Angus Walters | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Angus Walters

Under his command, the schooner achieved fame on the Grand Banks and in the International Fisherman's Trophy races 1921 to 1938.
Angus Walters, sailor
Captain Angus Walters with the International Fisherman's Trophy (photo by W.R. MacAskill).

Angus Walters, fishing captain (b at Lunenburg, NS 9 June 1882; d there 11 Aug 1968). Walters went to sea in 1895, beginning as a deckhand for his father, who had pioneered Lunenburg's involvement with the banks fishery. His ability to find fish and to get the most speed out of his vessel led to his selection in 1920 as skipper of the Bluenose, then under construction. Walters bought a controlling interest in it and then insisted on certain structural modifications.

Under his command, the schooner achieved fame on the Grand Banks and in the International Fisherman's Trophy races 1921 to 1938. He and his ship became inseparable in the popular imagination, but the decline of the salt fishery and the outbreak of WWII forced the retirement of both vessel and captain in 1939. Walters bought out the other shareholders, but was then forced to sell the Bluenose in 1942. The loss of the vessel and his death marked the end of an era in Canada's fishing tradition.

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