HULL/MARITIME SPECIAL PHOTO-PAGES

TRAWLERS AND FISHERMEN.

Hull's 'Queen's Dock(originally called the 'Old Dock', and the first enclosed dock in the country) was built in 1775. A whaling ship, the 'Manchester', was the first ship to enter.
The Old Dock had a bell, which, when rung, indicated that sickness was aboard ships in the dock.
This bell is still hung up, not in Hull, but in the Castle Hill Hospital Cafe, near Cottingham, a few miles away.
Next to be built was the 'New Dock', later named 'Humber Dock'.
In the 1800's, St. Andrews' dock became the 'trawler's' dock, after a breif use of 'Albert Dock'
Many trawlers at the turn of the 1900s were still made of wood, which had been a succesfull medium for hundreds of years. Iron and steel hull-shells were now replacing these older ships in the fishing industry, although many wooden boats were then, and are, even now, afloat.
Whaling started proper, in the sixteenth century, but diclined in the early 1800's.In 1887, there were well over 400 wooden 'smacks' registered in Hull, but by 1900, there were less than 40.
The first Steam Trawler to sail from Hull, was the 'Magenta'.The size of trawlers in Hull was limitted to cost, and by the size of the opening to the 'fish-dock'.At first, the Prince Albert Dock was used, when opened in 1869, but the St. Andrew's Dock was used after 1883, being built especially for the trawlers.Pre-1930, there was practically no radio or echo-sounding on fishing trawleres, and if a ship was in trouble, only rockets or lights, could be used to attract other ships.
A trawler crew usually consisted of at least nine men, in the small craft that was much less of course. Nets varied.The older, more ancient Irish 'Hammer trawl', had a long iron beam, and a wooden, central upright stay(much like a hammer) keeping the net open.
With steam, came a larger 'Beam Trawl' which had a long(35ft.--50ft. wide in larger vessels)wooden beam, and iron 'heads' underneath to keep it on the sea-bed. More recently, the 'Otter Trawl, with 'otter-boards' to keep the net down and open, were used from the late 1800's. these were 125ft. long , and more. They had a 'cod end' secured with a 'cod line', and could be emptied safely and quickly when aboard ship.Also there was the V.D. or 'French Trawl', similar to the 'Otter'.
My father,like many other young Hull men, started as a 'Decky-Learner', on a Hull Trawler. In 1930,his first Trawler was the 'Lord Davidson', a ship that would be a vertual 'second home' with 'Skipper' Soen Sorenson for a year, and again in 1935, with 'Skipper' George Adams.
At this time, there was poor radio contact at sea, no radar or sonar, yet good catches of fish were had by the trawlers out towards Norway, iceland, White Sea, Bear Island, Greenland and other fishing grounds. Nets and rope/trawling warps were not nylon ar even steel then and still some good catches of fish could be hauled up.Clothing was not as weather-proof as todays 'super' materials are, and there was no 'central heating' aboard ship.
On that first 'trip' from Christmas to January, the return from the catch was -£2390,- quite a tidy sum in those days. From Jan.23rd.,until February.14th., 1000 kits of fish returned- £1600 .
In April, the return on fish caught was- £764- presumably the warmer weather effected fishing in that area.
On the 'Lord Hewart' in 1931, returns were from £650 to £900, the 'Skipper' was Jon Thordarson, where my father was now 'Deckhand' These catches were from Norway,Iceland, Bear Island and White Sea areas.
Frequent visits to Norway(Norge) brought about the friendship of my father and a Norweigan fisherman named 'Kris Christensen', fron Harstad (Rokenes), in northern Norway. The two men stayed friends all thier lives.

Chris Christensen, Norge Army

There was a special friendliness with fishermen.
1932 was not such a good year, with returns in March of-£415-for 650 kits,-In April of-£889-for 1050 kits, May of-£600-for 1600 kits,yet in July-£1500-for 1130 kits, all from the 'White Sea' area.
In the 'Lord Irwin', similar returns came in except for-£2408-in March, for 1375 kits. The 'Skipper was Peter Hanson. Iceland was the place here and most fishermen got to know Iceland, Reykyavik was a supply centre, and a means of a day's rest. Another three trawlers that my father sailed in, in 1932, were--the 'Lord Beaverbrook', the 'Lord Melchet', with 'Skipper' Ellis White, and the 'Lord Inchcape',which was lost in 1940, all Hull ships.
At this period, my father married a skilled net-maker, Maud Murial Wingrove, who also worked on the fish dock making trawl nets. Later, during the second world war, she made nets once more for the armed forces, in the front room of our family home

The 'Delamore', with 'Skipper' Albert Fuller, was a ship my father stayed with until 1934, when he 'signed on' with the 'Lord Winterton', with 'Skipper' Walter Cook, before moving to the 'Sprayflower'; here another Hull fisherman, Lionel Connell, would become his lifelong friend. At sea, fishermen made the most of things whilst steaming to the fishing grounds, when things were a little easier.A few pictures here will tell a few tales, not only of lifestyle, but of weather and working conditions in the northern seas at that time.

