Supporters for a campaign to celebrate the Viola gathered in Hull and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
Films that depict the adventures of the Viola trawler, which featured at the centre of the outbreak of the Falklands War, have been shown to campaigners more than 8,000 miles apart. Supporters of the campaign to celebrate the the historic vessel – which lies on a beach in the South Atlantic – watched in Hull’s Trinity House and in Stanley, the capital of the Falklands Islands.
Members of the Viola Trust, which had backed a campaign to bring the Beverley-built ship back home, joined members of the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands to watch Virtual Viola and a separate production that tells of how the homecoming effort was scuppered by Covid.
In the Court Room at Trinity House there were representatives of the South Georgia Association, the South Georgia Heritage Trust, The British Antarctic Survey and Lloyds Register of Shipping. There was also viewers from the University of Hull Maritime Heritage Trust and Hull City Council, as well as business leaders and members of the local community who backed the project over the years.
They heard that the films will be shown by Hull Maritime, by the Trust’s partners in South Georgia and on cruise ships, sharing the Viola’s story with passengers bound for Grytviken whaling station.
Mike Ross, leader of Hull City Council, said: “The launch was a very special event with the two films combining to tell a compelling story which, like the magnificent venue of Trinity House, is unique to Hull and will now promote our city’s maritime past and present to a worldwide audience. The timing is perfect as we move towards unveiling the Hull Maritime attractions which are reshaping our tourism and heritage landscape. The Viola is a powerful example of the important role vessels from the city played in the nation’s maritime history.”
The Viola will be 120 years old on January 17, having been built by Cook, Welton & Gemmell in 1906 and operated as part of the Hellyer fleet of boxing trawlers. It was later modified to help defend UK waters during the First World War.
She left Hull in 1918, and was used in Norway, Africa and the South Atlantic as a fishing trawler, whaling boat and support expeditions. Viola was mothballed after the closure of the whaling station at Grytviken.
In 1982, Argentinian scrap metal merchants targeting the beached boat raised their country’s flag – the trigger for the Falklands War. That story was at the centre of an effort set up in 2016 to bring the trawler back to the Humber.
But the outbreak of Covid prevented travel to South Georgia and raised costs – making the salvage of Viola unviable. That was despite thousands of pounds being pledged to cause and survey in preparation for the operation, earmarked for autumn 2020.
A contribution from the University of Hull Maritime Heritage Trust funded a plan B, under which photography and video collected by the Viola Trust could be used by experts at the renowned Glasgow School of Art (GSA) to create the virtual reality depiction.
Mairi Macleod, director of operations for GSGSSI, watched the films from her office in Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Her colleague, Hull-born Captain Simon Wallace of the fishery patrol vessel Pharos SG, joined the broadcast from King Edward Point in South Georgia, across the cove from the Viola’s current resting place.
Mairi said: “We are deeply grateful to the Viola Trust for keeping the story of the Viola alive, and for ensuring that her remarkable heritage continues to inspire across generations. The Viola’s legacy links us across oceans, from Hull to Stanley to Grytviken and her story remains an enduring testament to resilience, service and maritime history.”
Paul Escreet, chair of the Viola Trust, said: “Part of our commitment is to promote South Georgia within the Hull community and I hope very much that we will be able to welcome Mairi to our city one day, introduce her to some of the people who supported our campaign and to Trinity House, which was a most fitting location and itself added drama to the occasion. Both films were just brilliant – the virtual reality depiction by Glasgow School of Art and the story of the project by a Hull-based filmmaker who used some excellent locations which are all part of our city’s maritime heritage. The way in which we embraced technology to connect with our friends in South Georgia & the South Sandwich Islands reinforced the innovation behind this phase of the project.
“We had an excellent turnout from the local maritime and business communities and the general public as well as from much further afield. We were delighted to welcome important figures from Hull City Council and Hull Maritime and we look forward to seeing our contributions take their place among the attractions.”
Paul Chapman, professor and director of Emerging Technology at GSA and a former member of the virtual reality and simulation and visualisation team at the University of Hull, travelled from Glasgow to attend the launch. He said: “Having lived, worked and studied in Hull and Beverley, I felt a strong personal connection to this project. It has been inspiring to collaborate with the Viola Trust and work with such an extraordinary range of archive materials, from rare photographs and film to detailed engineering drawings. Bringing these together with advanced visualisation technologies has allowed us to reconnect people with one of Hull’s most remarkable stories in a vivid and accessible way.
“The launch event in Trinity House was a fantastic celebration of the city’s history, and it was clear that Hull Maritime regards this film and the story of the Viola as an important part of the region’s heritage. We are honoured that our work contributes to preserving and sharing that legacy.”