Brixham trawler

Last updated

Painting of A Brixham trawler by William Adolphus Knell. The painting is now in the National Maritime Museum. A Brixham trawler.jpg
Painting of A Brixham trawler by William Adolphus Knell. The painting is now in the National Maritime Museum.
Looking forward on the deck of the Brixham trawler Leader, under way under sail off the south coast of England. July 2008. Jib and staysail of Leader.jpg
Looking forward on the deck of the Brixham trawler Leader, under way under sail off the south coast of England. July 2008.
The Brixham trawler Leader at anchor off Cawsand, near Plymouth. July 2008. Leader at anchor.jpg
The Brixham trawler Leader at anchor off Cawsand, near Plymouth. July 2008.

A Brixham trawler is a type of wooden, deep-sea fishing trawler first built in Brixham in Devon, England, in the 19th century [1] and known for its high speed. [2] The design was copied by boat builders around Britain, and some were sold to fishermen in other countries on the North Sea. [2]

Contents

The Brixham trawler was a heavy displacement boat of some 60–80 ft length on the deck, with a long straight keel, a straight vertical stem, usually a fantail stern, and a low freeboard to ease the handling of the nets, though this feature was disguised by high bulwarks. [3] Brixham trawlers carried a tall gaff rig, often ketch rigged though also simply a large sloop, that was powerful enough to carry them quickly to and from the fishing grounds and to tow large trawls. [4] Renowned yacht aerodynamicist and sailor C. A. Marchaj commented on the type, "With little area of keel surface, these boats lacked weatherliness as compared with the Quay Punt… Not without reason, fishermen of the north-east coast swore that the forefoot took them to windward." [3]

Brixham once had a fleet of 400 such vessels, [5] whose distinctive red sails were coated with local red ochre for protection. Other fleets were at Lowestoft with 375 trawlers, 450 at Hull, 625 at Great Yarmouth and 840 at Grimsby, with smaller numbers at other places. [4] Only five remain afloat. One of them, Provident (BM28), took part in the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant. [6] In 2020 just two existing Brixham Trawlers are based in Brixham. Both built by J W & A Uphams. Pilgrim (1895) and Vigilance (1928). in 2022, Vigilance received a grant of £2,000 towards her renovation from the Royal Warrant Holders Association charity fund as part of the Queen's Platinum Jublilee awards. [7]

In the 1968 Kingsley Amis novel Colonel Sun, James Bond says he once spent several months serving aboard a Brixham trawler.

Rescue

On 1 January 1915, the crew of Provident BM291 rescued 71 sailors from HMS Formidable, torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat in the English Channel during the night in a gale. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing</span> Activity of trying to catch fish

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include hand-gathering, spearing, netting, angling, shooting and trapping, as well as more destructive and often illegal techniques such as electrocution, blasting and poisoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailboat</span> Boat propelled partly or entirely by sails

A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brixham</span> Town in Devon, England

Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with Paignton and Torquay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dogger Bank incident</span> 1904 Russian attack on British trawlers

The Dogger Bank incident occurred on the night of 21/22 October 1904, when the Baltic Fleet of the Imperial Russian Navy mistook a British trawler fleet from Kingston upon Hull in the Dogger Bank area of the North Sea for Imperial Japanese Navy torpedo boats and fired on them, also firing on each other in the chaos of the melée.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trow</span> Type of British river cargo boat

A trow was a type of cargo boat found in the past on the rivers Severn and Wye in Great Britain and used to transport goods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing trawler</span> Commercial vessel designed to operate fishing trawls

A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater at a specified depth. A trawler may also operate two or more trawl nets simultaneously.

