Skipper Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, RNR was an English posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Crisp, in civilian life a commercial fisherman operating from Lowestoft in Suffolk, earned his award after being killed during the defence of his vessel, the armed naval smack Nelson.
About Thomas Crisp in brief
Skipper Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, RNR was an English posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross. Crisp, in civilian life a commercial fisherman operating from Lowestoft in Suffolk, earned his award after being killed during the defence of his vessel, the armed naval smack Nelson. His self-sacrifice in the face of this \”unequal struggle\” was used by the government to bolster morale during some of the toughest days of the First World War for Britain, in late 1917. His exploit was read aloud by David Lloyd George in the Houses of Parliament and made headline news for nearly a week. He was a natural to the work, being a remarkably good sailor, but tired of it quickly and joined the Atlantic steamship SS Mobile, becoming her quartermaster and making several trans-Atlantic voyages. In 1895, aged 19, he met and married Harriet Elizabeth Alp and settled with her at 48 Staithe Road in Burgh St. Peter, where they had two sons and a daughter, including Tom Crisp Jr, who would be with his father on the day he won the VC. In early 1915, Tom CrisP Jr left the vessel to join the Royal Navy. Unaware of the outbreak of war, he remained in the North Sea for several days, and was surprised on his return to learn that enemy submarines were expected off the port at any moment.
When this threat failed to materialise, he returned to fishing, considered too old for military service and in an occupation vital to Britain’s food supplies. In late September, George Borrow passed HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy shortly before they were all sunk, with over a thousand lives lost, by German U-boat U-9. A few weeks later the U- boat threat expected so many months before arrived, as submarines surfaced among the undefended fishing fleets and used dynamite to destroy dozens of them. This offensive was part of a wider German strategy to denude Britain of food supplies and took a heavy toll on the fishing fleets of the North sea. While temporarily working in a net factory, he was scouted by a Navy officer recruiting experienced local fishing captains to command a flotilla of tiny fishing vessels, which were to be secretly armed. The boats were intended to be working fishing vessels fitted with a small artillery piece with which to sink enemy submarines as they surfaced alongside. Agreeing to the proposal, Crisp became first Skipper in mid-1916, arranging for his son to join his crew of his boat, HM Smack I’ll Try Try.
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