The Penlee Lifeboat Disaster
The Union Star was a brand new mini bulk carrier launched only weeks before her disastrous end. Her Captain Henry Morton and his wife Dawn watched the launch at the Danish port of Ringkobing. On December 11 1981 captain Morton set sail on his maiden voyage to Ijmuiden to pick up his cargo of fertiliser, which was to be delivered to the Irish port of Arklow. On board for this first trip were his wife, two teenage daughters, and a crew of four.
The Village of Mousehole
Three days later in hurricane force winds the Union Star ran into trouble eight miles east of the Wolf Rock when sea water managed to get into her fuel supply. It was the beginning of the end. By Saturday night, just five days after the voyage had begun, the Union Star lay battered and wrecked on the Cornish coast, and Henry Morton, his wife, daughters, and all his crew had perished. What made the tragedy infinitely worse was the further loss of eight men, the complete crew of the lifeboat Solomon Browne, which itself was smashed to pieces on that dreadful night when it tried to go to the aid of the Union Star.
The wreck of the Union Star
Because of the truly awful weather the helicopters scrambled from Culdrose could do little to help, and it was left to the Penlee lifeboat, the Solomon Browne, launched at twelve minutes past eight in the evening from the little village of Mousehole. Under the leadership of the Cox'n Trevelyan Richards the lifeboat struggled down to the Tater Du rock braving forty-foot waves. In a magnificent effort the lifeboat snatched four people from the stricken Union Star, radioed her intentions back to base, and then went in again to try and save the rest. That's when disaster struck.
The Brave Crew.
What happened nobody will ever know for sure, but with such huge waves so close to the shore the lifeboat probably got smashed against the Union Star's hull and then pounded into the troughs of the waves against the seabed itself. What ever, all the crew perished and the Solomon Browne disintegrated. Anyone living in Devon and Cornwall that day was stunned by the news. For most of us, seamen or not, the lifeboat is our favourite charity, you see their little boat shaped collection boxes everywhere.
The Landlord was a crew member
We all pay lip service to the dangers, but we hadn't, thank God, had a disaster for years. The awful reality of ordinary men, most with wives and children, taking such extraordinary risks suddenly hit home, especially as we were all happily gearing up for Christmas. I went and saw the wreck of the Union Star a couple of days later and it was not a pretty sight. Nobody could have lived through that, but the crew of the lifeboat tried, and in the end that's all anyone can do. I hope that I would have had their courage, but somehow I doubt it.
The Memorial
Twenty years on the scars have healed and Mousehole is just another pretty Cornish village, but all around are little echoes of that fateful day. The most evocative is in the Parish Church of Paul, a village just up the road from Mousehole (an easy walk of about a mile) Here in this beautifully simple old church is a granite stone topped by a lantern containing a crystal chalice. The inscription says it all.
Map showing Mousehole and Paul
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Seth+Lakeman/track/Solomon+Browne
if you have any connection with mousehole you should see this link.it is a song Saluting the soloman brown I knew most of the crew (heroes)
As A Retired Fire Fighter Of 34 Years Sevice I pay Tribute To All Of The R.N.L.I. Life Boat Crews All Around Britains Coast Line.
I Also Give An Extra Tribute To The Brave Crew Of The Mousehole Crew
Who Lost Their Lives In Doing Their Duty, GOD BLESS THEM.
D.Tolton
As A Retired Fire Fighter Of 34 Years Service I pay Tribute To All Of The R.N.L.I. Life Boat Crews All Around Britains Coast Line.
I Also Give An Extra Tribute To The Brave Crew Of The Mousehole Crew
Who Lost Their Lives In Doing Their Duty, GOD BLESS THEM.
D.Tolton
My father was in the air sea rescue during the war.i will always remember the story he told me how his crew mates were lost at sea sunk by a mine.He was on a gunery course at the time,he always predicted that he should have been with them. It was his birthday a few days later, the crew had given him a cigarette box of which was painted inside, the boat of which he served. How sad for not just the crew but him left with a sad memory .God bless them all and the woderfull brave thing that you all do
my heart goes out to men so brave and who put their lives on the line for us all, and also the familys they left.. R.I.P……..
I am the window of one of the crew on the Union Star and extremely grateful to the crew of the solomon browne who tried in vain to help rescue them. All RNLI crews deserve great respect and gratitude for all the selfless work they do around our coasts. Can we also remember the crew of the Union Star, the captain’s wife and two teenage daughter’s who also perished that night. The weather that night is still vivid in my memory and apart from those involved in the rescue, nobody can comprehend the fear all must have felt during their last hours.
