| Summary : 1929 incident in which an English lightship foundered following a collision off the North Sand Head, being recovered three months later. She was a relief vessel since the usual vessel had been taken off station for repairs. Constructed of steel, she lacked propulsion, as was the norm for lightships. For another lightship from the same station, itself now a wreck and deteriorating on Grays Beach after being abandoned, please see TQ 67 NW 115; some sources indicate that this is the same vessel as that involved in 1929. |
More information : A relief lightship, the original having been taken off station the previous week for overhaul and repair, but the original crew still on station. During the early hours of a Monday, in dense fog, with considerable congestion in the Channel, the Ellerman liner SS CITY OF YORK, 7834 tons gross, on passage for London, crashed into the light vessel. The watchman on deck had no time to raise the alarm before they were struck. The light vessel was cut in two and sank in less than a minute, six of the crew of seven being thrown into the sea, the missing member being the captain, who is thought to have gone down with the vessel, still in his cabin. The LADY BEATTY, a Deal motor boat, was on the scene two hours before the Ramsgate lifeboat, and made a thorough search for the missing man. On returning to Deal, they [the LADY BEATTY and her crew] were asked by Trinity House to act as a temporary light vessel, until a reserve craft could be put on station. (1)(3)
'It took until June of that year to raise the sunken vessel.' (2)
Master: Williams (1)(3)
Crew: 7 (1)(3)
Crew Lost: 1 (1)(3)
Owner: Trinity House Corporation (1)(3)
Date of Loss Qualifier: Actual date of incident
Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
TT.19.03.1929 p13; The Sea Thine Enemy p142 |