Dual Purpose (1950s)

On the 12th of May 1952, McFisher's Drifter Company Bloomfields launched their first diesel vessel. They described it tly as a dualpurpose ship and it was to join their Yarmouth fleet. [Music] How often one or two words in a bare announcement will reveal the whole new and unknown world. For 8 months every year, the keyside at Yarmouth is just such a world, silent and empty. The herring season is short. For the rest of the year, the squeal of the capston is stilled and the warehouses stand deserted. But in that tur phrase, a dualpurpose ship, there may be an answer. The old type herring drifters were made to cast their nets and drift with the tide. They weren't built or powered to troll for white fish when the herring season was over. So month after month, they lie tied up at the keyside, idle and unproductive. Now in the shipyards, a new note can be heard. If large markets for herrings in Eastern Europe are lost to us now, build ships that are not just drifters, but have the power to troll for white fish the rest of the year round. For headock, place, soul, hay, halibet. Fish the housewife always wants, but fish that come from the more distant grounds the old drifters can't reach. Build modern ships designed from the keel up for the conditions of [Music] today. Back in 1950, Bloomfield drew up plans for two new diesel-driven motor ships. They were to be powerful and economical to run, and they were to be built as drifter and twer combined. [Music] The only concession to convention was the funnel. And since a diesel vessel needs none, a dummy would house a drying room for the crew. The idea of a dualpurpose drifter troller wasn't new, of course. In fact, Bloomfields had themselves built, though steam powered by the early 30s. But the patterns now laid down by Richards, the ship builders, were very different, combining experience from many previous experiments. The boats would be the most highly powered drifter trollers yet built. And if they proved successful, they would probably be the forerunners of a new type of fleet. In every aspect of construction, low running costs were to be the [Music] aim. Those ribs, now redhot from the furnace, would hold the shell of a boat operating in a highly competitive industry where an uneconomic ship would never survive. But a diesel boat needs no boiler to get up steam. As a result, length could be cut down from 95 ft to 85 ft. A big consideration with construction costs at something like £1,000 a foot. And even so, there will still be more hold space for the catch. The fish will be better stowed with plenty of ice, and that means fresher fish on the kitchen table. Again, diesel oil is cheaper than coal, and being less bulky, you can carry more, which will give the ships that vital extra range. In all, operating costs will be cut by nearly 50%. All the gear and tackle of these ships from mast headlights to prop shaft was made in the machine shop vyard. The ship builders made everything in fact but the engine and the electrical equipment. Two-way radio channels, radio direction finders, electronic sounders for locating the SHs, all the latest equipment possible for the best ship will command the best skipper. And the best skipper will get the best crew. And ultimately, it's on the skipper and his crew that the success of the ship will depend. [Music] The construction of these boats aroused the greatest interest in the East Anglian fisheries. In Yarmouth, the home of Bloomfields, the local industry has been looking for a lead, and a bold and successful policy on Bloomfield's part could easily have a big effect on the policy of other fishermen. As the date for the launching of the first boat approached, the unhurried but steady pace of the shipyard craftsman belied a mounting sense of expectancy much wider than just in the company [Music] itself. As the final preparations were made, though little of this could be guessed from the fragmatic countenances of the men in whose hands the finishing touches lay. So the moment came when the wedges were knocked into place, and one final tap would send the ship down the launching way into the water. Mrs. Vandenberg, the launching mistress, was from the youngest apprentice in the yard. And then the big moment. I named this ship the Ocean Sunlight. And may God bless her and all who sail in her. Ocean Sunlight. She was named, echoing the memory of the first Lord Liver, the founder of Mech Fisheries. Bloomfield's first ocean sunlight turned into a mind sweeper during the war went down in the perilous waters of the North Sea. Now once again an ocean sunlight will sail up the river to young in difficult times to those who may have lost faith in the future of British fishing. 6 weeks later with fitting out completed her diesel engine was carrying her out to sea for trials. An anxious moment this, and no less anxious because of her owner's strong belief in her future. Every skipper in East Anglia would know she was showing her paces that day, and there would be shrewd eyes watching her from the shore. Soon her sister ship would be off the stops. What skipper would she get? [Music] Certainly everything that could be done has been done to make this ship as modern and efficient as she can be. The compass in the ceiling looks down on echo sounding apparatus for locating the [Music] shs. For communicating with the shore, radio telephone is fitted beside a cabin that sets a new standard of comfort for a boat of this size. [Music] And below the deep voice diesel speaks of a ship that will range farther and faster into more distant fishing grounds, drifting for herrings in season and trolling for white fish for the rest of the [Music] year. It was not yesterday we became the sailors of the world. and her owners believe that this boat with her ability to cut out those wasted idle months for ship and crew may set the pattern for the future. In the months that lie ahead, there will be many beside her owners watching and wishing her [Music] [Applause]