Cat Class
Ex-MFV Ross Leopard was built in 1957 for Ross Fisheries at Cochranes Shipyard on the River Humber. She was one of a fleet of twelve sister-ships, the Cat-class, all named after cats by a class of Grimsby school children, including the ''Jackal'' and the ''Zebra'', near misses from being cats.
The Ross Leopard fished out of Grimsby as part of the 'Northern Trawl' from 1957 onwards, returning to port after three weeks off the coasts of Greenland and Iceland with as much as 90 tons of cod and haddock packed on ice in the hold.
Once in port the catch was unloaded by hand while the 15 man crew grabbed some shore leave. After 'bunkering'(refuelling and reprovisioning), the ship and crew would generally put to sea again the following day.
The trawl continued in all weathers, and although by the late 1950's trawler design and fishing techniques were well advanced, working conditions on board were harsh.
The Cat-class were the last conventional side-trawlers to fish from Grimsby. Following the 'Cod Wars' with Iceland in the 1970's, all were laid up by 1984.
The Ross Tiger, first of the Cat-class ships to be built, has been sympathetically restored by a museum trust, and is now the centrepiece of the National Fishing Heritage Centre on the River Humber.

In 1993 the Ross Leopard was bought by her present owners from CAM shipping and converted for use as an art space and bar. After a period trading at Battersea Wharf, next to Chelsea Bridge in West London, the lack of an alternative, available commercial mooring space on the Thames effectively led to a planning dispute that is referenced in the london river link above. At the moment the vessel is not able to trade as a commercial art space and is currently moored in European waters.

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