Hull will hold a series of memorial services this winter to remember an estimated 6,000 trawlermen who died at sea, including crews lost in some of the city’s worst fishing disasters.
According to the BBC, the leading service, the 37th annual Lost Trawlermen’s Day, will take place at noon on Sunday, 25 January at St John the Baptist Church on St George’s Road, according to the fishing heritage group Stand.
Further services will follow in the coming weeks to mark losses from specific trawlers.
Main memorial service set for January
Stand chair Ruth Creasey said the annual service was vital for the city. “It is so important to remember the losses of so many Hull trawlermen to the sea – men who were carrying out their everyday job to put fish on our plates,” she said, according to the BBC.
She added that the service brings together families, friends, shipmates and visitors, calling it “always a poignant time to stand side by side in remembrance”.
A series of services to mark individual losses
Jerry Thompson, from The Hull Fishing Heritage Centre, said four additional services would be held at 11:00 GMT near Boulevard.
They will remember crews lost on the trawlers St Romanus on 11 January; Lorella, Kingston Peridot and Roderigo on 26 January; Ross Cleveland on 5 February; and Gaul on 8 February.
A city shaped by a fishing tragedy
In previous years, services have focused on major disasters such as the 1968 Triple Trawler Disaster. This year’s focus is on single losses, which together account for more than 6,000 deaths.
Thompson, who survived a grounding off Norway in 1973 that killed three crewmates, said: “The fishing industry made Hull a great port. We must remember those who lost their lives.”