On the evening of December 19, 1981, the ship Union Star suffered engine failure off the south coast of Cornwall. With a storm building, the Coastguard attempted a helicopter rescue. But the weather forced them to stand off and the RNLI launched the Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne to help instead.
Nobody from the Union Star or the Solomon Browne came back.
Christmas 1981 in the small Cornish fishing village of Mousehole (pronounced Mouzel), not far from Land’s End, was a time of mourning rather than joy. Just six days earlier, the RNLI lifeboat Solomon Browne had launched into a storm to help a stricken vessel that had suffered engine failure and was being pushed onto the rocky coast. The lifeboat, the ship and all on board both were lost. For the villagers, it tore the heart from their Christmas celebrations – for the volunteer crew of the Solomon Browne (pictured above) were all locals; eight men, all of whom had been father, husband, brother or son to someone in Mousehole. All eight on board the Union Star – including Captain Henry Morton, his wife and two daughters – died in the tragedy too.
The Union Star, a cargo ship on her maiden voyage from the Netherlands to Ireland, sounded the alarm with a radio call to the coastguard at approximately 6pm on December 19. The vessel’s engines had failed, water had flooded the fuel system, and there was no way to control the ship or prevent her from running aground on the rocks. A Royal Navy Sea King helicopter using the call sign Rescue 80 and piloted by American navy pilot Lieutenant Commander Russell Smith was scrambled to attempt the rescue of the Union Star crew and passengers. But with wind gusts up to 90 knots (100mph) and waves reaching 18 metres high, the Sea King couldn’t get close enough to get anyone off the ship.
From the moment of the first call to Falmouth Coastguard, the RNLI’s Solomon Browne had been on standby. Despite the clear danger of attempting a rescue, Coxswain William Trevelyan Richards had plenty of offers to crew the boat. Those he selected were Second Coxswain and Mechanic James Madron, Assistant Mechanic Nigel Brockman, Emergency Mechanic John Blewett, Crew Member Charles Greenhaugh, Crew Member Kevin Smith, Crew Member Barrie Torrie, and Crew Member Gary Wallis. At 8pm, two hours after the Union Star called in, the Coastguard asked Coxswain Richards to launch the Solomon Browne.
With the Sea King standing off and monitoring the situation, the crew of the Solomon Browne made several attempts to reach the Union Star. In fact, they managed to get four people onto the lifeboat, among whom it is believed were Captain Morton’s pregnant wife and two step-daughters. Coxswain Richards radioed the news to the Sea King and, determined to bring everyone back safely, made another pass in an attempt to rescue the remaining four people. It was then that the Solomon Browne’s radio went silent. Ten minutes later, the vessel’s lights disappeared. The Sea King searched for the Solomon Browne, and three more lifeboats, from Sennen Cove, The Lizard and St Mary’s stations all launched into the storm to help their colleagues. The Sennen Cove lifeboat couldn’t get around Land’s End in the gale, and the Lizard lifeboat was damaged in the attempt. None of the lifeboats or the helicopter could find the Solomon Browne, or anyone from the lifeboat or the Union Star.
All eight of the lifeboat crew were honoured by the RNLI, with Coxswain Richards being posthumously awarded the organisation’s gold medal, and the rest posthumously receiving bronze medals. Speaking afterwards, the Sea King pilot Lieutenant Commander Smith, who had kept his aircraft on the scene during the early stages of the rescue attempt, paid tribute to the Solomon Browne crew.
He said: “The greatest act of courage that I have ever seen, and am ever likely to see, was the penultimate courage and dedication shown by the Penlee crew when it manoeuvred back alongside the casualty in over 60-foot breakers and rescued four people shortly after the Penlee lifeboat had been bashed on top of the
casualty’s hatch covers. They were truly the bravest eight men I’ve ever seen, who were also totally dedicated to upholding the highest standards of the RNLI”.
And Mousehole will never forget that night either. Even now, 42 years on, the village Christmas lights are turned off every December 19, for an hour from 8pm.
This year, a lantern will be burning in the cockpit of the “That Sailing Page” boat Amneris from 8pm to 9pm on Tuesday, December 19, in memory of those from the Solomon Browne and Union Star who died in that storm. If you can, light a candle at the same time and stand it in a window, wherever you are, to let the RNLI know that Britain appreciates the bravery of their lifeboat crews and the service they provide 24 hours a day, every day, whatever the weather.
It would also be the perfect time to send them a donation. You can do that using the link here.
For more, read the RNLI article on the Penlee tragedy here, and watch the Cruel Sea film about the disaster here.