Life and Times of Jacinta Fishing Trawler

Jacinta Fishing Trawler was once Britain’s top earning trawler and possibly the areas most famous boat.

Sad Times for Jacinta

Sadly, Fleetwood’s most famous trawler is being scrapped where she stands in the dock.

The interior of the trawler is in good condition. However, the hull is in really poor condition so the owners, Jacinta Trust, haven’t been able to secure a license to move her by sea.

The cost of taking her out of the water to move by land is far too expensive. So her chances of a journey to the shipyards at Camel Laird disappeared.

Most other solutions to the question of how to preserve Jacinta for the future have been exhausted. So the only remaining option is to scrap this much loved vessel where she stands in the dock. Unless of course you know about a bottomless pit of money which could help!

On the bright side, everything of any historic value has been removed from the ship. All the artefacts have been donated to Fleetwood Museum. There will be an exhibition of them in due course.

Thanks to Christopher Verity for these photos taken in June 2020.

Statement from Jacinta Trust

The 47-year-old vessel is moored in Fleetwood Harbour Marina. It’s fallen victim to a chain of events which mean she’s reached the end of her life.

David Pearce, Chairman of the Jacinta Charitable Trust which owns the former arctic trawler, said: “It is a sad day. For the last 12 months the Trustees have been trying to find a more positive future for Jacinta but without success.”

Problems began when two leaks were detected in the port side of the ship which rests against the quayside. Plans to tow the ship to the Cammell Laird shipyard at Birkenhead for repairs and maintenance were put on hold because the Maritime & Coastguard Agency ruled that the ship could not leave port unless temporary repairs could be made in Fleetwood docks.

Irreparable Damage

David said: “We have employed professional divers and highly skilled craftsmen on two occasions and they have not been able to achieve the temporary repairs. They have revealed further damage on the port side.”

Last year, two of the trustees died – first Tony Lofthouse the generous benefactor who financed the whole Jacinta project and then, five weeks later, Lionel Marr, Chairman of the Jacinta Trust who brought the ship to Fleetwood in 1995 and headed the team which ran Jacinta.

David said: “Apart from the personnel nature of these tragedies, the deaths of our two colleagues and friends meant changes for the Trust which have had a bearing on our work.”

No Practical Alternative

Since the ship could not leave the port the Trust examined ways of preserving Jacinta by lifting her out onto dry land or encasing her in a dry dock.

David said: “These ideas do not stack up practically or financially.”

Meanwhile other members of the Jacinta team have retired or died over the years leaving only a small group of pensioners to look after the ship.

David said: “Even if we could put Jacinta into a better condition now, there is no one to look after her in the long term and the revenue from visitors never did pay the bills. A fortune has been spent on the upkeep of the vessel over the years. The Trustees have a legal duty to act responsibly and we would not want Jacinta to become an old hulk or even sink in the dock. It is time for her to go.”

Now, the Trustees are working with Associated British Ports, the owners of Fleetwood docks and talking to specialist firms of ship dismantlers along with the Department of the Environment who will oversee the work within the dock complex.

Continuing the Story of Deep Sea Fishing

David said: “Nearly 25 years ago we set out to tell people the story of deep sea fishing and about the men and women who made it happen. Jacinta has achieved that aim in spades. We are rightly proud of what we have done. And now that historic education work will continue through the team at Fleetwood Museum on Queens Terrace.”

Historic items from Jacinta have been donated to Fleetwood Museum and the Jacinta Trust are also in talks with Wyre Dock Development Group about their plans for a dockland heritage centre.

Look Around Jacinta

Visit Fylde Coast went along to look around the trawler at an open day held on 6 June 2015. You could see inside the engine room, the bridge (below), wheelhouse, chart room and radio room.

The next clip looks around the factory deck. Here, fish was gutted to keep it fresh, until the fishing crew returned to land.

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The hold (below) was once packed with fish and ice, then later became a museum and function room. This group of folk musicians were enjoying a sing-along at a Maritime Open Day.

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Living Accommodation

The crew of the Jacinta would be working for something like 18 hours a day whilst at sea. The life of a fisherman was hard: either work, eating or sleeping.

The crew had cabins like this to sleep and rest in.

The crew enjoyed meals prepared in the well equipped galley kitchen.

