Michael Griffith

There was nothing special about the Michael Griffith. She was 34 years old and owned by Clifton Steam Trawler Ltd. Trip after trip she ploughed the northern homewaters searching for fish for the nation’s tables. Read more

Margaret Rose

The 157ft trawler Margaret Rose had a short career fishing out of Fleetwood. Her maiden trip was in 1931 and two years later she was sold to a to a French firm and moved across the Channel. Read more

Lord Lloyd

A call to strike fear into the most hardened fisherman. And for the 18-man crew of a Fleetwood trawler the call came at midnight in heavy seas off the east coast of Iceland. Read more

Ida Adams

She went down stern first, her bow shot in the air and then came down with a sucking sound.

This dramatic description signalled the end of the Fleetwood trawler Ida Adams – but her 12 man crew (and a dog) were saved. Read more

Hondo

Our appeal for information on the trawler Hondo, lost with all hands during the last war, brought a swift response from a reader who wishes to remain anonymous. Read more

Hewetts Trawler

It was recently reported in national newspapers that a top supermarket had bought four Grimsby trawlers and employed their crews. The fishermens’ task is to catch fish for the supermarket shelves and land it – when and where requested by orders from shore.

Such is the demand for fresh fish! Read more

Goth

The last hundred years has seen the “boom and bust” of the fishing industry in Fleetwood. Lives and livelihoods have been built around the search for fish (which still goes on today).

But ships and men have been lost, often without trace, leaving families and communities to grieve – and wonder what happened to their menfolk. Read more

Doris

Researching Trawler Tales often causes me sadness. As I turn the pages of history and read of the maritime disasters which have cost so many lives, I feel as though I’m witnessing the tragedies.

Sadly, while working on this feature, I found myself in the midst of a massive air-sea search of South West Scotland. Read more

Cevic

This story involves a Fleetwood trawler running aground on the rocks at Granch, Isle of Man. But it’s a story with a difference which must have caused a lot of “pub talk” when it happened.

Luckily no one was hurt – but the trawler Cevic was a total wreck. And part of her rusted hull can be seen at low tide near Port Lewaigne. Read more

Alvis

Fleetwood trawlers had many encounters with the enemy during World War II.

Submarines, aircraft and mines all added to their hazardous job of bringing home the fish! Within days of the declaration of war with Germany in September 1939 our fishermen were being torpedoed, shot at and taken prisoners. Read more

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