Built in 1909 in Selby, England the trawler Washington was requisitioned by the Admiralty in 1916 as a minesweeper. This was dangerous duty and many a ship was lost not only to mines, but to U-boats. Washington however made it through the war and returned to commercial service. Twenty-one years later Washington was still fishing when the new war began.

In Nov. 1939 she was again requisitioned for use as a minesweeper, a job she would never complete. While en route to be fitted out Washington hit a mine laid by U-59 off Felixstowe and sank taking seven of the eight men on board to the bottom with her.