Fleetwood’s Record Breaking Trawler – Jacinta no 3

She’s the third Marr trawler in Fleetwood with the name Jacinta.

Jacinta is a 615 ton stern trawler which had a crew of 16. The ship is 50 metres long and 9.75 metres wide, needing 6 metres of water to float. Powered by a 1633 horsepower diesel engine, it can travel at 11 nautical miles an hour.

The Small Ships Division of Swan Hunter at Wallsend built the boat for J. Marr & Sons from Fleetwood. Launched in 1972, she was listed on the British Register of Shipping as motor trawler FD159.

Breaking records

Did you know? In 1975 Jacinta broke records for a Fleetwood wet catch when she brought 188 tons ashore after a 19 day trip to the Icelandic fishing grounds.

By 1986 and working out of Hull, she broke another record to become Britain’s top earning trawler with a catch value of over £1.3 million.

With a catch of 230 tons selling for £270,516, her third record was set in 1991.

In 1994, Jacinta was the top earning British trawler, with £1.9 million in 10 months. In 23 years at sea, Jacinta earned over £17.3 million.

Did you know? This Jacinta could trawl up to 3.5 MILLION fish fingers in just 10 days! 

As with all machines and equipment, the cost of repairs eventually became too costly. On 9th February 1995 she was towed from Hull to Fleetwood, to become the main piece of a maritime museum display.

Jacinta’s 1 & 2

The first Jacinta was a coal-fired steam trawler built in Selby in 1915 at a substantial cost of £10,000. Jacinta no one was 289 tons gross and 133 feet long.

She was immediately requisitioned for war service until 1918, and again from 1939 to 1945. She was scrapped in 1953.

Did you know? Jacinta No1 was one of a group of Fleetwood trawlers deployed to take part in the Dunkirk evacuation operation and saw action on June Ist.

Jacinta number two, FD 21, was built for J. Marr in 1955. She was scrapped in 1971, being sold for breaking at Bo’ness by P. & W. MacLellan Ltd on 26 December ’71. 

This was a diesel ship built by Cochrane & Sons Ltd, also in Selby in 1955, the same length but weighing in at 334 tons. She was a sidewinder-style trawler, and typical of the diesels which replaced coal after WW2.

This photo is from the collection of the late Peter Horsley, for which Fleetwood Museum holds copyright.

The skipper of the 1955 Jacinta was Bill ‘Toby’ Wright. He was one of the top hake skippers when Fleetwood was renowned for that fish.

Among the many items donated to Fleetwood Museum is a framed triple photo of all three Jacinta’s, side by side.

The Marr Family

The Marr family originated in Hull but had a long association with Fleetwood. Members of the family lived here for many years, before moving back east again.

In Fleetwood their trawlers usually had a name ending in ‘A’ and in Hull ending in ‘ella’. Jacinta is also a popular girl’s name in Portugal where you also have Saint Jacinta.

In Fleetwood some members of the family ran the Dinas trawler company which eventually became part of the main Marr shipping group. Dinas ships did not have the same name pattern.

Jacinta Trust – the first rescue

After many years at sea and becoming the most famous stern trawler of her generation, the engines failed.

This video is by ‘TheTenterden’, on her final trip due to broken crankshaft, in October 1994.

Jacinta was a record-breaking earner when she fished from Fleetwood and Hull and was given to the Trust by the Marr family at a time when she was about to be scrapped.

A group of Fleetwood people rallied to save her and brought her back home, having paid just £1 for the ship.

Restored and back at sea

The ship was restored and was able to sail again under her own power to visit maritime events all around Britain including the Spithead Review of 2005.

Once fitted with a new engine, she sailed to heritage festivals from her berth in Fleetwood Dock. 

Thousands of people have visited Jacinta with her crew of ex-trawlermen and enthusiastic amateurs. Many schoolchildren have toured the ship.

Here she is, filmed by ‘Arthurspark’, entering the lock at Fleetwoods Wyre marina after returning from Birkenhead festival.

Volunteers restored the ship so that you can see what it was like to be a deep-sea fisherman.

Access to the boat was via Affinity Lancashire (formerly Freeport Fleetwood). You could look around and meet members of Jacinta Trust on open days.

• Find out much more from the trawlers own website.

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