THESE MEN GAVE THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE AND SHOULD BE A REMINDER TO US ALL WHAT CREWS HAVE TO FACE EACH TIME THEY GO TO SEA.I HAVE THE HONOUR ALONG WITH MY WIFE SON DAUGHTER IN LAW TO BE THE PROUD OWNERS OF THE REPLECEMENT FOR THE SOLOMON BROWNE, THE MABEL ALICE
We visited Mousehole on honeymoon this September and felt truly moved and humbled by the bravery these men faced in their attempt to save others. Such a tragic event happened on that night – RIP all those lost and God Bless those that go out every day in their role as RNLI crew.
Keep rattling those tins!
Eileen I would be interested in chatting with you via email if at all possible, my email is bishopdanny7@hotmail.com
I am a young film make from Cornwall and I am starting a venture about the amazing story.
I remember the story and it is amazing, a time when men were men and courage was so important. An inspiration to us all.
many thanks
Danny
It is one thing (and a very terrible one) to be on a disabled vessel, being driven by furious weather towards destruction on a rocky coastline. But it is something completely different when men get up from their comfortable firesides, pull on their boots and oilskins, and volunteer to venture into those atrocious conditions to save the lives of others at the hazard of their own. It is this voluntary aspect that puts our lifeboat men, one and all, into the meritocracy of true heroes.
I am the proud Father of Gary Wallis who perished on that fatefull rescue, on the night the lifebout was scrambled Gary and I was playing snooker in the British Legion when the marines went off, he said ” look after my beer dad, I will be back”, as we now know he never finished he’s beer.
I lost a lot of friends that night, as one of the villagers I was a member of a great community, I would like to make one correction, Gary was 22 years of age and was the youngest member of the crew,
he would now have been 50yo and may have given me Grand Children but that was not meant to be, he will be alive with me forever.
With pride: Fred Wallis
Any contact concerning my comments are welcome, my Email address is, esrastar@adam.com.au
I am the current Coxswain of the Penlee Lifeboat and i have been reading all the comments about the disaster and i just want to say thankyou to you all, i am sure if the crew of the Solomon Browne were alive today they would be so proud of the crew past and present that serve on the Penlee lifeboat and how far the boats have come on since that night! the Ivan Ellen (our severn class Lifeboat) is just an amazing boat, so much more powerful and seaworthy than the old wooden lifeboats which in turn gives me and the crew confidence in the tasks and enviroment that we endure.
Please, please don’t forget the crew of the Union Star..The MN are at sea in every weather. It was a tragedy for all involved. The three women lost adds to the tragedy of tragedies.
My thoughts are with the people of Mousehole & the kin of the Union Star’s crew at this time
My heart will be heavy tomorrow as I remember all those brave souls on both vessels who perished on that dreadful night.
To their families I say – I for one will never forget them.
As a retired firefighter of 25 years I have had full admiration for the crews, male or female. In the the fireservice if something looks a bit risky we can be called to back off from the incedent, This is not the case with the Lads and Girls of the RNLI once they go out in adverse they rarely back off. I hope the families of all members of any crew are well looked after should they, like the Penlee crew suffer the loss of life.
May your God go with you and help and look over you to be every time you launch.
On the night of 19th December 1981 I was one and a half and no doubt tucked up in my cot in Falmouth during that horrendous storm. It is only this week, when as a leaving present I received ‘Penlee – the loss of a lifeboat’ and appreciated the horror of that night. The RNLI crews are truly amazing and the contiued effort of those on the ‘Solomon Browne’ is humbling. We are hugely fortunate to have such a wonderful service with dedicated crews.
It is good to see that those who perished both lifeboat men and those on the Union Star are remembered.
I am writing this on behalf of my husband Michael Smith who lost his only brother Kevin on the Soloman Browne – he was 23 at the time of the disaster and has now been dead longer than he was alive.Every year we put flowers on the railings of the boathouse for the crew – our daughters Laura and Emily who were never lucky enough to know their Uncle in person either come with us or have a memorial for the crew wherever they are – Laura lives in Lisbon so wasn’t with us this year.Roy,Kevin’s Dad comes with us to put a wreath on the railings we take our wreath and flowers off on Jan 6th which was Kevin’s birthday and throw them into the sea.This year Mike went out on the Ivan Ellen with Emily and she took a red rose for each crew member and threw them into the sea off Tater Dhu where the boys were lost.They were as Russell Smith the US Air Force pilot said the 8 bravest men – they will always live on in our hearts and memories.Shine on you crazy diamonds
please remember all that died that night ,my dad worked for union transport at the time henry was such a nice person i was a child then r.i.p for all the souls loss that night and thanks to the brave men that tried to save everyone regards paul
The moment I woke on that fateful morning I immediatley knew something terribe had happened it was a feeling I have never experienced before or since. As a serving policeman I rang the station at Penzance to be told the tragic news. I was not required to work but I walked along the prom and saw men I knew to be hard men openly crying. Everybody was saying the same thing that we had lost OUR lifeboat which went to show the high esteem that the lifeboat crew were held in. Everybody in Mousehole would have known someone in the crew but this was also the same for so many people in Newlyn and Penzance. During my 30 years in the police force I worked with all the emergency services who were just brilliant at what they did but I have always put the lifeboat crews at the top of the tree. I feel very proud to have personally known two of the crew of the Solomon Browne.
