The following extract is taken from an article which appeared in the local magazine 'Herterpol' featuring well-known local fisherman Tommy Moorhead :
"Tommy recalls the Gertrude Cappelman as an unlucky boat. Fishermen had plenty of superstitions. There was one occasion when the boat was in dock between trips. The job of the Engineer after every trip was to freshen up the boilers and make the boat ready for the next trip. This meant the fresh water was drained from the boilers and refilled and the tanks topped off. At this time it was often common for boats to haul mines up in their nets and on one trip the skipper took out the detonator from the mine to make it safe. At the next boiler freshening it was thought that either the Engineer or his mate had dropped the detonator and the explosion killed both men. The Gertrude Cappelman was later lost with all hands, sunk by a mine off the Tyne."

The following appeared in the Hartlepool Daily Mail, on Thursday, January 17th, 1929:

LOCAL TRAWLER’S ORDEAL. Skipper’s Story.
FOUR OF CREW WEDGED UNDER A GRATING. A graphic story was told Captain Burton Truefitt, the young skipper the Hartlepool trawler Gertrude Cappleman,  in a further interview with Mail representative last night. As we reported, the vessel was swept by a big wave on Tuesday afternoon, and one member her crew—Septimus Lupton—received fatal injuries, whilst three others—Joseph Stewart, third hand, and J.W. Wilson and G. J. Hume, deck hands—were badly hurt, Stewart having a leg broken, Wilson a broken arm, and Hume a broken nose. At the time - 3.30 -the Gertrude Cappleman, which was some 180 miles north-east of Hartlepool, had her trawl down, and Lupton and the three other men were engaged at what is known as the fish pond, constructed of boards on the fore part of the deck.

The skipper described the weather as “rather rough”, with occasional hail squalls. He himself was in the wheelhouse when he saw the big wave bearing down on the trawler. He estimated its height at 15ft., and he at once shouted a warning to the men on the deck. Before they could save themselves, however, the huge sea broke over the vessel’s bows and swept them aft, boards and all

NEARLY WASHED OVERBOARD. But for a small boat grating in the stern of the trawler, the men must have been washed overboard. The sea, however, wedged them under this grating, the water swirling over them. Calling to the mate, who had just gone into the fish room, Captain Truefitt rushed to the men's aid, wading waist deep through the water. Lupton was almost completely submerged, and looked as though he were drowning. When, after the vessel had shaken herself free of the wave, they got him down in the cabin, it was found that he was badly injured about the head, and bleeding from the nose and ears. “We lashed Stewart and Wilson up in splints,” said Capt Truefitt, hauled the trawl aboard, and made for port.”

20 HOURS ON THE BRIDGE. “There were only two of us left to manage the ship,” added the skipper, “and the mate and I were on the bridge for 20 hours.” Lupton, who never regained consciousness, died three hours after the occurrence. The skipper paid a warm tribute to the plucky behaviour of the other injured men. “I never heard a murmur from them,” he said, “till they were being brought along the alleyway from the cabin to the gangway when got alongside the Fish Quay.’’ They were then immediately taken to the Hartlepools Hospital.

THE SKIPPER S SORROW. Captain Truefitt spoke of Lupton as being a good worker and a promising young man, and expressed his deep regret at his untimely death. Lupton added, had been in the trawler about ten months.
Captain Truefitt mentioned that the crews other trawlers which had also just returned from the fishing grounds were surprised to hear of the mishap on the Gertrude Cappleman , they had none of them experienced anything abnormal. Captain Truefitt, who is 24 years of age, last night himself still showed signs of exhaustion as the result of the exposure and the long vigil to which he had been subjected. Lupton lived in Bond Street, Hartlepool ; Stewart resides in Church Street, Hartlepool; Wilson in Northgate, and Hume in Lilley Street. 

Skipper Richard (Dick) Henry Whittleton (seated), tragically lost his life in an explosion on board his trawler, the Gertrude Cappleman, in September 1923. He was aged just 43 at the time.
Dick had earlier been skipper of the trawler Mayfly and was involved in the rescue of the crew and passengers of the Hospital Ship Rohilla, which was wrecked at Whitby, on October 30th, 1914. Dick later received £5.00 in recognition of his services, while the other crewmen were also awarded monetary awards.

On September 28th, 1916, the trawler Loch Ryan, of which Dick was now Skipper, was captured by a German submarine while fishing off the Tyne and taken to Germany as a Prize Ship. Dick and the rest of the crew ended up as Prisoners of War at Dulmen, Germany.

Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail - November 2nd, 1923:

THE EXPLOSION ON A TRAWLER. Inquest To-day. SEQUEL TO DISCOVERY OF MINE.
The deplorable double fatality resulting from the explosion that occurred on the trawler Gertrude Cappleman on Wednesday afternoon was to-day the subject of a coroner's inquest at Hartlepool. The inquiry was conducted by the Deputy Coroner (Mr. Robson). The deceased were the skipper of the trawler, Capt. Richard H. Whittleton (43), 7 Brougham Street, and Mr. James Roberts (44), Hart Road. Mr. J.T. Graham and Major Graham were present.

Mr. W. R. Harrison, who stated that he appeared on behalf of the owners of the trawler, Messrs. Graham and Son, said Capt. Whittleton had been in the employ the firm since he was a boy and had gone right through the fishing industry, and he was a man in whom they had the greatest confidence and for whom they held the greatest regard.
Mr. Harrison said he also appeared for the widow of Mr. Roberts; and Mr. R. Storey, of Sunderland, appeared for Messrs. Dalkins. Ltd., the employers of Roberts. George H. Whittleton, the ship’s cook, and son of the deceased captain, gave evidence of identification.
Engineer's Story.

David M. Brown, of 8 Beaconsfield Street, chief engineer of the trawler Gertrude Cappleman, stated that on Monday, while fishing in the North Sea, they picked up a mine. He saw it on Tuesday on the deck, and was told on Wednesday morning that it had been dropped overboard. It stood about 3ft. high. Asked if knew whether it was a British or a German mine, witness stated that he did not know. He was told that the definition plate was off it.
The Deputy Coroner: Do you know whether they threw the whole mine overboard not?
Witness: There was a piece kept.
Did you see it?— Yes.
Witness added that it was the primer that was kept. This was 2½ feet long and 3 inches in diameter, the case being of brass. The skipper took it down to the cabin. Proceeding, witness said they arrived in port at 10 past one o’clock on Wednesday and went ashore at 1-30. The skipper and Mr. Roberts were left on board, the second engineer leaving with him and the rest the crew having previously. He and the second engineer were just a ship's length away when the explosion occurred, and they immediately returned. They couldn't get into the cabin for smoke, and when the fire in the cabin was extinguished they found the place wrecked. Meanwhile the bodies had been got out and taken away.

In reply to questions by Mr. Storey, witness said he heard the captain say the primer was a curio and he intended to take it home. Further questioned by the Deputy- Coroner witness said he saw Mr. Roberts sitting in the cabin with the Captain, and that, when he left the ship, they were unrolling the primer, which was wrapped in paper.
Witness stated in the course of his evidence that he was employed on a minesweeper during the war. John Imray, 151 Durham Street, second engineer on the Gertrude Cappleman, corroborated the evidence of the previous witness. He also, he said, was on minesweeper during the war. He had a good look at the mine, and noticed that the identification plate was gone - it had apparently been scraped off in some way. There was ragged hole in the bottom of the mine, and formed the opinion that it had already been exploded. Asked if he knew who took out the primer, witness said he supposed the Captain did himself. 

A Prisoner of War. Had the skipper been on a minesweeper?” asked the Deputy Coroner.
Witness: No, he was a prisoner of war.
Had he any experience of mines?—l don't think so.
Proceeding, witness said he saw the primer. It was a brass tube about 3ft. long and 3in. in diameter, and it looked empty; he could put his fingers into it. There was strike rat the bottom, something similar to that of revolver. He did not think it dangerous. He thought it had been exploded. In reply to further questions, witness said he did not know of any Board of Trade regulations regarding the picking up of mines. Were there any appliances board for dealing with these mines?” asked the Coroner. Witness: No. Have you any instructions from your owners with regard to them —No. Witness said that just before he left the trawler with the previous witness the skipper was unwrapping the primer to show it to Mr Roberts.
Mutilated Bodies. P.C. Rowley said was passing the Fish Quay entrance on Wednesday when learnt of the explosion. He went board and made repeated efforts to get below into the cabin, but could not do so for the smoke and fumes. A gas mask was procured, but proved ineffective. On ultimately getting into the cabin after a quarter of an hour’s efforts, he found the remains of a man at the bottom of the steps, and, with the aid of a torch, found a second body inside the cabin. Both were very much mutilated, especially that at the foot of the steps.
The Verdict. The Deputy Coroner returned a verdict of “Accidental death." and added in the case of Roberts that he was on board during and in the course of his employment. 

Hartlepool's steam and motor trawlers.