Article courtesy of the “Chronicle” provided by Les Howard

With hopes for the 600-ton trawler St. Romanus fading fast, Fleetwood has been buzzing with rumours about Fleetwood men in the crew.
But it seems that only one former Fleetwood fisherman, Mr Herbert Pye, is on board.
A Chronicle reporter was told by the owners of the Hull-based ship, Thomas Hamling and Co, Ltd, “We have been very worried about the St. Romanus for some time and although she is not due for another day the chances of her being found now are small.”

Fleetwood rumours said that 29 year old Mr. Arnold Blyth,who sailed from Fleetwood as a deckhand and who moved to Hull about 12 years ago was the mate of the St. Romanus but this, said Hamlings, was not the case.

There was also no record in the crew list of 24 year old Terence O’Flaherty, who left Fleetwood as a teenager to sail from the Humber.
His parents and one of his three brothers, who formerly lived in London St. have since moved to Lowestoft, but two older brothers, both fishermen, live in Fleetwood – Larry in Addison Rd. and Leon in The Garth.

Definately on board the St. Romanus, however, is Mr. Herbert “Frankie” Pye, a 53 year old engine room greaser.
A deckhand for most of his life, Mr. Pye went to St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Secondary School and used to live in Flag St
He left for Hull about 20 years ago and served during the war in the Royal Navy. His brother, William, and his father of the same name, died at sea.
Mr. Pye’s sister said that her brother, who had a wife and family in Hull, had written to her to tell her that he was sailing in St. Romanus – something that he rarely did.
“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have know he was in it,” she said. “He was planning to visit us after this trip.”

If anyone else among the 20 man crew had connections to Fleetwood or any other town, the ship owners could not have contacted them because they only have the local addresses in the crew list to go on.

The trawler sailed on January 10 for a voyage to the Norwegian coast and the only trace of her since has been the discovery of a liferaft and a report that an Icelandic trawler picked up a May Day call from the ship the day after she left Hull.

The Chronicle also confirmed that there was no one with a Fleetwood connection on board another missing trawler, Kingston Peridot.