Girl Pat

Girl Pat, photographed during her period of service with the Port of London Authority, circa 1945
History
United Kingdom
Name	Girl Pat (1935–40) HMT Girl Pat (1940–45) Girl Pat (1945–?)
Owner	Marstrand Fishing Co. Ltd., Grimsby (1935–36) Girl Pat Ltd. Grimsby (1936–39) Port of London Authority (1939–40) Royal Navy (1940–45) Port of London Authority (1945–?)
Port of registry	Grimsby (1935–39) London (1939–40)  Royal Navy (1940–45) London (1945–?)
Builder	at Oulton Broad
In service	1935
Identification	UK Official Number 162904 Fishing registration GY 176 (1935–40, 1945–?)[1]
General characteristics
Type	Trawler (1935–39) Wreck marking vessel (1939–40, 1945–?) Auxiliary minesweeper (1940–45)
Tonnage	55 GRT, 19 NRT
Length	66 feet (20 m)
Beam	18.7 feet (5.7 m)
Depth	8.7 feet (2.7 m)
Installed power	120 bhp[2]

Girl Pat was a small fishing trawler, based at the Lincolnshire port of Grimsby, that in 1936 was the subject of a media sensation when its captain took it on an unauthorised transatlantic voyage. The escapade ended in Georgetown, British Guiana, with the arrest of the captain, George "Dod" Orsborne, and his brother. The pair were later imprisoned for the theft of the vessel.

Built in 1935, Girl Pat was the property of the Marstrand Fishing Company of Grimsby. On 1 April 1936, Orsborne, with a crew of four and his brother James as a supernumerary, took the vessel out on what the owners authorised as a routine North Sea fishing trip of two to three weeks' duration. After leaving port, Orsborne informed the crew that they were going on an extended cruise in more southerly waters. Nothing more was heard of them until mid-May, when the owners, who had by then assumed the vessel lost, received invoices relating to its repair and reprovisioning in the northern Spanish port of Corcubión. Subsequent sightings placed her in the Savage Islands, at Dakar in Senegal, and Îles du Salut off the coast of French Guiana in South America. The captain's main means of navigation during a voyage of more than 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) was a sixpenny school atlas and a compass. At one point Girl Pat was reported wrecked in the Bahamas, with all hands lost. After the vessel's capture and detention following a chase outside Georgetown on 19 June, Orsborne and his crew were hailed as heroes in the world's press.

Charged with the theft of the vessel in October 1936, Orsborne maintained in court that the owners had instructed him to get rid of the ship, as part of a scheme to obtain its insurance value. This claim was dismissed by the court. Years later, in his memoirs, Orsborne told a different, uncorroborated story: in absconding with Girl Pat he had been carrying out a mission on behalf of British Naval Intelligence, connected with the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936.

After his release from prison, Orsborne took part in further maritime adventures and served in the navy in the Second World War. He died in 1957. In Georgetown Girl Pat was acquired by new owners who returned her to Britain, where she was displayed as a tourist attraction in several resorts. In 1939 she was sold to the Port of London Authority for use as a wreck-marking vessel and, after being requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the war, was returned to the authority in 1945. There is no public record of her subsequent career.