Pensabene Family

Antonio Pensabene, like his fellow “Orlandini”, had worked in foreign countries at an early age before he arrived in Fremantle before the turn of the century where he joined the Point Peron community known as the Rockingham Fishing Company. In was not uncommon for boys as young as 12 or 13 to go to Peru, Venezuela and other countries to work alongside their fathers or older siblings. At Point Peron, they Initially lived in shacks made of makeshift frames covered with bags. They worked in small dinghies and netted mainly. People would come out and stay with the Company for twelve months, earn enough money and then go back home.

Every few years Antonio returned to Italy, on one occasion marrying Maria Paparone in Capo D'Orlando. Maria's brother Salvatore (Saro) Paparone was one of the original members of the Rockingham Fishing Company, and it was likely that this connection brought the young couple together. After their marriage, Antonio Pensabene went back to Fremantle on his own, periodically returning to Italy. When his oldest son, Saverio, was 13 years old, Antonio paid for him to sail, with other Italians, to Fremantle. Saverio was born in Capo D’Orlando in 1914. He arrived in 1927 and immediately started to work with his father in a crayfishing operation, storing their catches in holding crates submerged under “Dagoes” jetty in the harbour. Boats had no charts and even if they did most of the earlier fishermen could not read or write. Compasses were taken home after fishing. Navigation, for the most part, was by stars and boats worked mostly with transit bearings.

In 1928, Maria Paparone came out with her 3 daughters – Maria (b.1910), Nancy (b.1914) and Frances (b.1920). By then Antonio had purchased a property and they were living at 14 Suffolk Street. They lived there until 1953. Maria married Pietro Vinci, Nancy married Joe Pittorini and Frances married Nick Rotondella – all prominent members of the Fremantle Fishing Community. Antonio Pensabene and Maria Paparone went on to have two more children in Australia. Francesco (Frank) was born in 1929 and Vincenzo (Vince) Giuseppe was born in 1930.

Antonio was a partner in the Maria. It was a double masted schooner, a beautiful, magnificent sailing vessel. It was about 64 feet long. He was partners with three or four other men, and they leased the vessel to others who went to Shark Bay during the Schnapper season. One year a huge Nor’Westerly blow caused it to drag its moorings and it ended up on the rocks at the bottom of Price Street. It was not insured and was a complete loss. Antonio was also the owner of the Columbia.

Eventually Saverio bought his own boat, the Lady Luck. He would leave his home in Suffolk Street at two o’clock in the morning and sail out on the wind, returning later with the day’s hard-won catch. Back then a chaff bag of 120 lobsters would earn him 10 shillings. In 1941 Saverio married Stella (Stefana) Vinci – daughter of Carmelo Vinci and Ada Woods, but with World War II in progress, his life took an unexpected turn.

The government seized a number of boats owned by Italians, and the Lady Luck was one of them. Saverio was taken to Harvey, where he dug potatoes or chopped wood for five shillings a day. Saverio’s father’s boat, the Columbia was also seized. Many of the vessels that were commandeered during the War ended up rotting up the Swan River near the Canning Bridge. Some were taken over to Rottnest Island, and some were put into service. Back at home, Antonio’s daughter Nancy was described as the “Angel of Mercy”. She helped neighbours who had lost their Fathers to internment by going to various Departments for Social Services and advocating on their behalf.

The army preferred commandeering vessels that had engines installed. The Columbia had a two-cylinder Ruston, producing about 15 horsepower. All the spare parts were also taken. Eventually the Army did pay a sum of £700 for the boat. This allowed Antonio to join forces with Pietro Vinci and build the new Columbia. Bill Langley built the built but sadly Antonio died just before it was commissioned in September 1947. Antonio had been a fisherman all his life but during the War found himself man powered for the war effort. He had been naturalised so he wasn’t interned in a jail. The subject of racist taunts as “dirty dagoes” during the war, he ended up working as a foul monger for two years. He died of a sudden heart attack.

By 1944 internees and workers slowly returned to fishing. That same year, Vince left Christian Brothers’ College in Fremantle in Year 8 and went fishing. One of the first fishing boats allowed back into circulation was the 26-foot boat, the Bruno, owned by Fedele Camarda and part owned by Antonio. They weren’t allowed to crayfish and initially had to line fish. At the end of “Dagoes Jetty”, a Navy Control Office was established with a board showing areas where you could fish, and each boat was assigned a number and an area to fish. The area was usually confined to a radius of 10 miles or less. Boats were expected back at a certain time. The Bruno had no engine, so often large 24-foot paddles would be needed to row the boat back in time, especially when winds weren’t favourable. Prior and during the war period, the boats would slip at Petersons Slipway at the eastern end of Victoria Quay.

After the War, Saverio and Vince worked the Dawilo. Later Sav formed a partnership with his uncle Frank Vinci who owned the Count Vinci. This was replaced by a newer vessel called the New Count Vinci. After Frank died, Sav continued on the partnership with his brother-in-law and nephew of Frank – Tony Vinci. Tony died young from a stroke and two of Sav’s eldest sons joined him in fishing – Mallie and Tony. The sons continued the Pensabene fishing story for many years after Sav retired.

Vince Pensabene was made skipper of the Columbia during the 1948/49 season at 18 years of age and continued on that boat until the end of the 1955 season. In 1950/51, the Pensabene’s and purchased the Sonoma, which was a large 60-foot freezer boat. Pietro Vinci was made skipper of the Sonoma.

