BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 305 
lias been in vogue on the English trawlers may be open to many objec- 
tions, it is nevertheless a fact, that the training which boys get under 
such a system is important in producing a hardy, brave, and capable 
class of seamen, who are specially fitted for their vocation. 
E. Vessels. 
The various types of vessels employed in the beam-trawl fishery, 
namely : steam-carriers, screw and side wheel steam -trawlers, the North 
Sea sailing trawler, and the single masted trawling smack (also the 
smack’s boat) have all been described very much in detail in the chap- 
ter on fishing vessels and fishing boats of Great Britain, to which 
reference is made for further information as to the construction, rig, 
dimensions, and equipment of the British trawling fleet. Therefore, 
to avoid a repetition of the details, it is deemed necessary in this place 
to give only a general description of the various types of vessels alluded 
to above. * 1 
The steam -carriers, employed in transporting the catch of the trawl- 
ing fleets to the more important markets — London, Grimsby, and Hull— 
are iron, ketch-rigged, screw-steamers, designed especially for the trade. 
They have the reputation of being excellent sea-going vessels, and 
it is said that so well are the qualities of seaworthiness, capacity, and 
speed combined, that though they are able to make headway against 
heavy head winds and seas and to carry a large cargo, they neverthe- 
less steam fast under ordinary conditions of wind and weather. Steam- 
carriers were first introduced in 1864, previous to which time large 
sailing cutters were employed for carrying the fish from the trawling 
fleets t<3 the markets. 
The size varies somewhat, but the following dimensions of the screw- 
steam carrier Australia , of Hull, one of the recent additions to the fleet, 
will give a fair idea of the proportions of the most approved type of 
these vessels : Length between perpendiculars, 135 feet: beam, 22 feet 
6 inches; depth (to top of floors) 11 feet. (See Plate I, page 292.) 
The steam-trawlers are built of iron in some localities, but in other 
places, particularly in Scotland, wood is used in their construction. 
The majority are ketch or schooner rigged screw-steamers, but a con- 
I siderable number of side-wheel boats, chiefly tugs from the Tyne, are 
I employed in trawling. The old Tyne tugs can not, in the true sense of 
the term, be called typical steam-trawlers, since they were designed 
for other purposes, and have been used for trawling only because they 
failed to find employment in towing shipping; a result brought about by 
the employment of steam screw coasting vessels and a general decline 
in the carrying trade from the Tyne. The steam-trawler proper earner 
] At the time this paper was written, the author had prepared an extensive report 
I on the fishing craft of the world, which it was expected would he published at the 
same time as this. The report is still in manuscript, but will probably soon be pub- 
lished. 
Bull. U. S. F. C., 87—20 
