FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



week's work. In these handy little seaworthy 

 craft some fine fishing was done by the Brixham 

 men and their neighbours, though the number of 

 vessels and crews was not large. That number 

 gradually grew, and in 1872 about 100 smacks were 

 registered at Brixham. 



The fame of the North Sea as a fishing-ground 

 extended, and wise men went East, settling first at 

 Barking, whence many a stout smack sailed past the 

 Nore to the trawling banks, and at last it became 

 obvious that Grimsby was destined to be the greatest 

 fishing centre. That port, indeed, developed with 

 phenomenal rapidity. In 1790 the population was 

 under 1,000 ; but in 1916 the number was nearly 

 75,000, and of these people the majority subsisted 

 on the fisheries. In the hey-day of the smacks, 

 when the sailing trawler had become a vessel of 

 considerable proportions and carried a crew of five, 

 Grimsby alone had nearly 900 of these craft ; but 

 not one remained when steam had got the mastery, 

 and a vessel which had cost ^1,600 to build and 

 equip fetched only a few pounds. Five splendid 

 smacks, for instance, which had cost about ^7,000 

 to build and fit out, realised a total of only ^215. 

 When Grimsby became the largest fishing port in 

 the world an enormous fleet of steam trawlers was 

 registered there. 



Some of these modern fishing vessels were un- 

 commonly fine and powerful, especially those which 

 made the long voyages such as Iceland and the 

 White Sea. A steam trawler reached a length of 



28 