I lost my friend and his wife in this disaster, Henry (Mick) Morton and his wife Dawn. Mick sailed with me as my mate during our Tower Shipping days and I always found Mick to be a very competent seaman . I remember the evening well as I was working ashore at the time for Tower Shipping and people were ringing my home phone to see if I had any information on the incident.
My respect goes to all who perished.
respect to everyone involved. my dad worked as a shipwright in those days and solomon browne was a vessel he had worked on. though i was only 2 at the time he told me about this event when i was a bot older. ive done a youtube tribute to honour these heros and to remember then all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3UyfqjKJAU
any of you above if you would like to share any memories please contact me. my email is manicsubsidence@hotmail.co.uk
Despite the fact that the best part of 30 years have now elapsed since that tragic day, I am still always moved by the events of that night and the heroism demonstrated by so many from what is, when all is said and done, a ‘volunteer’ service (and long may it remain so). I have no connection with either Penlee or Mousehole, other than as an occasional visitor, but the actions of the crew that night exemplify in my opinion and experience as a ‘fair weather’ leisure yachtsman, everything that the RNLI stands for and represents. I trust that all souls lost that night, from both the Solomon Browne and the Union Star, have found eternal rest. It is to be hoped that their sacrifice that night will never be forgotten, and full marks to Seth Lakeman for providing the ‘vehicle’ required to keep this tragedy in the public’s consciousness.
Newlyn was my home at age 6. Cornwall, at age 93 is still my favourite county. Kevin Smith of the Solomon Browne was my patient as a little boy when I looked after him and his mother in Mexborough, S.Yorks. In November 94 I went with her on the Lifeboat that served as replacement-Mabel Alice perhaps- on an occasion when we went to commemorate the loss of all those brave men at the spot where the tragedy occurred. We joined the Lifeboat at Newlyn Where in !922 my father had been the Methodist minister. It was a few days following the death of my wife of 49 years in Portscatho. Mrs Smith had asked me to hold her hand, so to speak, when she read the lesson ar the service on the lifeboat. She did so valiantly and threw a wreath into the sea. I shall always remember that solemn occasion and never cease to wonder at the courage and self sacrifice of all thoese brave men.
I am about to include a story of Mousehole in my latest book when the characters enjoy a night in that famous little place at the end of their holiday. Title: ‘Joanna and Bryan’. Publishing date ? October or thereabouts.
Making a film? Why not try one based on my first book, ‘Into Africa with Scalpel and Spanner’, due I hope in August. I spent ten years in a Mission Hospital in Nigeria, ‘twixt 42 & 52.
I doubt if I shall manage Mousehole this year but shall, I hope, be driven to Portscatho for a week from September 25
I knew them all. My parents lived next door to John Blewitt. I live in Yorkshire and will never forget waking up the morning after and hearing the news. We had been staying with my parents in the summer and my husband had travelled back up to Yorkshire with Kevin on the train. They were amazing and should never be forgotten.
In October 2009 I visited the site of the memorial situated on the road to Mousehole. I wrote a short item about it with a photo in the newspaper I work for VoiceforArran in Scotland. Those brave crew will never be forgotten.
As a supporter of Mabel Alice,many stories are coming to the boat,about 1981,MA`s service life.To get personal accounts after nearly 30 years is incredible.Recently met a lady who`s father sold his business to David Robinson(benefactor….Mabel Alice being his wife).She detailed the story,which is very emotional.The boat today,is in fantastic condition,a tribute to the build quality of RNLI boats.Im very proud to be associated with Penlee/Mabel Alice.
My fiancé & I are huge supporters of the RNLI. What happened that night was an awful tragedy. My heart goes out to all of the crew of the Solomon Browne and the Union Star and the bravery which was shown on that night. I am currently on holiday in Trebetherick and visited Penlee lifeboat including the old station at Mousehole. It certainly is very moving. I have the book on the Penlee disaster but I also believe there was a documentry? Does anyone know where I could get a copy of this? Please could you email me: jhughes_702@hotmail.com Thank you.
Lets carry on supporting the men at sea!
