Press Notice 0082
7 February 2000Artefacts from the Gaul return home
At a ceremony in the Guildhall, Hull, today, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott presented the bell, lamp and name plaque from the trawler Gaul to the families of the 36 crew who lost their lives when the vessel sank in 1974.
The artefacts were recovered at the time of the underwater investigation of the tragedy by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch in August 1998.
The bell and lamp will be placed in St John's Church in Hull until a Lost Trawlermen's Memorial Chapel is built, and the plaque in the Seamen's Mission in North Shields, home town of some of the crew.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Prescott said:
"Tomorrow is the 26th anniversary of the tragic loss of the Gaul. It is fitting, therefore, that the bell and the lamp and the plaque should be handed over at this time to those who lost their loved ones when the Gaul went down."At the request of the families, these three artefacts have not been restored but remain in the condition in which they were found. They will serve as a constant reminder of the tragedy and of the risks that fishermen face every day of their working lives.
"I am proud to have given the go-ahead for the expedition that brought these artefacts back after nearly a quarter of a century under water, and the evidence that will help to establish once and for all why the Gaul was lost."
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Published 7 February 2000
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