STEAM, THE CONQUEROR 147 



Gamecock Fleet, when the Russian ships began firing, 

 that a great many trawlers, by suddenly going full 

 speed, either lost or damaged their trawls. 



The plan of a steam-trawler, which is given, 

 shows the Otter gear ready for shooting, the position 

 of the apparatus in the vessel, and the trawl when 

 at work. The net is bag-shaped, the mouth being 

 very wide, to give the greatest possible spread of net. 

 The size of the net depends entirely on the power 

 of the vessel using it ; but the average size of a 

 modern North Sea otter trawl-net is about 100 ft. 

 in length, with a spread of from 80 to 90 ft. 

 The otter trawling-boards are attached to the net, 

 and it is the force of water passing between those 

 boards which gives the " spread," or, in other words, 

 keeps the net open. The trawling warps are fastened 

 to the boards, the length of warp used being regulated 

 by the depth of water in which the vessel is fishing. 

 Hundreds of fathoms of heavy wire warp are used 

 by a steam - trawler, so that powerful steam - winches 

 are necessary for hauling in the gear. As the illustra- 

 tion shows, the warp from one barrel of the winch 

 passes first round a centre fairlead, thence round a 

 midship side fairlead, and then over the after gallows, 

 while the warp from the other barrel, after passing 

 over the centre fairlead, goes direct over the fore 

 gallows. The warps generally pass through a special 

 warp-guide, or towing-block, which is placed well aft 

 in the vessel, the ends of the warp, as already stated, 

 being attached to the otter boards. On the under- 

 side of the trawl-net a ground-rope is fixed. This 

 ground-rope, as its name implies, trails on the ground, 



