A Fisherman of Men

By Keith William Oct 6, 2017

Ex Skipper Jacobs told me this story of the rescue of 350 men, that he and his crew, were able to carry out when two Royal Naval Ships were torpedoed as they lay at anchor, but steamed up ready to sail. They had over 1200 men on board between them. This happened close to where he was fishing off the coast of Suffolk. He was in his Sailing Smack.
After they were struck he thought his ship would be next but it was not attacked. This happened during the 1914/1918 war.

He was presented with a medal by the King, given a pound for each life saved, and a severe reprimand and threat to his Skippers ticket. It seemed that fishing was banned outside the three-mile limit at that time due to the war. How can you possibly keep a Wiley old skipper from his favourite fishing grounds with landlubber rules?

A FISHERMAN OF MEN

Skipper Jacobs, known as ‘Jaky’ to all,
Sailed his fine smack to drift and trawl,
Out of bounds fishing, during the Great War.
This is the tale he told me of what he once saw.

In boiling water, and cold sea, flaying about,
Were a thousand men, all scream and shout.
Clear our deck boys; throw the kit overboard,
Sail..Sail to the rescue of all we can hoard.

Three hundred and fifty souls, were those he saved,
But, all the others were left to that watery grave,
Then sailing away, soon it was less than fine,
They only had food and water for a crew of nine.

When back on shore he was bathed in praise,
A medal from the King, an audience, a gaze,
Then one pound per life he duly did get,
But warned! Fish there again and you’ll regret.

Proud man, the day he told me this fine tale,
Now old, haggard, tall, bent over, wrinkly and pale,
Looking back in pride at those lives he did save,
But so sad for those, force left, to a watery grave.

About the author

Keith William

188 Up Votes

An very active oldie with an assorted range of life experiences. Born into a fishing family in lowestoft. Father, grand fathers and uncles all were fishermen most of their lives. Born before WW2 so lived through many things, i.e. bombing raids, loss of my father 1942 to a mine destroying his minesweeper. Enjoyed school experiences. I say experiences because of the need to move about for war reasons, I attended school in Ardrossan, Fleetwood, Glasgow, and Lowestoft. Lived for a short time in Coventry immediately after it was blitzed. I witnessed destruction on a super scale fairly frequently. Watched coastal battles and aircraft battles in the sky above me. Some fatal to the aircrew. left school with no formal qualification. Became an apprentice Ship's Joiner for five years. Studied at the Building Department on day release and three evenings a week for five years to gain further qualifications Helped build wide range of boats. including luxury vessels, passenger cargo ships, minesweepers and Russian Trawlers. Then two years National Service in the Royal Airforce as an Airframe Mechanic. Servicing and repairing jet bombers. Flew to Norway on a special mission and experienced flying in a team of aircraft in formation team doing fly pasts over various airfields on Battle of Britain day. Ended up doing aerobatics over our own station before landing. nearly a two hour sortie. Back to the ship yard after demob. further studies. that Qualified me as a teacher. joined Nottinghamshire CC to be trained as a Craft Teacher. Spent six years working in Southwell at the Edward Cludd then returned to Norfolk and taught for 27 years at Wroxham.. Entered a car building contest and built an unusual round car that could turn on the spot. Took early retirement, and became self employed for a few years undertaking a wide range of building jobs both large and unusual. Other than all that I have a successful family of three able children.