The Overseas Patrol Squadron (known as the Fishery Protection Squadron until 2020) is a front-line squadron of the Royal Navy with responsibility for patrolling the UK's Extended Fisheries Zone, both at home and around British Overseas Territories. The squadron, with headquarters at HMNB Portsmouth, is equipped with eight of the s.
The squadron is the oldest front-line squadron in the Royal Navy, and had Admiral Lord Nelson amongst those who have served in it. Originally the squadron was based on the coast of North America, Iceland and the UK, patrolling much of the North Atlantic against French and American incursions. Over the past hundred years transformed to follow a policing-oriented approach, dealing mainly with infringements by civilian fishermen. Despite this, it has maintained strong military role, as evidenced in its role in the Cod Wars of the 1960s–1970s. Vessels of the squadron fly the historic blue and yellow squared pennant of the Fishery Protection Squadron.
Current operations Royal Navy officers assigned to the Fishery Protection Squadron have a secondary role as British Sea Fisheries officers. There is a formal contract between the Ministry of Defence, the Marine Management Organisation and DEFRA that allows the squadron to conduct inspections of all fishing vessels in all UK (excepting Scottish which fall under the Marine Directorate) waters. Fishery Protection Squadron vessels can also stop British fishing vessels in international waters. In the 2008/09 contract year, the squadron spent 700 days at sea on patrol, conducting 1,102 inspections. From the inspections, 231 ships broke UK or EU law. As a result, 144 verbal warnings, 33 written warnings and 10 financial administrative penalties were handed out. The most serious breaches resulted in eight vessels being detained at UK ports. When a vessel is detained, the captain of the squadron ship contacts the Marine Management Organisation operation centre in Newcastle, which formulates a decision based on information provided to it by ships, aircraft, marine enforcement officers and fishermen, and then relays this decision back to the fishery protection ship.
In 2008, 60% of all fish caught in the EU were caught within British jurisdiction. With as many as 500 fishing ships in British waters at any one time, including dozens from EU countries, it is regarded by many as a difficult task to patrol UK fishing grounds. There is also monthly rotating aerial surveillance of the entire fishing area under call-sign "Watchdog", with aircraft provided by Direct Flight Aviation. Each aircraft transmits the identity and position of the vessel to squadron ships, which, combined with satellite data from navigational databases which allows the squadron to build a surface picture of fishing activity.
Each day, data from the inspections is sent to fisheries managers. The managers form part of several agencies which co-ordinate on a super-national level to monitor the fish stocks, negotiates fishing agreements and plan conservation measures.
Conflict and boarding Occasionally, a fishing trawler will foul another's nets, or the sensitive border areas in the middle of the English Channel will be the focus of a dispute between trawlers. These disputes can escalate to attempted rammings, disruption of each other's fishing, shining searchlights into bridges and even firing flare guns at other trawlers. In these circumstances ships of the squadron are required to separate the trawlers and act as an informal arbitrator in the dispute to prevent further conflict or injury. Their rules of engagement reflect this role.
When a vessel is inspected, a boarding team from the FPS ship is sent. The team is formed of a Royal Navy and British Sea Fisheries-qualified officer, an assistant boarding officer, and a small security team. The officer sent could include the commanding officer, executive officer (XO) or first lieutenant, assisted by the gunnery officer, XO's assistant or operations officer. They work together to examine documentation, ensure the fishing gear (and landed fish) are of legal size, and liaise with the FPS and MMO via radio.
History
The Fishery Protection Squadron is the oldest squadron of the Royal Navy and can be traced back to 1481, although some sources, including the Royal Navy, date it to 1379. Even before an organised navy was established, the herring fishermen in Great Yarmouth fought skirmishes with foreign fishermen, who would be hanged as pirates from the gallows at Cross Sands if caught.
Early history During the reign of Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses, English fishermen were beginning to fish in the waters around Iceland, and the King ordered that minimal protection be provided by and paid for by levies from the fishing industry. Richard III and Henry VII continued this, but occasionally this protection was not enough: 1,200 English herring fishermen were killed in a single action by Flemish warships, and likewise the Scots often had difficulties with Dutch fishermen. Because of these and other incidents, by the 16th century it was clear that an organised force was required. A petition was put forward to the Lord High Admiral for a small bark or two. As a result, the first Fishery Protection ship was commissioned for an annual fee to the Admiralty of £100, paid for by the fishermen of Yarmouth. It took the form of a wafting ship (wafting meaning 'to convey safely' or 'to convoy'), which patrolled the North Sea fishing grounds during the herring season.
This ship was eventually replaced in 1659 by a dedicated fishery protection ship for Yarmouth, with a crew of 25 and an armament of "swords, half-pikes, muskets and an ample supply of large stones". In the 18th century a similar arrangement was brokered by Scottish fishermen from George III, also for an annual payment of £100. This amount is still paid today, although as a token gesture. Samuel Pepys was connected with Fishery Protection: he received an annual honorarium for efforts to gain similar protection on behalf of English fishermen.