My email add is jhughesunderscore702@hotmail.com – not sure if it was clear above. Thanks in advance
I will never forget Kevin Smith,he was a great friend to me during our time that we served in the merchant navy together,yet during all the time i knew him and the endless time we spent together he rarely mentioned the voluntary work he did with the penlee lifeboat and the dangers associated with it.Kevin was always smiling and we had some good times together,he was so happy at times and so i know that even though Kevin is not with us at the moment that at times his life was enjoyable and full.We both served on a ship called Port Caroline and we visited numerous places together and got into a few scrapes along the way,i suppose both of us being 17 year olds this was such a big adventure to us both….Kev my mate i will not forget the times we had and the friendship you showed me and along with all your brave friends that crewed the lifeboat that awful night you will never be forgotten..
As a small child born in the early 70′s one of the programmes on T.V. that I always remember (and still do) was a BBC documentary (broadcast around 1976) or series simply called “Lifeboat”,the boat we followed was the “Solomon Browne” stationed off of Penlee Point and she was manned by most of the wonderful people who would be lost with her on that fateful december night.I am a Londoner so I’d never seen a “real” lifeboat and began pestering my Mum to take us to the coast for a holiday.A few years later in the summer of 80 or 81 we went to Cornwall and I was always looking out to sea like it was something new and saw a lifeboat going to aid some souls in need of her and her crews help.Rolling on to that awful night I awoke to the dreadful news the next morning(I was 10 years old)and just burst into tears knowing that 16 people were gone and a community was in total shock and grief.The people who were lucky(for their families at least)were able to bury their loved ones and that was the worst thing to see all those poor people who’s heroic loved ones were lost and the teas and pain of the Christmas Eve andBoxing Day funerals being widely shown on national news is something I’ll never forget.
Thank you to all those we lost that night and huge respect for all you mariners who put the safety of others above your own well-being
I am the grandaughter of dawn, (married to Henrey morton) seems impossible i know but she adopted my mother soon after birth in 1972. My mother has always told me the story of the penlee lifeboat disaster and every time ive heard it, my heart sunk and ive always felt much saddness for all the people who lost their lives that night. such a terrible thing to happen to such loving and caring people. my heart totally goes out to eveyrone who lost someone that night and much respect for them all! They’ll always be rememberd as heros. sadly my mother passed away 3months ago and shes always wanted her ashes to be down in cornwall, close to her mother and two big sisters. so hopefully i’ll be down there one day doing the deed for her and finally get to find out more history of the lifboat and solomon browne. i will never forget the story of the penlee disaster, and my heart will always go out to those brave heros!!!
Hi….
I just stumbled accross this site and wanted to pay my respects.
I was 7 at the time of the disaster and I vaguely remember how eerie things were at the time, almost like the whole county had fallen silent, not that usual hum drum you normally get when you go out christmas shopping. My mum was born in Mousehole, in a cottage looking over the harbour, and my Gran who is 80 now, Carrie Strick, married to Leonard Strick have since moved on, (Grandad passed 13 years ago) I recall, telling me the stories of the older members of the crew, who they were, where they lived,…..I feel very emotional reading these comments here, I know none of the berieved families, but when I try to explain to people here in the Netherlands where I now live what the Penlee Lifeboat disaster was, I get very passionate about it. I have only small ties I know, but I love Cornwall, and Mousehole especially, although I’ve never lived there myself it has a strange ‘pull’, has a very special place in my heart. Very special people, and a very special crew.
My respects to all those associated with December 19th 1981
does anyone have a copy on vhs or dvd of the penlee lifeboat disaster ????
if you do please get intouch via my email neillock66@hotmail.com
i,ll leave a donation to the rnli.
many thanks
God Bless you all………
First off I have to say that I’m from the land-locked East Midlands so I’m far removed from Cornwall, however for the past couple of years I have become entangled, if that is the right word, in this disaster.
It’s strange because I can’t actually remember the event at the time, being 51, and remembering disasters such as Aberfan and the Torreycanyon, you would think I would.
I first became aware via the marvelous documentary ‘Cruel Sea’ on the BBC five years ago (I meant to keep the recording but recorded over it!) but then in January 2008 I heard for the first time a piece of music that has had an effect on me like no other – ‘Penlee’ by Simon Dobson.
I have been an amateur musician in Brass Bands for 40 years and, of course, bands are a strong part of the Cornish heritage. In 2007 Simon Dobson, a young Cornishman was comissioned to write a work for the Cornish Youth Band and the end result was ‘Penlee’. Simon had grown up knowing of the Penlee story because he had been born prematurely just prior to the disaster so was going through his own struggle at the time and the piece is a vivid portrayal of the events of that night as his tribute to all the lives lost.
The piece takes us trough different scenarios and emotions however, the climax of the piece comes towards the end of the thirteen and a half minute work with the depiction of three enormous waves and then the music gradually disappears, just as the storm did, to leave peace and tranquility and the tolling of a ships bell.
