Trawlermen’s families gather to remember victims of sea

The annual Lost Trawlermen’s Day service at St Andrew’s Quay this year commemorated the 75th anniversary of the loss of the Picador, in which six crewmen died, and the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Arctic Viking, which capsized off Flamborough.

The service, attended by around 400 people and led by the Rev Tony Cotson, included prayers, readings and hymns.

Lynn Cawthorn, one of seven children to Arthur Waddy, who was among five men lost on the Arctic Viking, said: “We’ve always been fetched up to remember him. Our Mam never let us forget him.”

Kath Chatterton, who lost her husband Peter Smith and brother-in-law Robert Smith on the Kingston Peridot, the second of three Hull trawlers to go down within weeks of each other in January and February 1968, was there with daughter Janice and son David, who were just four and three at the time.

She said: “It was an awful time. But life goes on, you have children, you still have a part to play.”