Penlee lifeboat disaster
Penlee Lifeboat Station
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| Date | 19 December 1981 |
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| Location |
Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England (50°03′08″N 5°34′39″W / 50.0523°N 5.5774°W) |
| Outcome | 16 lives lost; no survivors |
The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall. The Penlee Lifeboat Solomon Browne 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; in all, sixteen people died including eight volunteer lifeboatmen.
The MV Union Star was launched in Ringkøbing in Denmark just a few days before it was wrecked on the Cornish coast. A mini-bulk carrier registered in Dublin, Ireland, it sailed to IJmuiden in the Netherlands to collect a cargo of fertiliser for its maiden voyage to Arklow in 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 was the captain's family (his wife Dawn with teenage stepdaughters Sharon and Deanne) who had been picked up at an unauthorised stop on the east coast of England.
Near the south coast of Cornwall, 8 miles (13 km) east of the Wolf Rock, the new ship's engines failed. It was unable to restart them but did not make a mayday call. Assistance was offered by a tug, the Noord Holland, under the Lloyd's Open Form salvage contract but Morton initially refused the offer, later accepting after consulting his owners.
Winds were gusting at up to 90 knots (100 mph; 170 km/h) – hurricane, force 12 on the Beaufort scale – with waves up to 60 feet (18 m) high. The powerless ship was blown across Mount's Bay towards the rocks of Boscawen Cove, near Lamorna.
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