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Jim (centre) holding the life belt

Growing up within Hessle Road's fishing community, Jim in common with most of his friends and family wanted to go to sea. So desperate was he to gain nautical experience he became a sea cadet in the early 1940's.

Jim as a sea cadet in the 1940s

In 1943, when he was fifteen he had his heart set on joining the navy and the war effort but a medical condition prevented him from doing so. However, he was able to join a specially created branch of the navy brought into being just for the duration of the Second World War.

He and his comrades had their own barracks and followed the same regulations as those in the main naval fleet putting out to sea in deep sea rescue tugs. Although the service was part of 'His Majesty's Royal Navy' the recruits were signed up in a merchant navy office and discharged from the same. Jim is in the centre of the main picture holding a life belt and has the distinction of being the youngest member of the crew throughout his time aboard HMS Eminent, which was handed back to the United States in 1946.

Jim Williams (centre)

Just after the war, when Jim's service was complete he was keen to return to sea again. Becoming a trawlerman he eventually rose to the rank of skipper. Here, he's pictured between two crew members from his ship, Arctic Brigand originally built in the 1960's this sidewinder trawler was sold to Boyd Line in the 1970s, and Jim was it's skipper for a time.

Working tirelessly with the fishermen's organisation STAND over the years, Jim has trod the decks of the Arctic Corsair, Hull's floating museum as a guide. Fundraising and being on its committee has kept him busy over the years to ensure the memory of the fishing industry is never forgotten.

In his early seafaring days, he had a sobering experience after narrowly averting disaster. It was 1948 and he was about to go to sea aboardΜύ The Sargon. Having discovered his uncle was the skipper he didn't sign on because of the superstition saying it's unlucky for family members to sail together. Tragedy did indeed strike The Sargon and she was wrecked at Patrix Fjord. Jim has managed to obtain a film made by a German film crew of the rescue attempt made at the time.

Jim has made his own valuable contribution to recording the history of life at sea. Often he would take a cine camera aboard ship and recorded what life was like. Much of his film survives today and has been used in numerous tv and film productions and also in museum exhibitions.

When the decline of the fishing industry began Jim switched to working with the Humber Pilots' Service, ferrying them out to sea to take charge of the ships that were entering the Humber Estuary. He pays tribute to the skill of the men he worked with who, under the most difficult and challenging conditions are able to safely guide ships to shore. He spent 16 years in the job and enjoyed it tremendously.

This picture is a photograph of a painting that was gifted to him by his wife on the occasion of their silver wedding anniversary. It was painted by a cousin who worked in the Humber Pilots' Service. He says he's particularly fond of it, as the ship in the foreground is the Arctic Brigand and in the background there's HMS Eminent which represents his decades of life at sea.