Penlee lifeboat loss 31 years ago today
Discussion
Athlon said:
It is that incredibly sad time of year when I resurrect this topic to remember the crew of the Penlee Lifeboat that was lost with all hands trying so hard to rescue the people on board the Union Star, near Lamorna in Cornwall.
If you don't know the story as it is 41 years ago now you can watch the documentary on Youtube here: Penlee disaster
Have a tissue for when you hear the increasingly desperate calls from Falmouth coastguard trying to reach the lifeboat, it gets me every.single.time.
I am truly proud to fundraise on for the RNLI, this event is in no small part part the reason why I do it and I am incredibly lucky to know some of the family members of that crew which is why I will do my best to keep them in our thoughts.
Fair winds to the crew who are still out. Never forgotten, Always in our hearts
To those who support this greatest of charities, thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are all lifesavers.
Thank you. Its important to rememberIf you don't know the story as it is 41 years ago now you can watch the documentary on Youtube here: Penlee disaster
Have a tissue for when you hear the increasingly desperate calls from Falmouth coastguard trying to reach the lifeboat, it gets me every.single.time.
I am truly proud to fundraise on for the RNLI, this event is in no small part part the reason why I do it and I am incredibly lucky to know some of the family members of that crew which is why I will do my best to keep them in our thoughts.
Fair winds to the crew who are still out. Never forgotten, Always in our hearts
To those who support this greatest of charities, thank you from the bottom of my heart, you are all lifesavers.
I remember it well and now live about 10 miles as the crow flies from the scene. I can hear the sea in Mounts Bay as a constant roar against the cliffs on such a rough night as tonight. RNLI supporter here too and hoping the lifeboat men and women who volunteer to go out and give aid to others in trouble at sea all stay safe this December. 
This Penlee docu-drama aired on Radio 4 last year is well worth a listen. Powerful stuff.
Keep the crew and the families in your thoughts tonight as they fought the ultimate battle against nature and sadly lost. Forever in our hearts. Service before self. Truly Iron men in wooden boats.
Keep the crew and the families in your thoughts tonight as they fought the ultimate battle against nature and sadly lost. Forever in our hearts. Service before self. Truly Iron men in wooden boats.
matchmaker said:
ClaphamGT3 said:
Vipers said:
I have always found it difficult to accept that the RNLI exists on charity. With all the idiotic payments our government makes to overseas activities it’s bonkers.
The RNLI wouldnt have it any other wayI watched the Cruel Sea documentary again this evening, those final radio transmissions are absolutely chilling.
Our local boats in SE Kent have been pretty busy recently, along with a Cornish fishing boat that didn't hesitate to do the right thing and save many lives .
My annual membership is money well spent . Must pop in the local boathouse at the weekend for some stickers for my latest car .
grumpy52 said:
matchmaker said:
ClaphamGT3 said:
Vipers said:
I have always found it difficult to accept that the RNLI exists on charity. With all the idiotic payments our government makes to overseas activities it’s bonkers.
The RNLI wouldnt have it any other wayI watched the Cruel Sea documentary again this evening, those final radio transmissions are absolutely chilling.
Our local boats in SE Kent have been pretty busy recently, along with a Cornish fishing boat that didn't hesitate to do the right thing and save many lives .
My annual membership is money well spent . Must pop in the local boathouse at the weekend for some stickers for my latest car .
It's that being a charity gives them absolute operational independence, since they alone hold their purse strings. Relying on donations is in many ways a more secure funding model since it is immune to Treasury spending reviews, political pork-barreling, departmental restructurings and mission creep. Look at how HM Coastguard have struggled to maintain their service and operation level across recent decades due to exactly that (and now rely on another volunteer organisation, the NCI, to take on a lot of their lost capability). The RNLI have got very good at raising money from the British population over the past 200-odd years (and I mean that in an entirely positive way) and have full control over how they go about raising and spending their budget.
