142 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



admiral, but familiarly spoken of as the " Boss." The 

 admiral is responsible for the fishing operations of the 

 fleet, and, in theory at any rate, when he sets the lead 

 the rest of the trawlers must follow him. Each fleet 

 carries a vice-admiral, who takes charge or command 

 when the admiral is absent. It happened that at the 

 time of the Russian outrage the Gamecock Fleet was 

 commanded by the vice-admiral, Mr. Thomas Carr, 

 a Naval Reserve man. Occasionally a second vice- 

 admiral will be carried in the fleet, so that whatever 

 happens there is a responsible head, an experienced 

 and reliable skipper who is capable of grappling with 

 any emergency that may arise on even the erratic 

 North Sea. Nothing is left to chance. 



For both night and day there are certain established 

 signals according to which the skippers shoot or haul 

 their gear. In the daytime signals are made by 

 means of flags, indicating how the fleet is to trawl. 

 The regular night-signals are one green rocket when 

 the gear is to be shot and the trawling is to be 

 on the starboard tack, two green rockets for trawling 

 on the starboard tack free ; and corresponding one and 

 two red rockets as signals to trawl on the port tack 

 or on the port tack free. Two white rockets are the 

 signal for the trawl to be hauled. When these coloured 

 rockets burst they send up three green or red stars, as 

 the case may be. 



With each fleet there is what is known as a 

 mark-boat, the purpose of which is to indicate the 

 rendezvous of the trawlers when they assemble for 

 the purpose of sending off their fish to the attendant 

 carrier. The mark-boat is usually an old sailing 