I first heard the piece at a serious band festival in Manchester and vividly remember being caught in the emotions of the piece and sitting there numb and in tears, and then experiencing the audience reaction to the piece – stunned silence before muted applause, something I’d never experienced before.
A recording of the work has since been released and not a week goes by when I don’t listen to it, read parts of Michael Sagar-Fenton’s excellent book or listen to the radio broadcast which features live snippets of radio reports from the night itself, and the thing that always get to me is listening to the voice of Trevelyan Richards and the fact he wasn’t a ‘superhero’ he was just an ‘ordinary bloke’, as all the eight were.
On this 29th anniversary I would just like to say R.I.P. to the eight and the other eight – you will never be forgotten.
If any body has a copy of the Cruel Sea documentary featuring the Penlee Lifeboat disaster I would very much to copy or borrow it.
Please can someone help me?
I will glady pay costs and make (another) donation to the wonderful RNLI.
Many thanks
Jim Stanley
As this awful disaster was playing itself out I was serving as Mate on the Union Arrow approaching Dunkirk. I have a foot in both sides of this tragic event. My father Tom Litton was a great Friend Of James Madrons Father, Skipper of the Renovelle. For a time we lived in Mousehole. It was by meeting Mick Morton in my home port of Exmouth that I obtained a job, first as Mate, and then as Master with Union Transport. I also knew Jim the Mate on the Star. A couple of weeks later we went to Ijmuiden to pick up the cargo of fertiliser for Arklow that should have arrived on the Star. When we passed Lands End we went in close to see what remained of the Star. It was sunny, flat calm and awfully sad.
does anyone have a copy on vhs or dvd of the penlee lifeboat disaster
if you do please get intouch via my email
gary@jaffa.fsnet.co.uk
Many Thanks
I will never forget that night the bbc news lifeboat gone with her crew & the crew off penlee that were rescued. Its so sad i have promised myself that i will go to penlee to say how i felt on that night for the crew.I remember them for ever, as i live in Dunlaoghaire which lost her lifeboat crew of 15 back in 1895 on the 24 of december, & i will tell you to this day we will not forget you brave men & wimon that are ready to help leaving maybe a cup of tea or something else to save who ever. Thanking all you at rnli even the people that do not go to sea. Well thanks
I am writing this on my last evening in Penzance after a little holiday here. I came with my eldest daughter Logan especially to visit Mousehole. I knew about the Penlee disaster and have been thinking about those brave seamen for the last few days. My late father was an engineer in the Merchant Navy- the lifeboats are the only charity I stop and give to in the street, I was brought up by the sea in Sunderland. My parents went on honeymoon to Mousehole on 1962, I was born the next year. As a child, I heard mum talk about Mousehole and I always always wanted to visit, I felt drawn to the place, sounds daft I know. Finally being here, it is all I
imagined and more. So sad about those men, I have been thinking about them and I wish my dad knew that I finally got here.
I went to school with kevin at Heamoor and a nicer lad you could not meet. I never thought he would give his life in such a way but what do you know when your lads at school I grew up to be a major in the army and I wish he was by my side now.God bless you keven and the rest of you there are none braver than the crew of the lifeboat
would just like to say i adopted Cornwall as my home county when i was about 7, im now 45, and over the last 5 to 7 years have adopted Mousehole as home although we do not live there(mores the pity) I remember the loss of the boat in 1981 only to well with it being Christmas week and have learned alot more since then,What phenomely brave men to go out in that storm, a disaster that could of been avoided, for all but a TOW………..My father who also loved Cornwall passionately like me…died recently, his funeral collection is going to the RNLI, but specifically the PENLEE boat, god look after her and all who sail in her…..
I would just like to put my thoughts in writing for others to think about and maybe comment on.In my opinion the crew of the Solomon Browne are the bravest of the brave say what you like about footballers or other celebrities.The word hero is banded about too much.These men who constantly volunteered to put their lives on the line to save others are the true heroes as are every single other lifeboat crew member to this day.I say this as a serving firefighter who is occasionally called upon to rescue other human beings.I cannot comprehend what these men went through on that night but I’m sure they saw it as doing their duty they will never be forgotten as they made the ultimate sacrifice.My respect also to their families as how can you prepare for what they had to deal with.Rest In Peace
As a retired merchant seaman I can only add my deepest respect for all RNLI volunteers. Here is a link to a song written to commemorate the gallantry and tragic loss of that night by Neil Kimber of Kimber’s Men.
http://youtu.be/0eaTRaNkpb0
To all Lifeboatmen, Firefighters and those who put their lives on the line to save others – God Bless you all
BBC 4 has scheduled a repeat of The Cruel Sea on 20 December, the day after the thirtieth anniversary.
