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Skipper Thomas Crisp VC, DSC, RNR (28 April 1876 – 15 August 1917) 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 His Majesty's Smack ''Nelson'', in the North Sea against an attack from a German submarine in 1917.〔The identity of the submarine involved in this incident has never been positively ascertained, but various sources list or . No surviving German submarines reported the incident in their logs.〕 Thomas Crisp's 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, the summer and autumn of 1917, during which Britain was suffering heavy losses at the Battle of Passchendaele.〔 His exploit was read aloud by David Lloyd George in the Houses of Parliament and made headline news for nearly a week. ==Early life== Thomas Crisp was born into a family of shipwrights and fishermen in Lowestoft, one of ten children to William and Mary Anne Crisp. Although his father was the owner of a successful boatbuilding firm and thus could afford an education for his children, Thomas did not enjoy school, instead showing a "marked preference for quayside adventure to school routine".〔''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling, p. 180〕 Leaving school, Thomas took to the sea, spending several years as a herring fisherman before joining a fishing trawler out of Lowestoft. 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 in Burgh St. Peter near Lowestoft, where they had two sons and a daughter, including Thomas Crisp Jr., who would be with his father on the day he won the Victoria Cross. Establishing himself as a fisherman, Thomas Sr. achieved his mate and then skipper qualifications, entitling him to captain a fishing vessel sailing from the port. In 1902 he was taken on by Chambers, one of the largest boat owning families in Lowestoft, to crew and then captain their ketch ''George Borrow'', in which he remained for thirteen years. In 1907 the family moved to Lowestoft while Crisp continued his work at sea, proving one of the most popular fishing captains in Lowestoft and joined on his ketch by his son in 1913.〔''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling, p. 181〕 When the First World War began in July 1914, Crisp was at sea. 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, Thomas Crisp returned to fishing, considered too old for military service and in an occupation vital to Britain's food supplies. In late September, the ''George Borrow'' passed the , and just hours before they were all sunk with over a thousand lives by German U-boat . Tom Crisp Jr. later wrote of finding bodies in their fishing nets for weeks afterwards.〔''The Naval VCs'', Stephen Snelling, p. 182〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Thomas Crisp」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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