The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall, England. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat Solomon Browne, based at the Penlee Lifeboat Station near Mousehole, went to the aid of the vessel Union Star after its engines failed in heavy seas. After the lifeboat had rescued four people, both vessels were lost with all hands. Sixteen people died, including eight volunteer lifeboatmen.

MV Union Star

The MV Union Star, a mini-bulk carrier and coaster registered in Dublin, had sailed from IJmuiden in the Netherlands on 17 December with a cargo of fertiliser for its maiden voyage to Arklow, Ireland. It was carrying a crew of five: Captain Henry Morton, Mate James Whittaker, Engineer George Sedgwick, Crewman Anghostino Verressimo and Crewman Manuel Lopes. Also on board were Morton's wife Dawn and his teenage stepdaughters Sharon and Deanne,

Near the south coast of Cornwall, east of the Wolf Rock, the ship's engines failed. The crew was unable to restart them, but did not make a mayday call. Winds were gusting at up to —hurricane force 12 on the Beaufort scale—with waves up to high. The powerless ship was blown across Mount's Bay towards the rocks of Boscawen Cove, near Lamorna.

Rescue attempts

FAA Sea King helicopter

As the ship was close to shore, the Coastguard at Falmouth summoned a Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from 820 Naval Air Squadron (who were providing cover for 771 Naval Air Squadron), RNAS Culdrose. It used the call sign "Rescue 80" during the mission. The aircraft was flown by LCDR Russell Smith (who was on secondment from the United States Navy), assisted by Lt Steve Marlow, S/Lt Kenneth Doherty and Leading Aircrewman Martin Kennie of the Royal Navy. They were unable to winch anyone off the ship due to the violent winds. and capable of . It launched at 8:12 pm and headed out through the storm to the drifting Union Star. It reported: "we got four ... off ... male and female. There's two left on board." This was the last heard from either vessel. Ten minutes later, the lifeboat's lights disappeared.

<blockquote>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&nbsp;ft breakers and rescued four people shortly after the Penlee 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.</blockquote>

Other lifeboats

Lifeboats were summoned from , , and to try and help their colleagues from Penlee. The Sennen Cove Lifeboat found it impossible to make headway round Land's End. The Lizard Lifeboat found a serious hole in its hull when it finally returned to its slipway after a fruitless search. although there was an outcry when the government tried to tax the donations. The village has been lit up each December since then, but on the anniversary of the disaster they are turned off at 8:00 pm for an hour as an act of remembrance. The old boathouse at Penlee Point with its slipway is kept the same as it was when the lifeboat launched and a memorial garden was created beside it in 1985 to commemorate the crew of the Solomon Browne.

Cultural references

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thumb|GWR train 802008 RNLB Solomon Browne carries the names of the crew

The disaster has been the subject of several songs. English folk singer and songwriter Seth Lakeman wrote the song "Solomon Browne", which appears on his 2008 album Poor Man's Heaven. The CD reissue of the Anthony Phillips' album Invisible Men includes "The Ballad of Penlee" about the incident. Paul Sirman, a Kentish folk artist who specialises in songs of the sea recorded the incident in his song "Solomon Browne" which appears on his album One For All. Kimber's Men, a sea shanty group, recorded "Don't Take The Heroes" on their CD of the same name. Local band Bates Motel based in Hayle included a song "The Last Wave", about the disaster on their album Anorak.

In 2015, Cornish-American singer-songwriter Jim Wearne's album Half Alive in Wallaroo featured the track "The Boys of Penlee", written by fellow Cornish bard Craig Weatherhill, and featuring Weatherhill playing mellotron whose haunting choir sound ends the song with the line "For those in peril on the sea", from the popular sailors' hymn. Simon Dobson wrote a test piece for brass band entitled "Penlee" about the incident.

Neil Oliver devotes a chapter to the disaster in his 2008 book Amazing Tales for Making Men out of Boys. It also features in his book The Story of The British Isles in 100 Places.

Great Western Railway named unit 802008 RNLB Solomon Browne in a ceremony at Penzance TMD on 13 April 2019.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary, a docudrama, Solomon Browne, written and narrated by Callum Mitchell and featuring recorded testimonies from relatives of some of the lifeboat crew, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 20 December 2021.

Also in December 2021 Mousehole FC also opened their new stand named "The Solomon Browne Stand".

For the 2025 Christmas special of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, Bob and Paul visit Mousehole and go fishing from the boat of one of the victim's sons. They discuss the disaster.

References

Further reading

  • RNLI History – The 1981 Penlee Lifeboat Disaster
  • RNLB Solomon Browne history page
  • BBC documentary 'Cruel Sea – The Penlee Lifeboat Disaster' on You Tube
  • News story 'When a cruel sea took the heroes of Penlee' written for the 25th anniversary of the disaster