George Henry Smith

George Henry Smith, William Leggett and Walter Whelpton died following an incident with the Russian Navy on the Dogger Bank.

George Smith and William Leggett died at sea, having been shot, whilst Walter Whelpton died from shock resulting from his injuries the following year.

They had been shot by a Russian vessel from a range of about a quarter of a mile away after they were mistaken for Japanese torpedo boats.

George Smith had been the skipper of the steam trawler Crane which was part of the fishing fleet owned by the Gamecock Fishing Company. William Leggett had been the third hand on the vessel.

Walter Whelpton had been the skipper of the Mino.

Their vessel had been bombarded by the Russian Baltic Fleet who claimed that they thought that they had been firing at Japanese vessels. It was said that the incident nearly led to a war between England and Russia with the Royal Navy preparing 28 battleships with orders to prepare for action.

At the time Russia had been at war with Japan and it was thought that the Japanese might have sent small torpedo boats towards the Baltic fleet, it being noted that the torpedo boats were a new recent development and that they were capable of sinking large warships, and difficult to detect and that their presence had caused psychological stress to sailors at war.

Because of the risk, and reported sightings of balloons and enemy cruisers the previous day, the Russian navy were on high alert and instructed to pay increased vigilance in order that 'no vessel of any sort must be allowed to get in among the fleet'.

It was further noted that the Russians had received reports that four torpedo boats had been spotted that had only had lights on the mizenmast-head so that at a distance, they might be taken for fishing boats.

Whilst the fleet was sailing into the North Sea, the last in the line, the supply ship Kamchatka, spotted a Swedish ship and mistook it for a Japanese torpedo boat and radioed in that they were being attacked. It was also claimed that the captain of the Kamchatka, had been drunk at the time he made his report. The Kamchatka later reported that they had been attacked by Japanese torpedo boats and had fired 300 shells in response.

The night had been foggy, and when the fleet later spotted the fishing fleet of the Gamecock Fishing Company, after shining their searchlights on them, they mistook them for torpedo boats and started firing on them, sinking the Crane. It was noted that the trawlers had had their nets out at the time, meaning that they were unable to get away.

It was noted that the Russian vessels even shot at each other, with the cruisers Aurora and Dmitri Donskoi being damaged and a chaplain killed. It was further reported that in the chaos, several Russian ships reported that they were being attacked and had been hit by torpedoes and that rumours on the battleship Borodino had gone around that they were being boarded resulting in crew members putting on life vest and others lying prone on the deck, and others drawing cutlasses.

It was noted that the losses were limited due to the poor gunnery of the Russian warships, with the battleship Oryol being said to have fired more than 500 shells without hitting anything.

There were said to have been between forty and fifty vessels of the Hull fishing fleet out at the time.

An international commission of inquiry was later carried out whose proceedings were based on the Hague Convention and which met in Paris between 9 January and 25 February 1905 and concluded that the Russian admiral had done everything he could to prevent the trawlers from being fired upon.

Examination of William Leggett's body found that the whole of the top of his head had been blown away, apparently by some projectile. The projectile was found to have entered the left side of his head and to have carried away the whole of his brain and the skull. His body also showed other marks of violence. In one of his main arteries, the doctor found a steel splinter.

Examination of George Smith's body found that the whole left side of his face and a great portion of his skull was blown away. His cause of death was given as extensive fracture of the skull and destruction of the brain. His brain had also been carried away by the projectile.

A doctor said that in both cases the injuries were perfectly consistent with having been caused by gunshot.

A Captain and HM Chief Inspector of Explosives, previously with the Royal Artillery, said that he had made a careful examination of other trawlers in the fleet, the Moulmein, Mino, Gull and Snipe, and said that they had all been struck by shells corresponding to their 3-pounder (44mm) quick-firing guns. He added that they had all also been struck by bullets from small bore machine guns. He said that in addition the Moulmein had been struck by a 15cm shell. He said that he also examined a large number of fragments of three-pound shells found on the trawlers.

When the Coroner asked to see the fragments the Captain told him that he had not brought them to the inquest and the Coroner told him to bring them to the inquest, stating that he wanted to see them.

When the captain was asked whether he was satisfied that the shells were of Russian origin, he replied, 'Yes'. When he was asked whether he could identify the bullets as having been Russian, he also replied, 'Yes'.

He also said that he was of the opinion that the range of fire didn't exceed a quarter of a mile, and was probably less.

However, when he was asked whether the projectiles corresponded to shells used by the British Navy, he replied, 'Yes, they correspond with a projectile used a good deal in the British Navy. Nearly every ship has three-pounder quick-firing guns'. However, he noted that the British rounds didn't bear the Russian marks as the fragments found did.

The skipper of the Snipe, with the Gamecock Fleet, said that he had been at sea on the night of 21 October 1904. He said that the fishing fleet had been trawling on the starboard track in smooth weather and that at about 1am by his clock that they first sighted the warships approaching from the north-east, noting that they came within speaking distance, not more than a hundred yards, noting that he had to port his helm to clear them, although he said that he didn't at that time see them.

He said that soon afterwards he saw six or seven ships on the starboard and that they then turned on their searchlights. The Coroner then noted that they as such would not have mistaken them for torpedo boats, and the skipper replied, 'No'.

The skipper added that it was not the first lot of boats that he saw, but the second lot who fired at the fishing fleet, noting that at the time that the fishing fleet had been between the two lots of Russian vessels and that the two squadrons of battleships had been a mile and a half apart.

He said that the Snipe was then hit by a shell that burst, but said that nobody was hurt, noting that it hit the vessel on the starboard side.

He said that the firing went on for about fifteen to twenty minutes and that many shots whistled over the Snipe, but that some of them hit the sea.

The captain noted that he had been in the fishing fleet for five weeks and had never seen any signs of the presence of torpedo boats, either English or foreign.

Other witnesses stated that there had been no torpedo boats amongst the fishing fleet or any Japanese seamen.

The skipper of the Moulmein said that he didn't notice any alarm on the warships and that the admiral of the fishing fleet put up green lights to show that they were fishing, but that the firing still went on.

Following the incident, the fishing fleet landed at St Andrew's Dock in Sculcoates, Kingston-upon-Hull.

After further evidence, the jury returned the verdict that George Smith and William Leggett were, at about 12.30am on 22 October 1904, while fishing with trawls on the British steam trawler Crane, with Board of Trade marks exhibited, and regulation lights burning, killed by shots fired without provocation or warning from Russian war vessels at a distance of about a quarter of a mile.

The jury also added their appreciation of the efforts made by the Governments interested to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion of a matter which they felt in the world’s history had no parallel.

It was noted that the Russian Government were not represented at the inquest, which concluded in Hull on 2 November 1904.

The Russians later paid £66,000 in compensation to the fishermen and in 1906 a memorial was unveiled in Hull to commemorate the deaths.