 1944. She continued in this joint service until Dec 1944 at which time she was replaced by the newer Albert Faroult released by the Admiralty. I have some good indication that an American Examination Team was in place by early 1945 although by now the principal business was to provide pilots. Albert Faroult was replaced by Pouyer Quertier in April 1945. All three of the above had served in the RN but originally were Seine/Rouen pilot vessels. A fourth vessel was lost whilst on RN service in 1941? It seemed that the standard peacetime service resumed in 1946. -- /Andy Adams/

Dear Andy, Thank you so much for your belated reply to my query regarding the pilot vessel Georges Leverdier. She seems to have led a very interesting and adventurous life. I am still none the wiser though as to her final fate.I would imagine though,that she was probably broken up in France. It is interesting that your special interest is in UK pilot vessels as my special interest is in vessels built in Dumbarton,Scotland where i was born and grew up. I worked for a time in the famous shipyard of William Denny & Brothers. A few years ago i began to collect photographs of the vessels built in Dumbarton by the various shipbuilders that flourished in the town over the years. In this respect and knowing your forte is pilot vessels would you be able to point me in the direction of any photos of the two Trinity House pilot vessels PIONEER & GUIDE built 1891 by Wm.Denny & Bros . in Dumbarton.And also would you have the histories of these two vessels. I have been looking for illustrations of these two ships for a few years now without any success. any assistance would be gratefully received. Hope to hear back from you. Kindest regards, Joe McMillan, South Australia. -----Original Message----- From: Andy Adams via Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 10:21 AM To: Mariners-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [MAR] Georges Leverdier Dear Joe I am really surprised that I didn’t pick up on this as pilotage and pilot vessels, principally UK, are my special interest. Georges Leverdier was among a number of vessels that escaped to the UK after the Fall of France in 1940. After a short spell in lay-up she was requisitioned into the RN in November 1940 for service as a combined examination vessel/pilot cutter and served principally at?? She was returned to nominal French control in Oct 1944? To help with putting a context on the matter it is perhaps worth considering the situation further north east with the capture of the Schelde estuary and soon after the capture of Antwerp. Walcheren was captured by British forces in late October 1944 by landings at Westkapelle and by an advance from the east by the Canadians over the causeway from Bergen. Breskens to the south was taken by the Canadians. This allowed mine clearance operations to commence and the institution of the TAM (Thames-Antwerp Military convoys) in November 10944 initially to Terneuzen but soon after to Antwerp. This created a requirement for pilot vessels. The Admiralty agreed to release four of the Dutch pilot vessels serving on Examination Vessel duties and they took up station at the Wandelaar and Steenbank stations in November 1944 as part of a joint Dutch/Belgian operation. Still under Admiralty nominal control but with Dutch/Belgian crew they retained their RN naval gunners until at least the end of 1945 when with the return of two Belgian cutters from the RN and the release by the Spanish authorities who had interned the remainder at St Jean de Luz both nations took responsibility for their own service. The vessels were renamed Let Op, Pas Op, Recht Op and Merk Op. Due to the kindness of a lady in Canada I have a copy of a photograph of two of the gunners with an RN cap tally LET OP. One of the gunners is her father who was a Sheringham fisherman. To return to Le Havre and the Seine a similar situation arose as the Allies were keen to reduce the logistics tail and as American forces pushed further into France the distance of the front line from the port of Cherbourg was increasing the logistics tail. Very few of the French cutters were to escape to the UK, those that remained were inducted into the Kriegsmarine for service as Voorpostenboots (or patrol vessels) and two were found in Germany at the end of the war in very poor condition. In a similar manner to that which pertained on the Schelde the two French services (Le Havre and Seine (Rouen) were temporarily merged. Georges Leverdier was apparently released for this service in late June 1944, although still under Admiralty control, but other evidence shows that she did not take up pilotage duties until October 1944. She continued in this joint service until Dec 1944 at which time she was replaced by the newer Albert Faroult released by the Admiralty. I have some good indication that an American Examination Team was in place by early 1945 although by now the principal business was to provide pilots. Albert Faroult was replaced by Pouyer Quertier in April 1945. All three of the above had served in the RN but originally were Seine/Rouen pilot vessels. A fourth vessel was lost whilst on RN service in 1941? It seemed that the standard peacetime service resumed in 1946. -- /Andy Adams/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MARINERS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com