By no stretch of the imagination could the people of Hull have guessed, when the Game Cock and Great Northern fishing fleets slipped unobtrusively out to sea on 21 October 1904, that on their return all the eyes of the world would focus upon them.

The event which brought this about occurred when the trawlers had reached a point 220 miles east by north of Spurn Head and their crews were busy fishing. It was shortly after midnight, the weather rather hazy. Suddenly, over the horizon, appeared the outlines of several large vessels, apparently warships, sailing in line. They by-passed the Great Northern fleet and started to head for the Game Cock trawlers. As the men crowded to the rail to look at the flotilla, the passing warships' searchlights were switched on and flashed upon them. Then came a closer inspection by a couple of torpedo-boats. The fishermen, in response, sent up green flares - an accepted signal indicating the nature of their business. What followed next was beyond belief.

Without warning, the warships opened fire and a bombardment lasting some twenty minutes ensued, by the end of which one trawler, the Crane, had been sunk and others damaged. The attackers later proved to be a Russian battle squadron commanded by Admiral Rozhvestvensky, bound for the Far East in their war with Japan. They had passed through the Kattegat and, by incompetent navigation, were about 30 miles off course. They left the scene without rendering assistance.

The first news reached England when two of the steam trawlers - the Mino and the Moulmein - limped into St.Andrew's Docks, flying flags at half-mast. The Mino had sixteen holes in her above the waterline, and the Moulmein was also damaged. Their skippers, Captain Whelpton and Captain Hames respectively, were immediately summoned to the Foreign Office in London to report.

Intense and universal indignation swept through the country and Empire when it was learnt that the skipper of the Crane , Captain George Smith, and his second hand, John Leggott, had been killed with most of the crew injured. An explanation and apology from the Russian Government was called for, with a demand for reparation. The Russian press gave no account of the action, only stating that one of their warships had been in collision with a trawler. The Russian Ambassador denied any incident, claiming he had no further information.

As the days passed and no firm commitment came from the Russians, political and public tension increased to almost breaking point, finally resulting in our Home, Channel and Mediterranean fleets being ordered to be 'in readiness to co-operate'.

Relief came on 28 October, when Mr. Balfour announced that the Tsar and the Russian Government had conceded and expressed their profound regret at the Baltic Fleet attack, promising liberal compensation and retaining the fleet at Vigo for the return of the officers implicated. The Premier further stated that a joint enquiry would be held by representatives of nations under the Hague Convention.

Admiral Rozhvestvensky claimed to have been attacked by Japanese torpedo-boats, one of which he sank. The other, remaining with the trawlers, gave credence to his suspicion that they were in collusion. The situation appeared to have been evoked by nervous apprehension following Danish press comment that Japanese spies were operating in the Baltic. So insistent had been these tales that the Tsar reassured his officers and men that such was not the case - but this apparently did little to diminish their fears.

On 9 March 1905, the Russian Ambassador paid a settlement indemnity on account of the incident to the tune of #65,000. By that time, as might be expected, Valentines had flooded the market with cards of an artist's impression of the outrage!

- "MILITARY CHEST" [AUGUST ?] 1985

"I made five or six trips a year on a trawler as a 'pleasurer' from the age of about nine. My eldest brother Joseph Alfred was a 16 yr old cook on the s.t. Crane and he received a shell splinter wound below the eye in the outrage. Another of my brothers, St. Thomas, spent over 50 years as a sparehand on trawlers with the Kingston Steam Trawling Co. The statue in South Boulevard was erected to mark the episode and it was based on a photograph of my dad."

The doctor on the mission ship, JOSEPH AND SARAH MILES, which went to the aid of the fleet, treated many injuries and afterwards commented:- " I have never witnessed such a grim sight - two men lay on deck, their heads nearly blown to pieces and many injured lay groaning in the cabins. it really was a terrible sight."