Accidents and Incidents 

From the West Wales Guardian  of Friday 29th April 1932: 

ANOTHER MILFORD TRAWLER GOES DOWN

CREW'S LUCKY ESCAPE

Leak Sprung off Irish Coast

 

      Another Milford trawler has gone down, the crew of nine having a lucky escape from going down with her.  

    On Sunday the s.t. ‘Stromo’, owned by Peter Hancock & Sons, was fishing off the Irish coast. During the night she sprang a leak and sank within half-an-hour.  Most of the crew were sleeping below at the time, but they succeeded in getting away in the small boat and were later picked up by another Milford trawler, the S.T. ‘Ely’ ,and were landed in Milford on Monday.

SKIPPER'S STORY.

    Skipper Johnson, of Hakin, who captained the lost trawler, said on Monday that if the sea had not been calm they would not have stood an earthly chance.  They were fishing about eight to ten miles off the Irish coast when the chief engineer gave the alarm that the boat had sprung a leak and was sinking rapidly.  “Before we had time to do anything we could feel her going down under us,” he said. From the time the Chief Engineer shouted until the main masthead light went out of sight was not more than half-an-hour.

    "The sea was moderate at the time and it was pitch dark, but we managed to launch the small boat, which was filling up with water, and then the nine of us got into it.  If we had not been very careful the small boat would have gone down under us.  Had it not been mild weather we would not have stood an  earthly chance. We bailed the water out of the small boat as best we could, and then found that the plug in the bottom of the boat had come out and had been washed away.  One of the men had to keep his hand on the hole to stop the water coming in. 

    "We pulled away from the sinking ship as fast as possible because we were afraid of the boilers exploding, and then we put up flares.  The Ely, two miles away, saw the flares, and immediately pulled in her nets, steamed towards us, and took us on board.  The third engineer did not have his shirt on when we got into the small boat because he was trimming coal at the time the leak was sprung.”

STRUCK SUBMERGED OBJECT. 

    The Skipper added that the mate reported to him during the afternoon that the ‘Stromo’ had struck a submerged object.  “I immediately made an inspection,” said Capt. Johnson. “I could find no damage, but I believe this had something to do with the hole.”

    The Stromo had been out fishing since last Tuesday, and was due back at Milford on Wednesday. She had on board about 40 kits of fish.  She was owned by Messrs. Peter Hancock,& Sons, Milford Haven, and the Ely, which rescued the crew, was skippered by Mr Jack Foster, and managed by Messrs, Ritchie & Davies, Milford Haven. 

    Capt. Johnson is a native of Brixham, but has been fishing from Milford Haven for the last 22 years. He is an old smacksman, and a couple of years ago was in charge of the smack Valetta when she foundered in rough weather off the Irish coast with no loss of life. Second engineer Drake, of Neyland, has been on three boats which foundered. 

    Capt. Johnson, in a tribute to the crew, said that although some were only half clad, they all kept cool heads during the launching of the small boat in the darkness.

 

[ The loss of the ‘Stromo’ followed quickly upon the disaster to the Spanish trawler, ULIA MENDI, sailing out of Milford, which struck a rock near the Smalls, late on the previous night.  Only two out of a crew of twelve, all Spanish, were saved.  Her loss was recorded in the same issue of the West Wales Guardian as the above article.

 

Crew of the STROMO

Skipper:                         W.E.Johnson.

Mate:                             F.Lockner.

Bosun:                           J.Chittleburg

Third Hand:                   G.Williams.

Deckhand:                     M.Williams.

Cook:                            A.Minchin.

Chief Engineer:              A.Lust.

Second Engineer:           L.G.Drake.

Third Engineer:             A.T.Jones.  ]

 

 

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