It also completely avoids politicisation of their purpose. The RNLI has already been getting in the neck from some quarters in the past year over accusations of them being a 'taxi service' for asylum seekers. Imagine if Priti Patel or Suella Braverman had direct influence at a cabinet level over the RNLI's funding or operations? Being their own masters they can simply get on with 'saving lives at sea' without having to bend to the whims of politicians, media campaigners or twitter demagogues.
I always give the documentary a watch at this time of year, and it never fails to be affecting. I've been at sea in stormy weather off Cornwall myself (nothing as severe as the storm on the night of the disaster, but a 'proper blow') and my overriding priority (and instinct) was to keep as many miles from those cliffs, rocks, coves, and reefs as possible. It takes a very special and dedicated breed of person to not only to choose to set out in such weather, but to actively head towards such a destructive coastline, and all in the name of helping others.
2xChevrons said:
Look at how HM Coastguard have struggled to maintain their service and operation level across recent decades due to exactly that (and now rely on another volunteer organisation, the NCI, to take on a lot of their lost capability). The RNLI have got very good at raising money from the British population over the past 200-odd years (and I mean that in an entirely positive way) and have full control over how they go about raising and spending their budget.
Without derailing the thread too much, NCI whilst providing some observational intelligence are not relied on in the way that you portray and as they only work when they want to it’s generally when they’re not there that the coastguard are called upon. There’s many things wrong with HMCG but centralising the control rooms was not one of them and in fact would probably provide a better service if they reduced their operations footprint and had larger north/south centres. Regarding RNLI fundraising yes they’re very good at that and have a team at Poole always looking at the next technology to help raise more money. It’s been a few years but when I was last there was told they could stop fundraising today and last at least 2 years.
Athlon said:
This Penlee docu-drama aired on Radio 4 last year is well worth a listen. Powerful stuff.
Keep the crew and the families in your thoughts tonight as they fought the ultimate battle against nature and sadly lost. Forever in our hearts. Service before self. Truly Iron men in wooden boats.
I listened to it. tearfully by the end. Such heroism.Keep the crew and the families in your thoughts tonight as they fought the ultimate battle against nature and sadly lost. Forever in our hearts. Service before self. Truly Iron men in wooden boats.
Also the loss of the MV 'Mark' which went down with the loss of all hands on the same night.
All that was ever found was a washed up ship's boat and a lifering.
The actual wherebaouts of the ship are still unknown.
From the Penlee lifeboat facebook page:
"Tonight we also recall the forgotten tragedy of the MV Mark, a 500-tonne coaster which went down somewhere in or near Mount’s Bay with the loss of six crew on the 19th December 1981.
This tragedy was completely over-shadowed by the Penlee lifeboat disaster and the loss of the Solomon Browne - and to this day little is known about how the Mark met her end.
Bound for Spezia in Spain from Teignmouth with a cargo of china clay, the master of the Mark ignored the advice of the pilot at Plymouth not to proceed down the channel.
The precise location where the Mark went down is unknown - possibly near the Lizard and across Mount’s Bay near Mousehole have been suggested. Sadly the wreck of the Mark has never been located so she is probably laying in much deeper water. Tragically none of her crew were ever recovered.
A ship’s boat washed up on the beach at Marazion a few days later but the only known artefact from the ship in existence is this lifebelt which hangs in the Dock Inn, Penzance."
All that was ever found was a washed up ship's boat and a lifering.
The actual wherebaouts of the ship are still unknown.
From the Penlee lifeboat facebook page:
"Tonight we also recall the forgotten tragedy of the MV Mark, a 500-tonne coaster which went down somewhere in or near Mount’s Bay with the loss of six crew on the 19th December 1981.
This tragedy was completely over-shadowed by the Penlee lifeboat disaster and the loss of the Solomon Browne - and to this day little is known about how the Mark met her end.
Bound for Spezia in Spain from Teignmouth with a cargo of china clay, the master of the Mark ignored the advice of the pilot at Plymouth not to proceed down the channel.
The precise location where the Mark went down is unknown - possibly near the Lizard and across Mount’s Bay near Mousehole have been suggested. Sadly the wreck of the Mark has never been located so she is probably laying in much deeper water. Tragically none of her crew were ever recovered.
