In early 2009, James Morley acquired a box of magic lantern slides at a house sale in London.

These turned out to be a collection of hand tinted images of a North Sea Boxing Fleet.

What were the Boxing Fleets?

What were the Boxing Fleets?They were an early form of intensive mechanised fishingFour fleets worked out of Hull around the time these images were taken.

Fleets of trawlers that worked together far out in the North Sea.

Serviced by steam cutters which ran their catches into Billingsgate

The Boxing Fleets had their origins in the sail trawling eraThis image from the 1880s is taken from Nor’ard of the Dogger by E.J. Mather

(London, 1889).

Sailing trawlermen had become accustomed to keeping the sea in all manner of weather

The fleets were permanently at sea

As one vessel ran low on fuel and provisions another would be voyaging out to join the fleet. In this way the fleets retained a permanent presence on the grounds.

Called boxing fleets because the catch was stowed in boxes

A typical day

Three six hour trawlsTrawls hauled at 6pm,

midnight and 6am

The Cod End.

Catch sorted and boxed

No of Voyages

Days at Sea

Days in Port

Av. Length of Voyage

1907 8 317 48 39 days

1908 8 321 45 40 days

1909 9 329 36 36.5 days

Vessels were worked hard

Analysis of the Running Logs of the Steam Trawler Viola 1907 - 1909

Crews also worked hard

John Hill age 46: Mate on Boxing Fleet Trawlers

1st August 1904 to 10th January 1905

4 voyages

140 days at sea

21 days at home

Source: Steam Trawler Running Logs

John Hill is Robb Robinson’s great grandfather

Each boxing fleet consisted of up to fifty trawlers that more or less worked together under the guidance of an experienced skipper – the admiral

Skipper John Glanville.

Boxing Fleet Admiral

1923

290 days at sea

75 days ashore

1924

312 days at sea

54 days ashore

Source: Skipper John Glanville’s Fishing Log Book

One of the best known and most experience Boxing Fleet Admirals was Admiral Foot

Photographs of Admiral Foot courtesy of Pam Dennison his great grandaughter.

The most difficult dask was transfering fish on a daily basis from the trawler to the cutter

This had always been a perilous task as these 1880 images from E.J. Mather’s book show.

The open boats generally needed replacing after about 18 months

Unloading the fish boxes onto the cutter.

A Mission Ship accompanied the fleets to provide medical care and wider spiritual and material support

Steam Cutters such as the New Zealand had to run for Billingsgate with the boxes in order to catch the market.

Through all weathers in their dash to

Billingsgate

The Cutter Canada coaling on the River Thames

Collection particularly remarkable because of the

informal images

and the animal life

Who took these wonderful photographs and why were they taken?

A Large Number were used in Toilers of the Deep, the magazine of the Royal National Mission for Deep Sea Fishermen

What happened to the boxing fleets?

Large losses of ships to enemy action whilst fishing and on war service: 1914 – 1918. Fleets reduced in size afterwards

North Sea less productive during inter-war period

Hull owners concentrated investment on highly profitable distant water sector

The last boxing fleet trawlers called back in from the North Sea and laid up in early 1936, almost exactly 75

years ago.

Boxing Fleets:The last survivor