Radio-Morue, The Offshore Radio for Newfoundland Fishermen

Radio-Morue was a pioneering radio station that broadcast from the Saint-Yves, a hospital schooner patrolling the waters off Newfoundland to aid fishermen. This offshore station, an early version of what Radio Caroline would later become, was founded by Father Yvon (Yvon de Guengat), a Capuchin priest sometimes called “the Apostle of the Sea.” The vessel was operated by the Société des Œuvres de Mer.

First Broadcasts from Saint-Malo

The chaplain of the Newfoundland fishermen conducted the first tests of this unique radio on the Breton airwaves. On Tuesday, March 30, 1937, the Saint-Yves, docked at Saint-Malo, transmitted its inaugural broadcasts at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. On Monday, April 5, the hospital ship departed for Newfoundland, carrying out further test transmissions at 9 a.m., 4 p.m., and 9 p.m. During the crossing, it broadcast nightly at 10 p.m. on a 175-meter wavelength. The Saint-Yves had evolved beyond its role as a floating hospital and mail carrier—it now brought news to the fishermen at sea.

Radio-Morue transmitted twice daily during the eight-month fishing campaigns, at 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Its programming included the exact time, weather updates, news from other stations, records, and the location of the ship, which also served as a hospital. Each month, the Saint-Yves docked at Saint-Pierre and Miquelon to pick up newspapers, whose articles enriched the broadcasts.

Photo: the Saint-Yves at Saint-Malo.

The World’s Largest Parish

“I am the largest priest in the world. My parish stretches 1,600 kilometers wide and 4,000 kilometers long,” Father Yvon declared in March 1937. On his small sail-and-motor schooner, stocked with medicine and tobacco, he navigated the Grand Banks in search of the Newfoundland fishermen.

“A real game of blind man’s bluff,” he admitted. “What do I bring them when I manage to board their vessels? First, the mail: in 1936 I delivered 16,437 letters and 2,233 parcels. These packages—filled with treats and letters from mothers, wives, fiancées, and children—bring immeasurable comfort to men working far from home. I also provide spiritual support. Some fishermen despair of ever seeing Saint-Malo again due to illness. I bring them aboard the Saint-Yves, where during the 1936 campaign alone, the accompanying doctor performed 17 operations.

“I also set up a Radio-Morue station aboard the ship to transmit news from France, local updates, and personal messages at regular hours. And, of course, to remind them of God’s presence. Whether Norman or Breton, the Newfoundland fishermen have a strong religious spirit. They listen to someone from among their own who speaks their language.”

Photo: Father Yvon with the Newfoundland fishermen.

“This is Radio-Morue !”

Gaston Lebarbe’s memoir, Ar soñj, le souvenir: mémoires d’outre-mer d’un jeune breton, offers a vivid description of the ship:

“Its oak hull is sturdy, reminiscent of the tuna boats of Concarneau. Its interior was designed for its mission as a sea Saint Bernard, an emergency service on the Grand Banks. Next to the pharmacy and operating room is the patient ward, with half a dozen beds suspended like hammocks from the ceiling. This design compensates for the ship’s roll, reducing discomfort by half. The radio equipment was state-of-the-art. From there Father Yvon broadcast into his microphone: ‘This is Radio-Morue!’—the most unusual radio station of its time.”

Photo: Father Yvon on the Saint-Yves.

Even The New York Times praised the initiative:

“Using the signal ‘Ici Radio-Morue’ (‘Here Radio Codfish’), Father Yvon, the padre of the codfishermen, maintains constant invisible contact with his floating parish off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland. From the Saint-Yves, he sends time signals, weather reports, and spiritual guidance daily. On Sundays, he broadcasts mass with a gramophone choir, followed by folk songs and news from the fishermen’s scattered home villages.”

The Radio-Morue initiative came to an end with the outbreak of World War II in 1939.

Learn More

• Film by Father Yvon (1935): Cinematheque Bretagne
• Book by Father Yvon, Avec les pêcheurs de Terre-Neuve: Gallica BnF