It is nice to see a site like this remembering the heroic actions of the Penlee Lifeboat crew on 19 Dec 1981. Hopefully they will never be forgetten for their courage in attempting a rescue in such tough sea conditions.
I was captain of the Union Saturn and safely tied up in Antwerp on that fateful night and listening to the distress unfolding. It was the longest sadest night ever.
I knew both Mike and his mate Jimmy very well and two nicer more competent seafarers you could not meet.
R.I.P.all involved.
Pat Rosney.
I was barely old enough to remember this properly (5), but since I first saw the 2006 Documentary I have been amazed by the amazing selflessness and bravery these men showed. I have just finished reading Penlee “the loss of a lifeboat” and have fruitlessly been searching for the documentary online.I have just discovered it will be shown on BBC 4 at 10pm on the 20th of December 2011. I hope as many people as possible see this, so all those sadly lost can be remembered as heroes. RIP to the crew of the Soloman Browne and Union Star.
For those wishing to know the documentary “The Cruel Sea” About the penlee lifeboat disaster is to be shown on BBC4 at 10 pm on Tuesday 20th December 2011..
I was there that night as part of the Royal Navy Plymouth Clearance Diving Team. We got the call around 9.00 PM and headed straight down arriving late at night. John Smith was our leader and the other guys were Spike Hughes, Paddy Doonan and myself.
A horrible and frightening night. We managed to get onto the Union Star as she lay upside down on the rocks. We were hoping for survivors inside the hull but all to no avail. We tried to blow our way through the hull but conditions were so bad we could not effectively secure explosives to the hull.
I remember as daylight came we could see the full magnitude of the storm. As the waves hit the Union Star the force of the waves were so great the ships propellor was spun like a top. I remember John Snow the journalist appearing in the morning and organising hot food for us which was very good of him.
I shall never forget that night and if I was home Dec 19th instead of offshore in the North Sea I would be on the cliff overlooking the scene and maybe shed a little tear for those lost lives of thirty years ago.
Small world. I live in the North West of England near the city of Chester and the landlord of my local pub is the brother of one of the lifeboat crew on the Solomon Brown. We have never spoken of the event.
Monday the 19th December 2011, three days away as I write this, will be the 30th anniversary of the loss of the Penlee boat and her crew. We will remember them.
The selfness nature of all the (alive or died) RNLI lifeboat volunteers is truly staggering.
It is hard to put into words the amount of respect and pride I have for these volunteers.
We are an island nation and it is a testament to the true human spirit of helping people who cannot help themselves. Tales of the past, present and future is and will continue to be truly inspiring.
Thanks!
I come from a fishing village in Donegal In Ireland. I have fished for twenty years and know the pain of losing loved ones at sea. Its a pain that is shared in every coastal village and town and I feel it for both these crews. I lost six friends in 1995 when MFV Carrikatine was lost without trace returning to port in a November gale. Lets all hope the are all sharing a beer and a song somewhere warm and dry now with the Penlee and Union Star crew. We will meet again lads.
True heroes; not in it for the money, the glory or any kind of personal gain. We should teach our kids their story to demonstrate the highest quality of human spirit. The world needs people who demonstrate this quality of behaviour.
I’ve always loved staying in and visiting Mousehole. The crew of The Solomon Browne will never be forgotten, and to all the families, (and of the Union Star), my deepest respects.
as a son of a capten who saild on the union sun, pluto and venus in the 80′s my memorys go out to all on the star and the lifeboat
godbless them all.
Does anybody have any information regarding a vessel called the Mark that was also lost that night in or around the same area. The ship was never recovered although items off the ship were found on Marazian beach a few days after the Penlee lifeboat disaster. Unfortunately my Grandad was lost on that awful night too. He was travelling from teignmouth to Italy carrying China Clay. Any information would be gratefully received. My email address is debbiewright1973@yahoo.co.uk RIP to all those that lost their lives that night.
last night i watched the documentary on the 1981 penlee disaster. after watching it i sat staring at the screen and couldnt believe the utter braveness of the crew. i can only imagine what they went through during that cruel evening. they will never be forgotten.
i am doing research on sea disasters and need some info on the penlee lifeboat. if the rescue had been a sucess where would the solomon browne have taken the survivors. Would she return to mousehole or would she seek the nearest safe port. God rest their souls.
You can definitely see your skills within the paintings you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. At all times follow your heart.
dath nigt we was on anchor in the bay of st ives .i was on board of N.36 donia
Just last evening we returned from Cornwall.Im 45 and dont remember the the disaster at all from 30+ years ago.Weird as i remember the tori canyon.As a boy i adored our Holidays to Mullion.The Lizard,StJust,foghorns,lighthouses,lifeboats,Its dark at night,pasties,clotted cream and ofcourse mousehole,so much so my wife and i wanted to give our two kids some real English/cornish Culture.A taste of real England rather than Tenerife or another all inclusive Med Holiday.My two are 12 and 14yrs.
