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Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 135, 21 January 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

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GALLANT SERVICES OF (HIM FISHERMEN. illy K. ASHMKAD BARTLETT, I the London "Time"-.") "What would King Garge 'ave <l"iH without these 'ere trawler, ThH was the historic remark of a Wil Country skipper as he gazed round tifl Aegean Sea from the bridge of hH trawler, when the submarine scare w at its height, and before the mouitoiH had appeared to take the place of tIH cruisers and battleship*. The West Countryman had amplH justification for his remark, and evorH reason to be proud of hi* craft, and t!iH hundreds of others, almost cxactlH similar to her. which have played ncH a unique and invaluable role in 11 H Dardanelles Expedition. From tliH latter part of May until the middle oH July the Narrow Seas were left almo-H entirely to the care of the flotillas and trawlers. There were imH nearly enough of the former, and ibfl trawlers bad, therefore, to assist, ThciH work was divided into two namely, patrolling and carrying snpH pl es and troop, from the base ;il Mudr i.- Lo the various benches of (edH They are magnificent oi nicnH the-se lishermen, brought up in a hanH school. Their craft are extremely unJfl comfortable, but. built t" withstand tkoH gab • ol i lie North Sen and the Atlan-H tie, they can go out in any weather and will 'be invaluable this winter iiiH the Eastern .Mediterranean, ns thcvH have been all through the spring andH summer. They hnvc high hows; tlieirH decks taper down amidshi]).s and n-ol again at the stern. In the centre is aH sort of armoured citadel for the cn-H g ne-. captain's cabin, and the conk-H house. The crew, rtko generally num-H ber eight or nine, live forward down! below in very cramped quarters. ThcH whole of the bow is ut'lizod as a hold I for carrying fish, and entrance to it obtained through a hatch. Aft thcH I'shing gear is stored, the ship's stores, and all spare gear. The bridge is very BB high, placed in front of the house, where the helmsman can kccpH under cover. They have two masts, a I single tunnel, and can do 1(1 knots at I a pinch. Thus, when battened down, H the seas can sweep right over the decks, B leaving the little steel citadel fairlv fl Every trawler is distinctive, and the fl whole character of the crew and of the fl life on board depends on the captain. I THE PLEASURE OF GRUMBLING. I These skippers are types who seem I to have survived from an age long I since gone by. You can always tell a I North Sea trawler from a West Coun- I try one. The North Sea skippers seem I stern and taciturn, whereas the West I Countrymen, mostly Devonshire men. I seem genial and loquacious. All are, I however, delightfully independent, and B express their views on things iu gen- I oral in a manner which makes naval of- I filers tremble for the discipline of the I service. They love to criticize every- I thing. ■ In talking of their" lives in time of I peace they criticize their owners, the I middleman who buys their fish,' and I even the very lish they catch. At the I Dardanelles tncy love to hold forth on I the strategy of the campaign, on the I disposition of the Fleet, on the orders I of the admiral, and on the Royal Navy in general, which is, of course, their pet subject for adverse comment. I have never yet seen a trawler receive an order from any admiral or captain which-was not received with a volley of mild oaths from the skipper, followed by an eloquent lecture on how milch better it would he to accomplish the same thing in a different manner. But, nevertheless. I am not hinting that there is any real indiscipline, for the orders are always carried out, hut generally in a manner which was never intended. The skipper of a trawler never will admit that any officer in the Navy is a real seaman. They will stoutly maintain that seamanship is a lost art, , which can now only be found among | themselves, and they love to hold forth on the handling of great battleships as they make their way into narrow harbours or take up difficult anchorages, pointing out how much better they could have done the job themselves. They complain bitterly of the food, missing the fish of the North Sea. There are now parent ships for traw- ' lets, which supply them with bread and fiesh meat and other necessities whenever obtainable, but in the early days they had to replenish their stores from any battleship which happened to be in the neighbourhood, and the wily skippers soon got to know what they called a "generous ship" from a "stuffy one. 1 ' At one time I was on a battleship that enjoyed the highest reputation of all amongst the trawler community. The captain always invited the skippers on board and regaled them with whiskies and sodas, beer and port, while the purser was parting with the best of everything to the crew above. The atteiitions of the trawlers finally becamo somewhat embarrassing, for wherever we lay at anchor, toward, sundown, from all points of the compass, when their day'., work was done, you saw these little craft making for our ship, rac'ng one another. Few have any conception of the amount of work accomplished by those craft. Yet it would have In en almost P impossible to have kept the Army suppled without them. Unhappily it was impossible to clear the minefield, and * after the failure of the attack of March H sweeping operations were abandonPATHOL AND TRANSPORT DUTY. Since that tine the work of the trawlers has been divided into two classc. They search the coasts of the -land, for po.-s'hie hostile submarine bases, and examine every sailing ship which come, within the war zone. They have order- to ram any submarine, or anyth'ng they imagine to be a subtil trine, without hesitation, and many haw been the reports and scares that have turned out to be fals- The trawb'is engaged n transp,-rt duty have perhap, the harder time. They leave Mudros laden with biseuit ;, fresh meat, tinned meat, live goat., for the Gurkha-, ammunition, and a hundred and one other article, which an Army require-. f,.r it, daily use. Piled on the top of this ma-, of goods and livestock, officers and solders take passages to and li'n k Ironi the front. It was no uncommon sight to see a general s tting "ii a lei,(-uit box with a goat gnawing at one bee; and the other boot hidden b-:: all: a quarter of frozen beef. It is a remarkable tribute to then- skill in seamanship, when one considers the % thousands upon thousands of vovages the.\ haw made and the immense d'staiiee-, th.-y have covered, tint only one trawler, I think, has been lost during the whole campaign, and ,he \\a, sunk "II An- ic by shell lire in the very early days, lint m „s, of tlu-e peaceful fisliing craft have new some honourable -are to show from shell wound and