Penlee lifeboat disaster
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The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the south-west coast of England, United Kingdom, when the Penlee lifeboat went to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in heavy seas. Both vessels were lost with all hands, leaving 16 dead, 8 from each vessel.
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[edit] Disaster
On 19 December 1981, the Dublin-registered mini bulk cargo ship, Union Star, was on its maiden voyage from Ijmuiden in the Netherlands to Arklow in Ireland, carrying a cargo of fertiliser. It carried a crew of five, including its captain Henry Morton. Also on board were Morton's wife, Dawn, and her two teenage daughters, who were travelling to be together for Christmas.
The Union Star developed an engine fault approximately eight miles east of the Wolf Rock, on the south coast of Cornwall. She was unable to restart her engines, and assistance was offered by a tug, the Noord Holland, under the Lloyd's Open Form salvage contract. Morton refused the offer, unwilling to pay an undetermined amount for salvage.
The fuel supply of the Union Star became contaminated by sea water and the weather continued to worsen, so she put out a distress signal to the Falmouth coastguard. Against 80 mph winds, gusting to 95 mph, (hurricane force 12 on the Beaufort scale) Union Star was being driven onto the rocks of Boscawen Cove, near Lamorna. The conditions were so rough that the crew of the Royal Navy Sea King helicopter sent from RNAS Culdrose were unable to remove any of the eight on board.
The lifeboat Solomon Browne, a wooden 47 feet Watson class lifeboat, crewed by eight men from the village of Mousehole, was launched into very difficult waters at Penlee Point, near Mousehole. All of its crew were experienced seamen, chosen from the 12 volunteers who responded when the call went out. Only one man from each family was taken, due to the danger of the conditions.
As the Union Star was driven close to the rocky cliffs, Coxswain Trevelyan Richards took the lifeboat head on into the storm. The lifeboat made several attempts before getting alongside Union Star; at least twice it was thrown on the ship's deck, and on another occasion slammed into its side. In mountainous seas, with the swell over 50 feet high, Solomon Browne retrieved four of the eight people on board the Union Star, who jumped out from its wheelhouse, before being forced to turn away from the ship. The lifeboat went back towards the Union Star for yet another attempt to rescue the remaining crew members; this proved fatal.
From that time, no more was seen of the Solomon Browne, nor heard from her radio. Her last message was: "We've got four men off, hang on, we have got four at the moment. There's two left on board...", at which point the radio went dead. A few moments later, her lights disappeared, at about the same time as Union Star keeled over.
What happened next is a matter of some conjecture as there were no eye witnesses. Possibly, due to a sudden lurch in direction of Union Star, and on a tremendous wave, Solomon Browne was thrown up and over the freighter; possibly she was stoved in below by one of the many rocks in the cove; possibly she was simply rolled onto the rocks by the 60-foot breaking seas.
The lifeboat from Sennen Cove tried to search and rescue, but it proved impossible for her to round the corner of Land's End. The lifeboat of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly crossed over to join in the search for survivors, and the lifeboat of the Lizard crossed Mount's Bay in hurricane conditions, causing herself structural damage in the process. The extensive search was also conducted from ashore and by helicopters from RNAS Culdrose.
Both vessels were lost with all hands. Of the 16 lives lost, eight bodies were eventually recovered, four from the 8 crew of the lifeboat and four from the Union Star. Wreckage from the Solomon Browne was found along the shore, and the Union Star lay capsized onto the rocks west of Tater Du Lighthouse.
[edit] Crew
The crew of Solomon Browne were:
- William Trevelyan Richards (aged 56) (Coxswain)
- James Stephen Madron (35) (Second Coxswain/Mechanic)
- Nigel Brockman (43) (Assistant Mechanic, a fisherman)
- John Blewett (43) (Emergency Mechanic, a telephone engineer)
- Kevin Smith (23)
- Barrie Torrie (33) (a fisherman)
- Charles Greenhaugh (46) (landlord of the Ship Inn in Mousehole)
- Gary Wallis (23)
All left behind friends and family in Mousehole, many with young children. Trevelyan Richards was posthumously awarded the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's Gold medal, while the remainder of the crew were all posthumously awarded Bronze medals. A gold medal service plaque was awarded to the station.
[edit] Aftermath
The disaster prompted a massive public appeal for the benefit of the village of Mousehole, where the lifeboat was based and the home of the crew and their families, raising over £3 million. A formal inquiry in 1982 found that no person was to blame for the disaster, which was attributed to the severe weather conditions. However, under new legislation, the coastguard was empowered to declare a mayday and authorise salvage on behalf of a ship's captain.
As of 2006, Nigel Brockman's son, Neil, still serves on the Penlee lifeboat. He was one of 12 men who volunteered for the 1981 'shout' but was sent back by Richards, who did not want two members of the same family out in such conditions. He is now coxswain of the current lifeboat, a modern Severn class lifeboat, now based in Newlyn. The station also has an inshore Atlantic 75 class lifeboat. The old lifeboat house at Penlee Point now stands empty, as a memorial to its dead crew.
Every 19 December, the Christmas illuminations of Mousehole are turned off at 8:00 pm for an hour as an act of remembrance.
[edit] Further reading
- The Penlee Lifeboat Disaster, E.C. Bowcott, 1982, ISBN 0-907622-03-8
- Penlee—The Loss of a Lifeboat, Michael Sagar-Fenton, 1991, ISBN 0-948158-72-7