THE HAUNTING BIT
We drove out along the coast road from pensance.A Pleasantly mild evening, misty,but not a breath of wind.We fancied fish and chips and stumbled on a chippie open in mousehole[about to close].We sat at around 9pm[ish]over looking the harbour.
Sat on the car bonnet eating our chips.I noticed we all had started whispering to eachother when talking.I never gave it anymore though or mentioned it.Felt quite somber/ solom,we all felt it.Hence the whispering
The morning after we followed the coast again and decided to stop at a few points of intrest.Started at St Ives.Along the route a tinmine/exibition.They have a shop and wanting a momento we wandered in.I cant explain,, WHY,, i walked streight over to the books and picked up,, THE LOSS OF A LIFEBOAT,,I was in a tinmine exibition,i should have been buying polished tinmine stuff,fudge or a paperweight.Walked streight in and picked up the book 20yrds in the shop.Passing all sorts of stuff of intrest first.
I dont read at all,i dont go in the sea since Jaws was released,dont fish,sail,im from Wigan so no attachment with the sea.I am also prudent with my money in gift shops.
I was drawn streight to that book.Compelled to buy it and im so glad i did.We sat in that evening while i read it and the Mrs & kids played board games.
Im 20stones,6ft1,married a miners daughter and from a mineing family and ive done abit[or thought i had].
My wife took the kids swimming when she saw the tears in my eyes start rolling down my cheeks as i read.
The picture on the cover of the book is of the harbour we ate our fish and chips on the evening before.I dont know why i was drawn to or bought the book,its fate perhaps.
What i do know is
We all left Cornwall feeling very humble and we learned a few lessons after reading the book that sat in classroom cant teach.Culture at its very finest and why this country is called GREAT Britain
God Bless to all and Thank You.
Here is a link to the Penlee video done by the BBC
I noticed many people have requested it,so just trying to help.Its on you tube.I hope ther isnt any problem with links to other sites.Please accept my appolls if i have broken any site rules.
Link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeIX0VnUMKo&feature=related
Regards
BRIAN…
Tears roll down my cheeks every time I read about the Solomon Browne. What selfless courage was shown that dreadfull night. The RNLI are all brave volunteers. Long may they stay independent of the government, and God bless them all.
I was too young to join Porthleven Coastguard, but still used to go out on ‘shouts’ with my father & brother.
The maroon went off that grey saturday evening, so I started to get ready to go out. Mother put a stop to that & I was a bit teasy about it. I soon realised that mouther was protecting me from I might see.
Porthleven Coastguard joined other crews from St.Keverne to St.Agnes.
Thankfully my family came home, even my sister’s boyfriend,Steve Marlow. He got quite battered by the masts of the Union Star, as the sea king winched him down on to the violently rocking vessel.
Please spare a thought for hte other Lifeboat crews that attemted to get to the scene.
Sennen boat couldn’t get around Land’s End, for fear of flipping over in the massive waves.
Lizard Lifeboat was leaking like a basket when they hauled her back into the boathouse.
St.Mary’s boat managed to make it safely, as it was one of the new Severn class boats. Still quite a journey from Isles of Scilly.
Over 30 years on, I still pay my respects to the crew & my friends families.
RIP Boys.
looks up…hiya Johnny Biss..what a suprise lol…well as for crew of Solomon Browne, the bravest bunch of men who have ever walked the planet on that night…and if the captain of Union Star hadnt been so damn selfish trying to prevent salvage rights for so long, the members of that ship would have been pulled off a lot sooner and Solomon Browne’s crew would still be alive! ….simple
I remember the Penlee disaster very well as it was the day after my 21st birthday, and all the reporting of it at the time.I love Cornwall and being there very much, I stay in St Keverne on the Llizard penisular and have visited the life boat station at mousehole and been into Newlyn.
Living in Surrey , being a landlocked county, some here , find it strange , that RNLI collectors call or are seen here in Godalming high street, I happily give my coins to their collection boxes.
Perhaps if those find it odd in a land locked county, might find themselves in a similar situation of being in distrees on a boat or maybe a similar situation to those on the Union star, they might perhaps think differently.
also I recall a documentry about the disaster, in which the USN helicopter piolet was interviwed, in which he broke down, never forgotten that,
I sailed by the wreck site today,on the mv scilonian 3 . My thoughts went out to the crew of the union star,the brave lifeboat,crew on that faithful night. I knew mick Morton when he was skipper of the union sun.I was on the Hoofort one of r lap thorns fleet.We sailed a lot of the same routes,a really great guy.
december 19
It is December again and the anniversary approaches, of that terrible night when the Solomon Browne and the Union Star went down with all hands lost. My heart goes out to all concerned. So many fine people, so suddenly gone, now stars in the heavens.
