Remembrance service for Bridlington's Great Gale
Lives were lost in the 1871 tragedy
Bridlington is holding a remembrance service today to mark the 151st anniversary of the Great Gale.
It will take place at Bridlington Priory Church at 10.30am where volunteers from the RNLI will lay a wrath at the Great Gale Memorial.
The tragedy happened on Thursday 10th February 1871, when a storm hit the East Yorkshire coast. Many ships were using an area known as the ‘Bay of Refuge’ to shelter from the bad weather when the wind changed direction, causing at least 23 ships to run aground or be wrecked against the harbour walls. It is thought as many as 70 lives were lost.
At the time Bridlington had two separate lifeboats, the RNLI’s Robert Whitworth and a locally owned vessel named the Harbinger. Both boats were launched multiple times, with both crews succeeding in saving several lives. The Harbinger was attempting to save the crew of the brig Delta when a wave capsized the lifeboat and six of the nine local men aboard were drowned.
The disaster led MP and social reformer Samuel Plimsoll to petition parliament to introduce a new law to prevent ships being dangerously overladen, by introducing the painting of a load line on the hull. ‘Plimsoll Lines’, as they became known, are still used in international shipping to this day.
The Reverend Matthew Pollard, Rector of Bridlington Priory, will conduct the service: "This is an event which is engraved on the collective memory of Bridlington. Part of the identity of Bridlington is indeed that it is the town that remembers the Great Gale. It is important that we are faithful to our duty to keep telling the story, to honour the memory of all who died on that night. I’m delighted that we are once again able to do that in person this year.
"Every life that has been saved, across the world, because ships have not been overloaded beyond the Plimsoll line, is a tribute to the lives of those who were washed ashore and buried at this place 151 years ago."
Steve Emmerson, Bridlington RNLI Coxswain, added: "Lifeboat Stations are built on the achievements of those who have gone before: it is essential that we remember them and reflect on their contribution to Saving Lives at Sea. Never more so than on this day."