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On 19 December 1981, the crew of the Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne were lost attempting to rescue the crew and passengers onboard a stricken coaster.

On a stormy December evening, the Penlee lifeboat Solomon Browne battled heavy seas and hurricane force winds to reach the Union Star, a stricken coaster being swept towards the coast of Cornwall.

After several attempts to get alongside the coaster, the lifeboat crew rescued four of the eight people onboard. But rather than turn back to shore, they made a final heroic rescue attempt - and all radio contact was lost.

The Union Star was on her maiden voyage, sailing from Holland to Ireland with a cargo of fertilisers.

She carried a crew of four, as well as Captain Henry Morton, his wife and two teenage stepdaughters, who had been picked up on a stop so that they could be together for the holidays.

At 6pm on 19 December 1981, disaster struck. The Falmouth Coastguard received a call from the Union Star: her engines had failed and would not restart. There was a fierce storm underway and the rough seas and powerful winds were blowing the coaster towards the treacherous Cornish coastline.

In Mousehole, word spread that the lifeboat may be needed and Penlee’s Solomon Browne was put on standby. A dozen men answered the call for crew, but only eight were needed.

A rescue under such severe conditions would be difficult and Coxswain William Trevelyan Richards chose the best crew for the task:

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
Crew Member Gary Wallis.
A Sea King helicopter
One of the Union Star’s fuel tanks had filled with water, making an engine restart impossible. The coaster was drifting dangerously close to the shore, so the Coastguard called in an RNAS Sea King helicopter to rescue the crew.

The coaster was rolling and pitching on the wild seas, so violently that her mast threatened to collide with the helicopter overhead.

The aircrew decided it had become too dangerous to continue the rescue mission – the Union Star’s mast was too close and their line wasn’t long enough to reach the deck from further away.

The coaster had drifted to just 2 miles from the perilous coastline, so the Solomon Browne was finally launched, 2 hours after the first alert.

The helicopter stood by as Penlee's lifeboat, a wooden 14m Watson class, launched into the hurricane force 12 gale, fighting against 90-knot winds and 18m waves.

The powerless Union Star had already lost one anchor, but was desperately trying to hold her position as the lifeboat fought the harsh breaking seas to come alongside it.

The Solomon Browne struck against the side of the coaster and the lifeboat crew stood against the railings, throwing lines across to pull themselves alongside.

The lifeboat valiantly battled to come alongside the coaster for half an hour.

From the helicopter, Lieutenant Commander Russell Smith saw dark shadows of people in fluorescent orange lifejackets run across the deck from the wheelhouse to the lifeboat, where the crew were waiting to catch them as they jumped.

The Solomon Browne radioed back to the Coastguard: ‘we’ve got four off’ and the helicopter turned back to base, assuming the lifeboat would head to shore.

But the lifeboat decided to make a final rescue attempt – and after that point, all radio contact was lost.

The Coastguard radioed back to the lifeboat, but there was no response. Ten minutes later, the lights of the Solomon Browne disappeared.

The helicopter refuelled and launched once more. Lifeboats from Sennen Cove, The Lizard and St Mary’s were also sent to help their colleagues, but their searches were unsuccessful.

At daybreak, the Union Star was found capsized on the rocks by Tater Du Lighthouse and wreck debris from the lifeboat began to wash ashore.

This disaster was the last time the RNLI lost an entire crew in action.

It happened just days after St Peter Port lifeboat volunteers braved similar hurricane conditions to rescue 29 people from the cargo ship Bonita.

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released December 28, 2021
Recorded in Newlyn, Pemzance Cornwall
December 23rd 2021.

Tim Chapple - Fender Precision Bass / Fender Stratocaster
Graham James - Photography

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Tim "Vulch" Chapple - Bass Guitar Driven Instrumentals and collaborations Penzance, UK

Bass Guitar Driven Instrumentals and collaborations. A mix of Soundtrack Music, Pop, Reggae, Surf, Twang, Fuzz, Funk, Soul, Latin beats, Spoken Word, Jazz and Experimental Rock.

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