 I feel particularly close to them and to that event, because I was at sea too, during that same gale. On December 19, 1981, my friend and I, and her small son, were with many other people on the Stena Normandica, heading to Ireland for Christmas. We set sail from Fishguard to Rosslare as that gale blew in. Our departure had been delayed by a broken door (I later found out from officers of the  ship), and it was late afternoon when we left.
To this day it is not completely clear to me what madness caused them to take us out, but they did. We soon headed into extremely high seas (I was told by the captain next day they were at least 70 foot waves). Everyone was lying on the floor, among crashes of things falling and breaking, and the creaks and groans of the ship, and the sounds of the gale. It was like a roller coaster, rising on the swell and sliding down again and again. We feared for our lives, and did not know whether the ship would go down any minute. Thank God, they managed to turn her and get back to the coast, where we ran up and down on the heavy seas, waiting for the gale to subside. (I was told we could not re-enter the port because of the door. )
At that point, being able to get up and walk again, my friend and I went to find officers to get some news. We ended up being invited into the bridge and met the captain and other officers (there was an executive officer from high up in the Stena Line in there, too…and this is also when I was told why we had not gone back into the port), and we were on the bridge when the news came in by radio that the Penlee Lifeboat had gone down with all her brave crew, along with the ship they were trying to save and its complement, including that captain’s family members.Â
I will never forget that devastating news and the terrible sorrow everyone felt. We had so narrowly escaped a similar fate at exactly the same time that the other souls were being lost close by in that terrible gale. God rest their souls, all of them. And may there be comfort for their loved ones today. I know that even now the memory is fresh, whenever the time comes around. I remember it, too.
I was on a ship called the isabel mitchell about 12 to 16 miles away on the night we were in ballast sailed from Dublin on passage to Germany, a small coaster i am now 65 years of age i have not and will never forget that night i knew Henry Morgan before he joined the Union Star, he was a skipper for mitchells i was at sea for 29 years and have seen many storms but never one sow violent and ugly, the men of the SOLOMON BROWN were undoubtably beyond any dout the bravest most valiant men ever to put to sea, and that is saying some thing when men put there lives on the line every day at sea, the difference is they gave there all in a valiant effort to save the lives of others, i am hopeing to go to penzance on the 19 dec i have waited thirty odd years to go but i know it is something i want to do before i die and God willing this year i will do it mike wilson ex M.N
Just wanted to leave my respects and best wishes to all the surviving families of these extremely brave men on the anniversary of this terrible tragedy
May your spirits soar on and on
Another anniversary comes around and may we never forget the acts of bravery from the crew of the Soloman Brown sadly and tragically lost.
A Helston girl I was a child on this terrible night but I remember and I continue to remember.
Please continue to support the RNLI.
My thoughts are with the friends and families of those tragically lost on that dreadful night.
On board of the Solomon Brown, was a doctor, Dr Reid. That night, he was not on duty but nevertheless came to take his place on board, thereby saving one younger man’s life. As he came on board he said: “This is a night for the old men; stay on shore and look after your family”. I was already in
australia but I was proud of them all and every year, come the 19th of December I have a special thought for them, especially for Dr Reid who seemed to have anticipated the no-return.
Michele Batten, formerly of Newlyn
I worked in The Coastguard Pub ( ? Ken Best had it then) many years ago…and got to know many of the local’s….I often missed the last bus and would walk back to PZ after work.. I always said hello as a walked past the lifeboat Station, or spent a minute looking out to sea. The bravest of the brave. Forever in my thoughts.
Like so many other people I was deeply moved by the BBC documentary and, like them, would love a copy of it on DVD to show my children as a lesson in values and courage. Could the BBC not release it on DVD with all the proceeds going to the RNLI?
my dad knew every man on the solomon browne, had worked in the legion and the ship (john boase formerly of the flat next to the ship) he used to tell me stories of the lifeboat as a child it was only as i got older i found out more, i had the honour of meeting neil brockman too, he seemed so happy that his dad was still fondly remembered, and every year on the anniversary of that night, i light my candle in rememberance of my dads friends, even named my daughters sennen-rose and lamorna rose which in gloucestershire are very unusual names god bless them all
I’ll never forget the terrible disaster, the dreadful loss of life. I worked in the owners offices at Union Transport London all those years ago & I just could not believe it when I heard the tragic news on the radio. Unfortunately, the company has now failed in the really difficult present economic climate & Union Transport is now under administration with huge debts.
A sad end indeed to one of Britain’s shipowners.
My thoughts go out to the families of those lost in the disaster & also to staff & crew who may lose their employment.