A ship’s boat washed up on the beach at Marazion a few days later but the only known artefact from the ship in existence is this lifebelt which hangs in the Dock Inn, Penzance."
paintman said:
Also the loss of the MV 'Mark' which went down with the loss of all hands on the same night.
All that was ever found was a washed up ship's boat and a lifering.
The actual wherebaouts of the ship are still unknown.
From the Penlee lifeboat facebook page:
"Tonight we also recall the forgotten tragedy of the MV Mark, a 500-tonne coaster which went down somewhere in or near Mount’s Bay with the loss of six crew on the 19th December 1981.
This tragedy was completely over-shadowed by the Penlee lifeboat disaster and the loss of the Solomon Browne - and to this day little is known about how the Mark met her end.
Bound for Spezia in Spain from Teignmouth with a cargo of china clay, the master of the Mark ignored the advice of the pilot at Plymouth not to proceed down the channel.
The precise location where the Mark went down is unknown - possibly near the Lizard and across Mount’s Bay near Mousehole have been suggested. Sadly the wreck of the Mark has never been located so she is probably laying in much deeper water. Tragically none of her crew were ever recovered.
A ship’s boat washed up on the beach at Marazion a few days later but the only known artefact from the ship in existence is this lifebelt which hangs in the Dock Inn, Penzance."
Wondered when this would pop up....There is so little known about this its extraordinary, no reports (that I can find) of any Mayday, requests for assistance, nothing. I have always found this so odd that it could happen on the same night, fundamentally within reach of Lizard and Penlee with loss of all hands and remain completely in the shadows. As often crossing that piece of water, all be it is usually moderate to calm conditions only, its unnerving to think such a thing can happen. Without derailing this thread, another disaster / mystery is the Darlwyne in 66 on the day after the world cup win. Not in my living memory, however a lot written about it and again I round the Dodman point a lot (in better conditions) and when sitting at 5kts you have plenty of time to think what if...All that was ever found was a washed up ship's boat and a lifering.
The actual wherebaouts of the ship are still unknown.
From the Penlee lifeboat facebook page:
"Tonight we also recall the forgotten tragedy of the MV Mark, a 500-tonne coaster which went down somewhere in or near Mount’s Bay with the loss of six crew on the 19th December 1981.
This tragedy was completely over-shadowed by the Penlee lifeboat disaster and the loss of the Solomon Browne - and to this day little is known about how the Mark met her end.
Bound for Spezia in Spain from Teignmouth with a cargo of china clay, the master of the Mark ignored the advice of the pilot at Plymouth not to proceed down the channel.
The precise location where the Mark went down is unknown - possibly near the Lizard and across Mount’s Bay near Mousehole have been suggested. Sadly the wreck of the Mark has never been located so she is probably laying in much deeper water. Tragically none of her crew were ever recovered.
A ship’s boat washed up on the beach at Marazion a few days later but the only known artefact from the ship in existence is this lifebelt which hangs in the Dock Inn, Penzance."
This is just an old sample of the known wrecks along the coast where I live . Although most are old and the last to go down in the area was about a decade ago , a car transport with mainly new BMWs .
The vast majority were lost during storms. One particular night saw over a hundred lost .
Modern ships and navigation aids have certainly improved safety at sea .
Every area in the world has tales of ships that just vanished , usually during storms.
A big series of waves can roll anything over , it doesn't give the crew or passengers much chance to do anything.
It’s always the radio transmissions that get me.-You can hear the angst in Morton’s voice when he he actually asks for the crew to be removed.what must have been going through his mind knowing how bad the situation had become, and with his wife and her children on board.
He must have known at some point that it would take a miracle to save them all…..
And the bit at the end from Falmouth coastguard trying to get the Solomon Browne on the radio-absolutely haunting.
As someone said earlier, steel men in a wooden boat
He must have known at some point that it would take a miracle to save them all…..
And the bit at the end from Falmouth coastguard trying to get the Solomon Browne on the radio-absolutely haunting.
As someone said earlier, steel men in a wooden boat
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