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Well smack</span> Type of archaic sail fishing boat

A well smack was a type of traditional fishing boat in use in the United Kingdom and then the Faroe Islands between the late 18th century and around 1920. It had a well amidships. The well was filled with circulated external water, which kept fish alive until delivered to land and sold. It was a modified form of a fishing smack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Bolger</span> American boat designer

Philip C. Bolger was a prolific American boat designer, who was born and lived in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He began work full-time as a draftsman for boat designers Lindsay Lord and then John Hacker in the early 1950s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smack (ship)</span> Sailing ship type

A smack was a traditional fishing boat used off the coast of Britain and the Atlantic coast of America for most of the 19th century and, in small numbers, up to the Second World War. Many larger smacks were originally cutter-rigged sailing boats until about 1865, when smacks had become so large that cutter main booms were unhandy. The smaller smacks retained the gaff cutter rig. The larger smacks were lengthened and re-rigged and new ketch-rigged smacks were built, but boats varied from port to port. Some boats had a topsail on the mizzen mast, while others had a bowsprit carrying a jib.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing vessel</span> Boat or ship used to catch fish on a body of water

A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.

Weather helm is the tendency of sailing vessels to turn towards the source of wind, creating an unbalanced helm that requires pulling the tiller to windward in order to counteract the effect.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of fishing</span> Aspect of history

Fishing is a prehistoric practice dating back at least 70,000 years. Since the 16th century, fishing vessels have been able to cross oceans in pursuit of fish, and since the 19th century it has been possible to use larger vessels and in some cases process the fish on board. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Traditional fishing boat</span>

Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Even today, many traditional fishing boats are still in use. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at the end of 2004, the world fishing fleet consisted of about 4 million vessels, of which 2.7 million were undecked (open) boats. While nearly all decked vessels were mechanised, only one-third of the undecked fishing boats were powered, usually with outboard engines. The remaining 1.8 million boats were traditional craft of various types, operated by sail and oars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torbay Lifeboat Station</span> Lifeboat station in Devon, England

Torbay Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Brixham, Devon in England. Brixham Lifeboat Station was opened in 1866 but since 1924 has been known as 'Torbay'. Since 2005 it has operated a Severn-class all-weather lifeboat (ALB) together with a D-class (IB1) inshore lifeboat (ILB).

<i>Excelsior</i> (smack)

Excelsior is an authentically restored fishing smack of the Lowestoft fishing fleet and a member of the National Historic Fleet. She was built by John Chambers of Lowestoft in 1921 and worked until 1936 before being converted into a motor coaster.</ref> In 2021 Excelsior will celebrate her 100th birthday. During her time as a motor coaster she was known as Svinør and worked mainly in Norwegian waters before returning to Lowestoft in 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henley Whalers</span>

Established in 1993, Henley Whalers is a group of sailing boat enthusiasts based in Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire, UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant</span> Part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Elizabeth II

<i>Edith May</i> (barge)

Edith May is a wooden Thames sailing barge built in Harwich, Essex, in 1906. She was used to carry various cargoes until 1952, when a diesel engine was fitted, after which she was used in various Thames Sailing Barge matches, winning several. She was a museum ship for a time, and was restored in 2010 to offer charter trips on the River Medway. Her winter moorings are at Lower Halstow, where she opens during the weekend as a tearoom.

This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water. Some remain current, while many date from the 17th to 19th centuries. The word nautical derives from the Latin nauticus, from Greek nautikos, from nautēs: "sailor", from naus: "ship".

References

  1. "A Brixham trawler - National Maritime Museum". Royal Museums Greenwich . Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 "Brixham deep sea trawlers". Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  3. 1 2 Marchaj, Czesław (1996). Seaworthiness, the forgotten factor (Revised ed.). St Michaels, MD: Tiller Press. p. 18. ISBN   1-888671-09-2.
  4. 1 2 Trinity Sailing Foundation. "Brixham Trawlers". Trinity Sailing. rinity Sailing Foundation. Archived from the original on 24 August 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  5. "Kenya Jacaranda History". Archived from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 7 February 2013.
  6. Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, List of vessels taking part
  7. "Brixham trawler Vigilance from 1926 wins renovation funding". BBC News. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  8. "The Sinking of HMS Formidable 1 January 1915". War and Security.