The trawlers in these photographs are side-fishers, and usually had a two/ three week round-trip per sailing . Later on, freezer-ships took over, which severely damaged the working success of the older/smaller ships. One ship shown below (The Fishpool from West-Hartlepool, is in fact a 1930's trawler,but it's large size was also a threat to the normal sized vessels.

The weather was cold, wet, and windy at sea. The northern latitude was no place for light clothes. Many seamen developed Rhumatism as a result.To reach retirement age was not common in fishermen, most took other jobs. My father did this, joining 'The United Towing Company' in the Tugboats in 1937. Although this work was hard, it was less stressful than in the trawlers.

As can be seen from these pictures, fishermen certainly made the most of a hard and tireing job. Yet freindship was the key to survival and turning the cruel elements into a lifestyle that only a handful of brave men could live with, day after day, in a vessel completely cut off from the normal world that most took for granted.

The Icelanders had their own gunboats to stop any unlawfull fishing around Iceland, and in later years, made fishing very tough in their waters, by enforcing a limit of a certain distance, by which any trawler could fish fom the land. Some trawlers were actually shot at, and catches dropped, as the best fishing was near to Iceland itself. So with this and the introduction of the freezer-ships, the industry slowly died out. In the Hull fish-docks today, at any one time, only a few trawlers can be seen, tied up to discharge their fish.







LEFT -- The Northella, an ex-Hull freezer-trawler that in the sixties/ seventies, shook the crews of smaller ships by bringing home vast quantities of fish.Although still proudly boasting her original launch-name, the Northella has been painted grey and commissioned by the M.O.D. She is now used as a supply/service vessel. This shows the fine build-quality of the Hull vessel. A photograph of the 'Cordella', still rigged as a trawler, but now idle and up for sale, is also shown. These trewlers and similar ships were owned by the Marr's group,



which along with the Boyd Line, are the only two firms now left. Years ago. many firms were conected with fishing.
Records show of Hull trawlers lost at sea between the 1830's and the 1980's total 900 , with many men lost also.
My cousin, Norman.E.Richmond, arived to 'sign on' with the 'Sargon', GY858, in November, 1948.This trawler was built in Beverley in 1913.
He arrived with two freinds, hoping to sign on together, on a 'last before Christmas' trip to Iceland. At the last minute, bumping into another freind, he decided to go with the 'West Hill', going to the 'White Sea' area.
He was lucky, as, on December 1st. 1948, the Sargon, built at Beverley-1913, after escorting another trawler into an Icelandic port, ran onto rocks at Patreksfjordhur, in a blizzard. All crew on the wheelhouse and deck were lost, including the two freinds of N.Richmond. Six men who sheltered under the 'whale-back, were rescued two days later.
Below are photographs of Hull trawler H863, with J.W.Richmond-centre-lost from the Strato, on 13th. April 1934, and the 'James Barrie'-H460, with N.E.Richmond on the far right,-taken in Rekjavik. The last picture is of J.W.Richmond in Navy Reserves uniform, prior to being 'lost at sea'. By kind permission of N.E.Richmond- Copyright-same.

Over the years, it has been claimed that damage to fishing nets has sometimes been caused by the movements of submarines. This is possible, but cannot be proved. Mines from the last war, are also sometimes brought up in the nets of trawlers. During the last world war, Trawler crews were very buisy with mine-sweeping. My father machine-gunned floating mines from tugs he sailed on. Although usually below the surface, mines sometimes broke loose and were a hazard. There are hundreds of sunken ships in the oceans, - a hazard to ships and also submarines.
After the last world war, my cousin, N.E.Richmond, was cook aboard the H.M.S.Reward, a Navy tug. Moored next to them was a navy submarine, the H.M.S.Truckulant, in Chatham docks. The submarine left anchor for the Medway, then was seen to dive below the surface.----She never surfaced and many men were lost. The H.M.S.Reward went to Scotland to pick up two 'Lifting Barges' and returned to the Medway to lift the H.M.S.Truckulant with hausers and lifting 'camels'. So, submarines have hazards also.
A tragic event took place on 12th August-2000. A Russian submarine, The Kursk, sank in the Bearents Sea, near Norway, after a massive explosion.
One of the biggest in the world, at 19,000tons and 150yards long, the Kursk was the most silent of all submarines
It is presumed that torpedoes carried, unexpectedly exploded, with a massive lethal force
As a member of a family involved with the sea, my heart goes out for all Russian people connected with this tragedy, and especially to the sub-mariner's families.
Russian 'Kursk' Accident

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Good books to read are:-
'Hull's Waterfront' by Philip.C.Miles
'The Story Of St. Andrew's Dock-Hull' by Michael Thompson-Hutton Press.
'Lost Trawlers Of Hull-1835-1987' by Alec Gill.-Hutton Press.
'Hessle Road' by Alec Gill.-Hutton Press.
and 'Hull-The Fishing Years' by Rex Booth.(Hull Daily Mail Publication)

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PAGE UPDATED 08-July-08