ARMED TRAWLERS AND SALVAGE 



On the daj r on which he gave judgment in the 

 Carrie case, Mr. Justice Hill awarded ;£i 2,280 to 

 various vessels in connection with the salvage of 

 the P. & O. steamer Poona in December, 1917. 

 Amongst these vessels were the armed trawlers 5/7 el- 

 dan, Off a II. and Cedar. On December 6 the Po&na, 

 when oft Beachy Head, on a voyage from London 

 to Calcutta with general cargo and a crew of 121 

 hands, struck a mine and received great damage. 

 She immediately began to go down rapidly by the 

 head, with a list to starboard. Fortunately the 

 weather was fine. 



All hands were called on deck, the engines were 

 stopped, the boats were lowered, S.O.S. signals 

 were sent out, and all hands took to the boats; but 

 afterwards the master, first, second, third officers, 

 chief engineer, three able seamen and six lascars re- 

 turned on board, and eventually the Poona was 

 towed first to Stokes Bay and then into dock at 

 Portsmouth. Her total value was ^564,500 — the 

 ship ^132,500 and the cargo ^432,000. To each of 

 the three armed trawlers the judge awarded ^150. 



These cases of salvage by armed trawlers em- 

 phasize two important facts, first the great value of 

 these handy little vessels in helping to save for the 

 Allies such cargoes as the Carrie and the Poona 

 carried, and secondly their ubiquity. It was almost 

 impossible for a nautical event of any sort to hap- 

 pen during the war without some part, great or 

 small, being played by a steam trawler or drifter en- 

 gaged in mine-sweeping, patrolling or fishing. 



