It's not the first time that the British have defeated the arrogant yet cowardly French in a naval battle (or any battle) so it's hardly anything so unusual that the world will take note of it.
But that fact doesn't make it any less satisfying.
When a British trawler and a French trawler met 16 miles off the coast of Dorset on Monday, a row ensued between the two next door nations over fishing rights in those waters, which are in between the two nations.
The row escalated so much that both crews resorted to firing whelks at each other!
But the French - in a PINK trawler - eventually retreated (of course) when Our Buoys on the British trawler ensnared the French trawler in a net.
Another chapter on British-French rivalry has been written.
French shelled by Our Buoys
Whel hard ... British trawler
By TOM ROWLEY
4th August 2010
The Sun
BRAVE British fishermen scored a resounding victory in a battle with a rival French trawler - by bombarding it with WHELK shells.
A furious slanging match over fishing rights escalated into sailors flinging the molluscs at one another.
Soft shelled ... Pink French boat
But the British crew eventually forced the French fishermen into a humiliating retreat - after cleverly using a net to block them.
The row boiled over 16 miles off Anvil Point near Swanage, Dorset, on Monday.
The contested international waters belong to neither country.
A nearby Fisheries Protection boat, The Tyne, was scrambled to referee the dust-up.
A UK coastguard spokesman said: "They seemed to be trying to fish in the same patch of water and were throwing things at each other."
After exchanging salvoes of whelks, the lads on the Sparkling Line trawler ensnared the 48ft Petit Djimy - which is painted PINK.
Its crew called their coastguard - and a French navy helicopter was flown in.
A diver leapt out to disentangle the net.
But the fishermen limped back to the Normandy coast with a broken propeller.
A red-faced French coastguard said: "The boat couldn't move and asked for assistance."
thesun.co.uk
But that fact doesn't make it any less satisfying.
When a British trawler and a French trawler met 16 miles off the coast of Dorset on Monday, a row ensued between the two next door nations over fishing rights in those waters, which are in between the two nations.
The row escalated so much that both crews resorted to firing whelks at each other!
But the French - in a PINK trawler - eventually retreated (of course) when Our Buoys on the British trawler ensnared the French trawler in a net.
Another chapter on British-French rivalry has been written.
French shelled by Our Buoys
By TOM ROWLEY
4th August 2010
The Sun
BRAVE British fishermen scored a resounding victory in a battle with a rival French trawler - by bombarding it with WHELK shells.
A furious slanging match over fishing rights escalated into sailors flinging the molluscs at one another.
Soft shelled ... Pink French boat
But the British crew eventually forced the French fishermen into a humiliating retreat - after cleverly using a net to block them.
The row boiled over 16 miles off Anvil Point near Swanage, Dorset, on Monday.
The contested international waters belong to neither country.
A nearby Fisheries Protection boat, The Tyne, was scrambled to referee the dust-up.
A UK coastguard spokesman said: "They seemed to be trying to fish in the same patch of water and were throwing things at each other."
After exchanging salvoes of whelks, the lads on the Sparkling Line trawler ensnared the 48ft Petit Djimy - which is painted PINK.
Its crew called their coastguard - and a French navy helicopter was flown in.
A diver leapt out to disentangle the net.
But the fishermen limped back to the Normandy coast with a broken propeller.
A red-faced French coastguard said: "The boat couldn't move and asked for assistance."
thesun.co.uk
Last edited: