Tag Archives: Trawler Fairtry

New claim on founding of stern-trawler design

A fishing vessel built in Aberdeen and launched in 1953 is at the heart of an international tug o’ war over who came up with the design. The Leith-registered Fairtry was the world’s first purpose-built stern trawler – powerful vessels often with ramps for hauling heavy catches on to the deck. Their basic design is usually attributed to Sir Charles Dennistoun Burney, an aristrocatic English aeronautical engineer, inventor and Conservative MP who also designed cars, seaplanes and airships. But research by retired engineer Helgi Laxdal suggests the prototype may have been wrongly attributed to ‘Sir Dennis’. >click to read<12:43