MARÉ LT362

Courtesy of Raymond Treeve

From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 29th January 1937:

 

    On Monday, a crew left Milford to fetch a new trawler round.  They were Skipper Walter Aldridge (junior), Mate George Spindler, Bosun Walter Moxey.  They were bound for the port of Fleetwood to bring the latest addition to Milford's fleet back.  She is the steam trawler "Mare" [sic], a drifter trawler, purchased for Mitchell & Co., the owners of the s.t. "Victor".

 

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From the West Wales Guardian of Friday 26th August 1938:

 

    The Lowestoft drifter "Mare" [sic], fishing out of Milford, was responsible for a remarkable feat of salvage over the week-end. The Glasgow cargo ship "Girasol" developed a heavy list through the cargo shifting  while off the Pembrokeshire coast, and during the early hours of Saturday morning the master and crew, which included an eighteen year old girl, abandoned the ship and were rescued by two steamers which had been standing by.

    Five of the crew who were taken off by the "Shuna", a Scandinavian ship, were brought into Cardiff on Sunday afternoon, whilst the other six members, taken aboard the Yeoward liner "Aguila", were landed at Liverpool. Chief Engineer Holden told a press representative on his arrival at Cardiff that the vessel took an alarming list off the Bishop's Rocks. Water rushed into the engine room and stokehold and those below scrambled up on deck thinking that the vessel was about to capsize. The "Girasol" is not equipped with wireless, and throughout the day they continued to send up rockets. These, however, could not be seen in the daylight and they saw several ships pass, but were unable to attract attention to their plight.

    The last of the twenty four rockets had been fired without rescue coming and the crew had almost given up hope when Mr. W. Cooke, a Welshman, hit upon a brilliant idea which was the means of their eventually being rescued.  He got a shaving mirror and climbing to a high position on the "Girasol" reflected the sunlight in it. These flashes were eventually seen and very soon the "Shuna" and the "Aguila" and a couple of trawlers were on the scene standing by.  The" Mare" arrived just as the crew were being taken off.

    Interviewed, Skipper Jack Chenery, the skipper of the steam drifter trawler "Mare", stated they lay about three quarters of an hour expecting any minute to see the "Girasol" sink, but finding she was not going under he decided to try and save her. She had been abandoned and with no lights aboard  could have been a danger to shipping. 

    "We put out a boat, in charge of W. Grant, the bosun," continued the skipper, "and after some difficulty the bosun got aboard and attached a line which I had thrown out. It was six twenty when we took the "Girasol" in tow, and throughout the night we steamed towards Milford Haven. Several times we thought the "Girasol" would break away, and every moment I expected her to disappear. The sea was rough for the greater part of the evening, but it  moderated during the night, and it was comparatively calm when we  passed St. Ann's Head about four forty five, just as day was breaking. It was nine o'clock  when we reached Milford.  She is now aground."

    Throughout Sunday a gang of men shipped from Hakin Point, under Mr. A. C. Mitchell, managing director of the company who own the drifter "Mare", worked on the cargo,  with a view to easing the ship's list.

 

[ GIRASOL: ex OUTWARD.  O.N. 149730.  Steel Schooner, 648 tons gross, 318 net.  Built 1926,  T. Lewis and Sons, Aberdeen.  Length, 171.2. Breadth, 27.8, Depth, 11.3.  Owners, W. Robertson, Glasgow.]

 

 

 

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