3-003-908 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Fight off the North Foreland between the crew of the Prince Arthur fishing-smack of Ramsgate and of the Boulogne fishing-boat No. 439, 1861. 'The right of frequenting fishing-grounds has frequently been matter of dispute between Governments...Collisions between the fishermen of different nations are...of frequent occurrence when their fishing-grounds adjoin or are held in common. Thus in the Channel the French and English fishermen are often at loggerheads, and sometimes...these skirmishes end in serious encounters...a Boulogne fishing-boat...ran into the Prince Arthur's starboard bow, carried away her bowsprit...causing the smack to lose all her gear...The master requested the Boulogne boat to get in her bowsprit...which prevented the vessels from separating. The crew of the Boulogne boat then commenced pelting the crew of the smack with stones...[and] cut at the master with an axe. Upon several of the French fishermen attempting to rush on board over the smack's bows, the mate of the Prince Arthur went below and loaded a fowling-piece...[and] fired towards the other vessel, in order to intimidate the French fishermen...The master of the Prince Arthur was struck by several stones, one of which cut his eye and another wounded his right hand'. From "Illustrated London News", 1861.