THE widow of an East Lancashire sailor and relatives of 35 others who died when a trawler sank in 1974 were due to learn more about their disappearance at a public inquiry which opened today.

Sheila Doone, of Sackville Street, Brierfield, is one of a group of relatives who have campaigned for almost 30 years to find out what happened when the Hull-based Gaul sank off the coast of Norway.

Her husband John was a radio operator on board the trawler, which sank without any distress call, amid rumours it was involved in espionage, like many other ships at the time.

Relatives of 34 of the 36 men who disappeared formed the Gaul Families Association (GFA) to press the Government for more information. Mrs Doone has said she believes the ship was involved in espionage, and that she and the other families would keep fighting until the truth came out.

The Ministry of Defence has always denied the ship was involved in any Cold War spying and the official Formal Investigation in 1974 concluded the vessel had "capsized and foundered due to being overwhelmed by a succession of heavy seas."

The wreck was discovered 900ft below the surface of the Barents Sea in 1997 and two years later Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott ordered a reopening of the Formal investigation.

In 2002 the remains of four crewmen were discovered on the wreck by a survey team.

Today, the reopened Formal Investigation was being opened by the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith. before Wreck Commissioner, Mr Justice David Steel. It is expected to take four or five weeks

The GFA will be represented at the hearing and relatives of the master and mate, who were also on board when the ship sank, are being represented separately.