Lifeboat Solomon Browne Song

Found on youtube via the Sea King 80 thread, Cornish Wurzells involvement? and the current Penlee crew singing backing….on the pop side of folksong I guess
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTr41HTpx0k&feature=related

and a link to pagen01s BBC4 program
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00794gz/Cruel_Sea_The_Penlee_Lifeboat_Disaster/

Lovely quality scans of a lesser-known event, thank you

Loss of the Union Star

As I recall it this accident was an example of the dilemma calling for help both sea and aircraft captains face with mechanical problems …..the Union Star was a brand new coastal ship on its first commercial voyage and had engine failure in filthy weather in the English Channel off Cornwall…. the Captain delayed calling Mayday and the ship drifted in too close to the coast in worsening conditions for an effective rescue

Incredibly it is 30 years since this terrible tragedy unfolded, litrally to the moment.

The Solomon Browne Watson Class lifeboat was launched from the Penlee slip at 20.12 after the horrendous weather conditions rendered the Sea King rescue attempt of the captain, his family, and crew from the powerless Union Star inefective.
As we now know the Solomon Browne and her brave crew were all lost alonf with the ships crew.

Coxswain Trevelyan Richards
Second Coxswain/Mechanic Stephen Madron,
Assistant Mechanic Nigel Brockman
Emergency Mechanic John Blewett
crewmembers Charlie Greenhaugh
Kevin Smith
Barrie Torrie
Gary Wallis

Captain Henry Morton
Mate James Whittaker,
Engineer George Sedgwick,
Crewman Anghostino Verressimo, and
Crewman Manuel Lopes
Dawn Morton
Sharon Morton
Deanne Morton

This link is worth reading through, http://westcoast-news.org/story-penlee.htm

There is a programme on this tomorrow on BBC4 at 22.00.

At the request of pagen01….. the ‘Solomon Browne’ exercising (with a Wessex) for an RNLI Fete on Penzance Promenade, July 1979

Penlee Lifeboat

Exercising with a Wessex off Penzance Promenade 2 years before it was lost

This was part of the RNLI Summer Holiday event on Penzance Promenade, shot from the prom with a 200mm lens .

Wikipedia/Wikimedia justify using US Military photos thus ‘This image or file is the work of a US Air Force Airman or employee, taken or made during the course of the person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal Government, the image or file is in the public domain.’ An advantage of living in a Republic and a Democracy, perhaps.
These old OWI/LoC colour images are available online as 150-190Mb TIFF files which take20+ minutes to download and most Photoshop versions struggle to handle

‘Shot at Dawn’….

Those ‘shot at dawn’ (WW1 only) were buried under CWGC headstones and all have since been pardoned, anyway.

Those who committed suicide (if serving) are buried under CWGC headstones and if bodies not found then they are on the appropriate CWGC memorial.

If you read on the net about the ‘shot at dawn’ cases apparently even the first case still presents memorial problems for the Shoreham, Kent Legion officials and some graves have been lost

No connection with this thread but I found these IWM shots of the 1914 Christmas truce interesting
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205025418
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205022085
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205022267
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205022262
http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205026891