THE RAW MATERIAL 



150ft., and when fully laden with coal, ice and 

 stores, and starting for fishing-grounds a thousand 

 miles or more away, she would carry about 250 tons. 

 The gigantic growth of the steam fishing industry 

 is shown by the simple statement that while in 1886 

 there were practically no steam trawlers in exist- 

 ence, in twenty years there were no fewer than 2,400 

 at work, most of these being attached to Grimsby, 

 Hull and Aberdeen. In 1906 the quantity of fish 

 landed from trawlers and line fishing vessels was 

 677,937 tons, valued at ^8,726,508. 



Wast numbers of steam drifters, too, had come 

 into existence, superseding the sailing craft, though 

 there were still great numbers of these fine vessels 

 employed, just as there were still considerable num- 

 bers of sailing smacks, equipped with the beam- 

 trawl, at work, leaving ports like Brixham, Rams- 

 gate and Lowestoft. These sailing trawlers made 

 short trips, rarety extending over a week, and less 

 if the catches warranted an earlier return to port. 



A typical steam trawler, built in 1916, was 117ft. 

 long, 22^ft. broad, and i3^ft. deep, bunker capacity 

 about 125 tons; with triple expansion engines, 75 

 nominal horse-power boiler, with a working pressure 

 of i8olb., and a large double-barrelled winch of 

 1,000 fathoms capacity. Her Admiralty hire rate 

 was more than ^132 a month. She was offered for 

 sale, was described as a " really magnificent boat, 

 built to a special specification and fitted with all 

 the very latest improvements." The price asked 

 for her was £11,750, a sum which was about twice 



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