At around the same time, the Pensabene’s started a company. Frank Pensabene had just finished his time as a motor mechanic. He joined up with George Powell who was a refrigeration expert and a fitter, and they started Engineer and Marine Services (EMS). In total there were 6 partners, and each contributed £600 for the shares in EMS and the vessels. The Partners were Saverio, Frank and Vince Pensabene, George Powell, and Brother-in-laws Pietro Vinci and Nick Rotondella. An old shed was leased from the Harbour & Lights Department next to Bathers Beach. The Company assisted in the repairs of the great number of boats that were now entering the crayfishing industry as a result of the burgeoning American market. EMS was also the first company to import cast dies from Germany to make 6” and 8” Aluminium floats for the crayfishing industry. These replaced the cork floats that had been used up until this time. It was the first company to build an aluminium boat in the Southern hemisphere – the 60-foot Lady of Fatima. The boat was built and welded with argon arc welding which was very new in those days.

The partners of EMS also owned the Sonoma, but the Columbia was a separate entity. The Sonoma, being a refrigerated vessel could process crayfish at sea. They would sell their processed tails to William Angliss and the products were packed under the name of Tutman and Thurlow which was their subsidiary. They were all a part of the Vestey Organisation in the United States. With early success the demand for their product was growing. EMS began building steel vessels, and likely built the first steel crayfishing vessels in the Southern hemisphere. They build the Jupiter in 1954 and the Saturn in 1955. Both were 64-foot vessels. The Jupiter was skippered by Pietro Vinci’s son Tony Vinci. The Saturn was initially skippered by Neil Chapman of Norwegian descent. In 1956 Vince began skippering the Saturn. That year, the Fisheries Department began restricting the Concession licences previously given to the Fremantle based boats for fishing the Abrolhos Islands (as a result of lobbying from the Geraldton Canneries and interests). Prior to the War, the Fremantle boats had spent years fishing the Summer off Fremantle and surrounds, and the Winter off the Abrolhos. Crayfish and fish would be sent back by train to Perth.

Vince continued to skipper the Saturn from 1956 until August 1965. In the winter of 1962, concessions were instead issued to go prawning in Carnarvon. Prawning had only just started. The year prior, the NorWest Whaling Company had experimented with a few vessels, after seeing their Whaling interests diminish. By the 1962/62 season, the NorWest Whaling Company had 10 concessional licenses to fish. The Pensabene family already had an established processing factory in Sharks Bay known as Planet Fisheries. Planet Fisheries used to fillet Schnapper, Whiting, Bream and Mullet. So, in 1962, the Saturn, Sonoma and Jupiter were converted to prawn vessels. By April 1963, the Saturn was the first vessel to commence prawning, from Denham. They would unload at Monkey Mia, and the catch would then be driven on a 17-mile track. If it rained, the track would turn to mud and make it almost impossible to get the product into Denham. The product wasn’t ideal for the American market and the company began losing money as a result, even though they had caught plenty of prawns.

Planet Fisheries had also advanced the local fishermen money to build bigger boats, but other companies began to undercut the pricing and the Processing Factory was eventually unviable. Anglis Group pounced on the opportunity to take over the company, and they took all the vessels, the Factory in Shark Bay and their Product. EMS remained with the shareholders and was renamed EMS 1964 and established on a property in Price Street, Fremantle. Vince was approached by the NorWest Whaling Company to apply for a position as Marine Superintendent. He joined the company in August 1965. At that time, the NorWest takeover gave them 18 concessions to fish for prawns from Carnarvon. NorWest also retained Crayfishing Concessions, so the fleet was being used for both prawning and crayfishing. The boats included Nor I, II, III, IV, V and VII.

Nor VI was tragically lost on its maiden voyage, where the sole survivor, Jack Drinan, drifted for days at sea until being discovered by the Sonoma. The vessels crayfished for a few seasons, but eventually the regulations stipulated the vessels could only fish for one concession, and so NorWest handed back the equivalent of 1000 to 1200 crayfishing pot license entitlements and continued with Prawning only.

In September 1966, Vince was sent to the USA to study trawling in the Gulf of Mexico. Vince went out with Ray Melencon onboard the SIS near the Port of Corpus Christi. He visited the shipyards and learnt the design of the trawling vessels there. He gave drawings and sketches to Len Randall to design, and the first vessel – the NW Carnarvon was built in the Dillingham Shipyards (Southern Cross) in July 1967. It was 60 feet long, requiring 200hp with a reduction of 6 to 1. In her first season from Shark Bay, the NW Carnarvon caught 100,000 pounds of prawns – an incredible feat considering the prawns were caught in the “off-season” period from July until November. This prototype vessel was later followed in the next few seasons by the NW Gascoyne, the NW Ashburton, the NW Fortesque, the NW Lindon, the NW De Grey, the NW Ord, the NW Fitzroy, the NW Murchisonand the NW Wooramel. Vince was responsible for commissioning every one of the new vessels in that period. The NW Herrison later replaced the Kingfisher.

EMS continued in boat building and refrigeration and later re-entered the fishing industry purchasing licenses and setting up the Solo Fishing Company. They built three vessels – Solo I, Solo II and Emserve, which was the telegraphic name for “Engineering Marine Services”. In 1987 the entire company was put up for sale and was sold for $3 million dollars. EMS was purchased by Kailis & France and was later liquidated.

Frank Pensabene died of Cancer in 1987. He was just 58. He had been a tremendous organiser and had been on the board of the Vestey Organisation. He had also served in leadership roles within the Australian Fishing Industry. That same year Vince retired as Marine SuperIntendent of NorWest Seafoods. All three Pensabene brothers had left an enduring legacy, honoured their forefathers and contributed immensely to the development of the WA Fishing Industry.