Before becoming famous, Lord Nelson captained in 1781 as part of the Fishery Protection Squadron in North America, capturing the U.S. fishing schooner Harmony off the coast of Cape Cod. He took it in tow, with the master of the schooner acting as pilot for both ships for the unfamiliar shores around Boston Harbor. Once the ships were safe, he allowed the schooner to continue unimpeded, saying to the master, "You have rendered us a very essential service, and it is not the custom of English seamen to be ungrateful. In the name, therefore, and with the approbation of the officers of this ship, I return your schooner and with it this certificate of your good conduct. Farewell, and may God bless you." The certificate of good conduct protected the schooner from capture by a British ship. In return, the master gave a present to Nelson of "four sheep, some poultry, and a quantity of vegetables", which Nelson ordered to be shared amongst the sick. Even today, on Trafalgar Day, the flag officer shaves with the same cut-throat razor used by Nelson while he commanded Albemarle.
19th century With historical rivalries between the U.S. and Britain in North America, the fishery protection squadron in Newfoundland and the surrounding area was seen as very important. At the time, the British hugely outnumbered the Americans in terms of fishery protection vessels, with 226 guns to 31 respectively. On 5 August 1853, contingents of the U.S. and British fishery protection squadrons for the area met at Halifax, Nova Scotia for a goodwill visit. The steamer , carrying Commodore Shubrick and his flag, arrived under dense fog and heavy rain at 8:00 pm. Princeton saluted the citadel, and fired a 15-gun salute "for the red cross of St. George", which was displayed by Vice Admiral Sir George Seymour on . There was a minor problem when Commodore Shubrick received with a 13-gun salute; he returned the salute to the vice admiral with an equal number of guns, rather than the 15 that the vice admiral was traditionally entitled to. He believed that "a commander in chief is a commander in chief", whatever his rank. The rest of the event went without any problems, as did a similar event held at Berkeley Springs, Virginia.
At the end of May 1898, and arrived at St. John's from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to form part of the fishery protection squadron for the French treaty coast. They were sighted off Trepassey by the Americans, who reported on their arrival in the New York Times. With these new arrivals and others, by the end of 1898 the entire squadron had been rebuilt with powerful, modern cruisers replacing the outdated corvettes previously seen. The squadron was rebuilt in part because of the threat of an oversized French armoured cruiser sent to the area the previous year, which was seen as a threat despite being too large to enter most of the local harbours. Two smaller ships were also sent by the French to replace local wooden transport vessels, and in Autumn a French squadron gathered at Saint Pierre and Miquelon, forcing the British government to respond by sending two extra ships to Sydney, Nova Scotia, only 18 hours steaming from St Pierre. For two weeks near the end of the year, a small scale war seemed likely, but was averted after diplomatic talks.
+ Ships and Vessels of War of the North American Station on 16 August 1853Ship/VesselTypeGunsLeanderShip50VestalShip28CalypsoShip18MediaSteamer6ArgusSteamer, 6BasiliskSteamer, 6DevastationSteamer6RoseSteamer – hired2Neriey?Cutter2Alice RogersSchooner – hired2DartSchooner – hired2Bomta?Schooner – hired2BriskSteamer14Nerbuddar?Brig12
French Shore By 1900, the situation had escalated. The key issue was the French Shore, resulting from the Peace of Utrecht. The treaty allowed the French to fish along the Newfoundland coast between Cape St. John and Cape Ray, however it made no claims about whether this was an exclusive right. As a result, the two nations roughly shared the fishing grounds under an unstable joint sovereignty understanding, but the respective fishery captains were given what were described by the local press as "autocratic powers". These powers were given to the captains by the Newfoundland government, granted via yearly act of the Newfoundland Legislature. In 1900, the bill was rejected in an attempt to force the British to act over what was seen as an encroaching and overbearing French presence. The British prepared to defend the area against the three French warships sent to the area each year. Colonel T Henry McCallum was appointed as governor of the colony. McCallum had already built a reputation for organising the defence of colonies, having previously fortified Singapore and Hong Kong. Fifty men were taken aboard as part of a local naval reserve force, with the hope of expanding the force to as many as 1,000 within a few years. There were also plans to turn St. John's into a naval fortress, akin to that of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Lord Astor incident
Tensions between Russia and the UK were heightened after the Dogger Bank incident of 1904, and on 9 May 1923 a trawler from Hull—the Lord Astor—was seized by a Soviet gunboat off the coast of Murmansk for alleged illegal fishing. The trawler was captured after the fishery protection sloop returned briefly to Norway to re-coal and resupply. Godetia was soon relieved by under Captain Evans, commander of the fishery protection cruiser squadron.
1950s —from the Scottish region of the Fishery Protection Squadron—was sent to Lossiemouth on 1 June 1953, to act as reviewing ship for a "Coronation fleet review" involving about 70 fishing vessels from the ports of Hopeman, Burghead and Nairn, as well as Lossiemouth proper. A Fleet Air Arm helicopter gave a demonstration of air-sea rescue operations as part of the display.