Fishermen, the Fishing Industry and the Great War at Sea

[seaJane]

Fishermen, the Fishing Industry and the Great War at Sea: A Forgotten History? / by Robb Robinson.

Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2022. Paperback £24.99 (but see NB below).

This book examines the scale and scope of the largely forgotten role played for the Admiralty by 3000 armed fishing vessels, 39,000 fishermen and many coastal communities during the Great War in the unrelenting struggle against mines and U-boats.

NB - 30% off Maritime Studies books, use code LUP30

 

[pierssc]

Thanks for that - as the grandson of a Lieutenant RNR who commanded trawlers in the North Sea and the Med I think I ought to get that!

[seaJane]

2 minutes ago, pierssc said:

Thanks for that - as the grandson of a Lieutenant RNR who commanded trawlers in the North Sea and the Med I think I ought to get that!

Do let us know what you think of it, if you do buy it!

sJ

[horatio2]

Ordered but N.B. the same book is on the LUP as the 1 Mar 2019 edition. I trust I will receive the 1 Mar 2022 edition for my £22.

[seaJane]

I think the paperback must be the most recent edition then. I hope they'll let you return and replace if the wrong format arrives.

[AlanD]

Does the book cover the armament of these ships in much detail?

 

Regards

 

Alan

[seaJane]

13 hours ago, AlanD said:

Does the book cover the armament of these ships in much detail

I don't know, I'm afraid: I'm only passing on an advertisement. It might be worth asking your local library for an inter-library loan.

[Kath]

https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Fishermen_the_Fishing_Industry_and_the_G.html?id=f3QjEAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

[North Sea]

On 06/03/2022 at 02:24, AlanD said:

Does the book cover the armament of these ships in much detail?

 

Regards

 

Alan

 

[North Sea]

It does cover a fair amount of the changes in armament etc deployed on the armed fishing vessels and the years they were introduced.

[AlanD]

Thank you.

Edited 19 March , 2022 by AlanD
Typo

[Felix C]

I disagree that it covers armament in detail. It does not. It is a rather rambling work attempting to tie-in trawlers, fishing and ASW. Mostly the latter. I thought it was disjointed and departed from the title which does not imply work as auxiliary naval vessels. 

Edited 5 April , 2022 by Felix C

[robbie56]

The call to “action stations” in the face of insurmountable odds is something only a rare few can control.
 

Joseph Watt, VC, Ch.Skipper, H.M.Drifter, Gowanlea,R.N.R. b.25/06/1887 Fisherman.

Date of Act of Bravery :- 15th May,1917,Straits of Otranto,Mediterranean,refusing to surrender to 3 Cruisers 
and 2 Destroyers of the Austrian Navy,opening fire on the SMS Novara with its 6 Pounder guns.The Gowan 
-lea was rapidly hit with four heavy shells seriously damaging the boat.The other Drifters around the Gowan- 
lea followed its example,but were also subject to heavy fire,three being sunk.The Austrian ships then headed 
for home. 

[horatio2]

4 hours ago, Felix C said:

I disagree that it covers armament in detail. It does not. It is a rather rambling work attempting to tie-in trawlers, fishing and ASW. Mostly the latter. I thought it was disjointed and departed from the title which does not imply work as auxiliary naval vessels. 

I could not disagree more with the above summary by @Felix C. The book does not claim that it "covers armament in detail". As @North Seastates: "It It does cover a fair amount of the changes in armament etc deployed on the armed fishing vessels and the years they were introduced." Mines and minesweeping, gunnery and ASW developments are covered in adequate detail for a non-technical reader.

The work places the huge demands of the Auxiliary Patrol in the context of the continuing need for a fishing industry to keep the nation fed. The inevitable overlap between Auxiliary Patrol fishing boats (ASW, minesweeping., convoy escort and patrolling) and the need to protect fishing fleets is well-explained. The book, apparently, "...departed from the title which does not imply work as auxiliary naval vessels". I think the inclusion in the title of "The Great War at Sea" is a pretty good clue that the narrative will not just cover deep-sea trawling, herring fleets and inshore fishing (alhtough it does provide very useful background on the pre-war, WW1 and post-war fishing undustry0.

I am very happy to recommend this book as a god starting point in understanding the part that 3,000+ fishing vessels manned by nearly 40,000 fishermen played in winning the war at sea, while ensuring that fish and chips remained on the Great British Menu.

[Felix C]

By your reasoning a work about tailors drafted in the army and no longer being tailors but infantry could still be titled Tailors and the Tailoring Industry in the Great War. 

[horatio2]

Indeed - if there is a tailoring tale to tell, tell it.

I assume you are subtly referring to the Royal Army Tailoring Corps, "the elite unit founded by the veteran war hero Lt Gen Sir Frederick (Tiger) Nidgett, the victor of Port Said ... [an] illustrious regiment. It was virtually abolished 10 years ago when it was reduced to no more than a holding unit in a former dog biscuit factory at East Ardsley Junction in the West Riding. Yet somehow its age-old traditions survive".

Unfotunately, not WW1 so not a GWF topic for discussion. Those who wish to know more of tailors at war (Regimental Trouser-Cutter Sergeant Major, and the field sewing-machine commando, so much feared by the Germans, et al) can follow this link -  https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3610119/End-column.html

[Felix C]

Touché