page_title: Yvonne Blenkinsop
section_title: Hull trawler tragedy
hierarchical_section_title: Yvonne Blenkinsop / Hull trawler tragedy
caption_attribution_description: English: Bench dedicated to Yvonne Blenkinsop
context_page_description: Yvonne Blenkinsop is a British woman famous for campaigning to improve safety in the offshore fishing industry following the 1968 Hull triple trawler tragedy. She became only the third woman in 130 years to be awarded the freedom of the city of Hull in 2018.
context_section_description: The city of Hull was hit by the triple trawler tragedy in early 1968.  The fishing trawler St. Romanus was thought lost with all 20 hands on 26 January.  Shocked by the loss, that same night Blenkinsop – who was then 30 years old – wrote down 27 safety measures that she thought would reduce the level of risk in the industry.  Four days later the trawler Kingston Peridot was reported lost with all 20 of her crew.  Together with a group of local women – Lillian Bilocca, Mary Denness and Christine Jensen – Blenkinsop founded the Hessle Road Women's Committee to co-ordinate a campaign to improve safety on the trawlers.  The group organised a public meeting at a community hall on 2 February that was attended by more than 300 women, who were concerned by the safety record of the offshore fishing industry.  Blenkinsop spoke on stage at the meeting and just hours later was punched in the face by a man who was angry that she was "interfering in men's business".  Three days later the Ross Cleveland and 18 of her crew were lost at sea.
  The women's committee became known as the "headscarf revolutionaries" for their direct-action tactics which included storming the offices of ship owners and preventing ships from leaving the harbour.  They demanded that all trawlers should have a radio operator on board when they put to sea; that ships be fully manned; that improved training and safety equipment be provided; that better weather forecasts be sourced; and that a dedicated medical vessel should accompany the fleet at sea.  The women organised a "Fishermen's Charter" petition with more than 10,000 signatures of support, collected within 10 days, which was presented to the British government.  Blenkinsop attended a meeting with Fred Peart, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and J. P. W. Mallalieu, a minister at the Board of Trade to discuss the matter. Blenkinsop asked Mallalieu, whom she  called "petal" (a northern England term of endearment) by mistake, if they would get their safety measures.  He replied that they would, and the medical vessel was delivered just weeks later.  All of the remaining requests were subsequently granted and the campaign became known as one of the most successful civil actions of the 20th century.
caption: Memorial bench at the corner of Hessle Road and the Boulevard
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