FV Gaul

The Factory Ship F.V. (for Fishing Vessel) Gaul (H243) was the most modern trawler working out of Hull - she had been built only a year and a half before she was lost, in February 1974, and was regarded as very safely built. Her crew of 36 all died, making it "the worst ever single-trawler tragedy" according to Mr W.A.Suddaby, president of the British Trawler Federation. There was a great sense of loss in Hull, especially among the Hessle Road community.

A formal Investigation in 1974 concluded that the Gaul had been overwhelmed by exceptionally high waves and had capsized, with no time to send messages. There was widespread refusal to believe this, and conspiracy theories flourished. In the context of the Cold War, it was suggested that she had been engaged in espionage on USSR naval movements, and had been sunk, or interned, by the Russians; that she had collided with a NATO submarine; that she had snagged her nets on secret anti-submarine cables; and so on.

In 1975, the wreck of the Gaul was thought to have been identified, and in 1997 it was found to be 919 feet (280 m) deep, 70 nautical miles off the northern coast of Norway. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch carried out surveys in 1998 and 2002, and the Formal Investigation was re-opened in 2004. This found, on the basis of evidence from the surveys, that the watertight integrity of the vessel had been compromised because several hatches, waste chute covers and other openings had been left open, which led, in the storm conditions pertaining, to a catastrophic flooding and consequent capsize. The re-opened inquiry found no support for any of the conspiracy theories.

In 2016, Hull Truck Theatre presented a play, The Gaul, by Janet Plater, concentrating on the effects of the loss of the ship's crew on the families they left behind.