354 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



man's shore address and the name of his vessel, so that 

 when afloat or at home he could be reached with ease. 

 The modern North Sea steam-trawler has a very large 

 coal-carrying capacity, and remains with her fleet until 

 the coal is exhausted. Each fleet, as I have shown, is 

 under an experienced admiral ; and there is a vice- 

 admiral. With few exceptions the admiral's signals as 

 to trawling and changing ground are obeyed. At present 

 a skipper or mate, if with the fleet, could be communi- 

 cated with by the usual method, the carrier, but probably, 

 at no distant date, the admiral's ship and the Mission 

 vessels will be equipped with wireless apparatus. Such 

 installations ought to be insisted upon and made without 

 delay. By means of them constant communication could 

 be maintained between the fleets and the Admiralty and 

 prompt measures taken in case of need. If such an un- 

 fortunate thing happened as a repetition of an outrage 

 like the firing by the Russian Baltic Fleet, British ships 

 of war could be hurried to the scene within a few hours, 

 or dispatched to intercept any vessels that might seek 

 to escape. 



It has been the custom for many years to detail ships 

 of the Royal Navy for fisheries protection duty in the 

 North Sea, and there are officers still in the service, and 

 some on the retired list, who possess exceptional know- 

 ledge of these vitally important waters. When the 

 Russian warships fired on the Gamecock Fleet the ship 

 engaged on this protection duty in that locality was 

 H.M.S. Hearty, later the service was performed by 

 H.M.S. Thrush, but the duties fell mostly to the lot of 

 the torpedo-gunboat type, amongst them being H.M.S. 

 Circe and H.M.S. Sheldrake. Something much more 



