TRAWLERS TO THE RESCUE 



Society's medals were also awarded to the men, who 

 had again proved the value of fishermen in time of 

 war. 



At Buckingham Palace, later, the skipper and his 

 crew were received by the King, who said : "I 

 congratulate you heartily upon your gallant and 

 heroic conduct. It is a great feat to have saved 

 seventy-one lives. I realise how difficult your task 

 must have been, because I know myself how arduous 

 it is to gybe a vessel in a heavy gale." 



From the very beginning of the war it was almost 

 a matter of course that life-saving operations at sea 

 included splendid work by trawlers and other fishing 

 vessels. These acts were not in most cases of the 

 nature which so specially called attention to the 

 Provident and her crew ; but they invariably 

 involved the display of uncommon courage and skill. 



Foremost amongst these doings was the behaviour 

 of trawlers in connection with the deplorable loss of 

 the three cruisers, Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue en 

 the morning of September 22, 1914. These were 

 sister ships of 12,000 tons and 18 knots, and the 

 circumstances of their loss created a widespread and 

 painful impression. It was considered advisable by 

 the Admiralty to issue a statement with reference 

 to the sinking of the cruisers, and accordingly the 

 Secretary of the Admiralty published one. The 

 Admiralty said that the facts of the affair could not 

 be better conveyed to the public than b}' the reports 

 of the senior officers who had survived and landed 

 in England. " The sinking of the Aboukir was, of 



91 



