Ship’s Mate

Congratulations! You are now employed as Ship’s Mate on a Grimsby trawler.
Listen to the audio clip below to hear a fellow Ship’s Mate talking about your new job.
Rate of Pay: £42.0s.0d per week. Around £1,002 in today’s money.
Hours of work: 20 hours a day when fishing. Up to 70 hours without sleep when fishing.
Main Duties:
- Act as second in command and relieve the Skipper as required.
- Take charge of the ship if the Skipper is unwell.
- Arrange the ship’s watches, keeping the ship manned 24 hours a day.
- Be responsible for all deck work and maintaining trawling equipment.
- Be responsible for shooting and hauling of the fishing trawl.
- Manage the fishroom, making sure the fish is properly stored. Fish in good condition sells for a better price.

