The War at Sea

T H E WA R AT S E A

A HEROIC ENDEAVOUR:

Scottish Fishing Communities andWorldWar I

ishermen, with their specialised knowledge of the sea,

were called upon to defend British waters in the Great

War. Hundreds of vessels joined the Royal Naval Reserve and

performed a wide variety of duties.

TheAdmiralty requisitioned both trawlers and drifters before 1914 in preparation

for war. By April 1915, 1,500 trawlers (almost the entire fleet) and 1,500 drifters had

been taken over.Trawlers were ideal for mine-sweeping duties while others operated

as Q-ships: armed decoys disguised as civilian fishing boats to lure and attack

German U-boats. Drifters, meanwhile, swapped their cotton nets for galvanised steel

anti-submarine nets that they laid to block the entrances to firths and harbours.

As active service vessels, fishing

boats were a legitimate target for

enemy submarines, gunships and

aircraft. Those on patrol or mine-

sweeping duties were fitted with

weapons of their own to repel such

attacks. Despite their small size

compared to warships, fishing boats

did take on the enemy. Fraserburgh

skipper JosephWatt of the Gowanlea

was the first fisherman to be awarded

the Victoria Cross medal for his

bravery in 1917.

Fishing boats were so suited to

wartime activities that the Admiralty built its own fleet of over 750 vessels.Most were

sold to fishermen within ten years of the war ending but theAdmiralty also retained a

number of them until the end ofWorldWar II.

However, not all fishermen fought at sea. Some joined army regiments while

others continued to fish for much-needed food. These men were badly affected by the

breaking up of fishing crews and the loss of boats,while the fishing grounds themselves

were drastically restricted by the minefields to only a few miles from the coastline.

Nevertheless, the German U-boats targeted British fishing boats and fishermen. In all,

394 British fishing boats on war service and 675 non-combatant fishing boats were sunk

in the FirstWorldWar. 434 fishermen lost their lives.

However, by far the greatest direct impact on fishing was the loss of the market

for herring. Herring was the industry’s main product and most of it was exported to

Germany and Eastern Europe.With the outbreak of war this trade stopped and the

industry suffered a severe decline.

Back at home, women within the fishing community had a different experience of

the war from those elsewhere.For many women the war brought work opportunities and

financial independence. Typically women worked in munitions factories, in the Land

Army, in light industry or transportation.

Others took on more traditionally female

roles such as fundraising or nursing, many

travelling to work at the Front Line. However,

for women living on the coast, away from

urban and industrial areas,such opportunities

were limited. In fact, the independence and

mobility that many women experienced

for the first time during World War I was

something that women within the fishing

community were already familiar with. For

them, the huge drop in fish processing meant

that their economic and social freedom was

often reduced.

Other community activities continued,

including the work of the RNLI. With younger

men on active duty, it was often down to the

older generation to go to the aid of those

in danger around our coasts. During the war years, the average age of a lifeboat crew

increased to over 50.

RE CRUITING

Fishermen at Leith

JAME S BRUNTON WILSON

Cellardyke fisherman who was awarded

a medal for his service in theAdriatic.

CREW OF HMD TULIP REQUISITIONED FOR WAR SERVICE

fishing community