rounded stem having a \-ery moderate overhang, 

 adopted the new underwater profile. In 1901 he de- 

 signed the first '"knockabout" fishing schooner, the 

 Helen B. Thomas, launched in 1902 at Essex. This de- 

 sign had no bowsprit; the stem was projected forward 

 enough in a very long bow overhang to scr\'e in lieu 

 of the bowsprit for setting proper headsails. This type 

 of schooner became very popular but, as the cost of a 

 schooner was based on overall length and not the 

 waterline length, the newer knockalaouts had verv 

 short bow overhangs, curved in profile. When the 

 schooner fleet began to be converted to auxiliaries by 

 the installation of gasoline engines, the knockabout al- 

 most entirely supplanted the bowsprit vessels in new 

 construction. The end of schooner design in the New- 



England fishing fleet may be said to have been 1912: 

 after that date the sail area declined rapidly and the 

 emphasis was on engine operation. A number of sail- 

 ing schooners were designed by prominent yacht de- 

 signers to race against Canadian schooners, but these 

 were designed primarily for racing and were, as fisher- 

 men, a decadent type. 



Steam Trawlers 



The first attempts to introduce steam into the Xew 

 England fisheries occurred in the menhaden fisheries 

 al)out 1871 at Boothbay, Maine. Steamers were well 

 suited to this operation where runs were short and 

 quick trips necessary, and where moderate weather 

 was required. By 1888 there w-ere 55 steamers, rang- 



172 



