Lochinvar and The Donna Nook

MacBrayne's "Lochinvar", Yard Number 208, was launched at Scott's of Bowling on Thursday, April 16, 1908 and, largely due to what might in hindsight be called 'arrogance', was wrecked, with the loss of all her 13 crew, on Lincolnshire's Donna Nook on the night of Saturday, April 2, 1966, in a well-forecasted force 8 north-easterly gale.

155.5 feet long and 24 feet in beam, the "Lochinvar" was the third of MacBrayne's motor ships, the "Comet (III)" built in 1905 and the "Scout" built in 1907 and the "Lochinvar" built to succeed the paddle steamer "Carabineer" on the Oban - Sound of Mull mail service.

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Though no beauty, the "Lochinvar" had comparatively fine lines, a well-designed hull, had good, though somewhatrestricted, passenger accommodation and her dining room was decorated with eight panels depicting the adventures of the 'Young Lochinvar' painted by artist J. Carey.

With a cargo winch and crane amidships and a single pole mast, she originally appeared with a single tall thin funnel near the stern, this later replaced by separate exhaust pipes for each of her three sets of engines and these pipes eventually carried into a short large-diameter funnel forward of the cargo space, a Chambers, Scott & Co. of Motherwell electric crane being fitted in place of her original crane and its jib crooked to work over the top of her funnel.

Sailing daily, except of course Sundays, from Tobermory to Oban and back, she called at Salen and Lochaline and then had to wait off shore at Craignure, which was long without a pier, for a small boat to come out from the shore to take off passengers and mail before continuing on to Oban.

After relieving on the Islay - West Loch Tarbert mail service in the winters of 1937, 1938 and 1939, the "Lochinvar" relieved on the Loch Goil mail service particularly between October - November 1942, February - March 1943, July - August 1944 and January - March 1945 and, as one writer noted, "She lived long enough to have become endeared to many folks in Argyllshire for her consistently good work on the service for which she was specifically designed".

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Re-engined in 1926, the "Lochinvar" was again re-engined in 1949, when she was reduced to twin screws and fitted with twin six-cylinder Davy Paxman diesel engines, these identical in dimension to the twelve-cylinder engines fitted that year to the "Lochearn" and "Lochmor" and their parts all inter-changeable to minimise 'breakdown delays', a complete spare engine kept ashore especially for the "Lochinvar" and always immediately ready to replace either of her main engines for in need of overhaul.

Too at the time of her 1949 re-engining, she was given an extensive refit, new decks, a new wheelhouse, an observation shelter and, after considerable renewing of her hull plating, she resumed the Sound of Mull run in October of that year.

Replaced by the "Lochearn" in 1955, the "Lochinvar" then became 'spare' and, after performing some short excursionsfrom Oban that summer, was generally laid up in the immediately following summers and only brought out to relieve elsewhere as needed in the following winters. In 1959 she was placed on the Portree mail run where she was not particularly well received.

With the arrival of the "Loch Arkaig", the "Lochinvar" made her final run on the Tobermory - Oban mail service on May 28, 1960 and, her ship's bell and steering wheel removed and later put on display at Duart Castle on Mull, was sold to Timbacraft Ltd. of Shandon on June 3rd and lay at their yard in The Gareloch until sold to The Thames and Medway Navigation Company in the beginning of October that year and was moved to Greenock's Albert Harbour where, without any change to her registration papers, the name "Brighton Belle" was painted on her bows and stern !

"My Queen" on the Southend - Sheerness ferry service

The Thames and Medway Navigation Company was in fact a partnership between Messrs. C. R. Harvey and W.C. Foreman, the Foreman family, operating across The Thames, from Southend to Sheerness, in the 1950's with the "My Queen" and, in 1957, the 106-foot long, twin screw, 96 hp, "Southend Belle", she later named variously "Westminster Belle", "Maid of Wareham" and "Maid of Exmouth" and the new company acquiring the "Lochinvar" to replace Foreman's converted Fairmile 'B' passenger vessel "Anzio", which had been very successfully running the service in the 1959 and 1960 seasons.

The "Anzio" had been one on three ex-Royal Navy Fairmile 'B' motor launches converted by The Poole and Solent Navigation Company for passenger services from Poole to Swanage and The Isle of Wight in 1948, the others named "Dunkirk" and "Matapan" and, selling out to J.

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Bolson & Sons of Poole in 1952, the "Anzio" was immediately resold for service on The Thames, out of Southend, though the names of her new owners not clear for this chronology.

And so, the offending "Brighton Belle" name removed from her bows and stern, the "Lochinvar" left Greenock on October 28, 1960 and sailed for The Thames and her new summer service between Sheerness Dockyard and Southend. She was well run, as was her catering and, importantly, she was well promoted on both sides of The Thames, her 'double-sided' traffic derived from the industrial hinterlands and rural communities of Essex, promenade ticket kiosks boosting passenger numbers from Southend's traditional tourist trade and A5-sized flyers weekly distributed to all the area'shotels and boarding houses.On the Sheerness side of the river, there was a tie-in with Maidstone and District buses which necessarily, as Sheerness Dockyard, belonging to The Royal Navy, was 'out-of-bounds' in these days to civilian foot and vehicular traffic, ran passengers through the dockyard to Sheerness Bus Station and then offered connecting coach tours to Herne Bay and Canterbury and also acted as ticket agents throughout the area of its services for day trips to Southend.

Making four return trips daily, except Fridays, between May and September, The Thames and Medway Navigation Company maximised revenue opportunities at every turn, day trips with 'time ashore', connecting coach tours, connecting bus and train services and filing up every run with discounted 'non-landing' cruises, a lesson in marketing models which is as valid today as it was then.

At the end of the 1963 season, a sale advertisement in the old-established 'Motor Boat and Yachting' magazine brought the news that Messrs. Harvey and Foreman were willing to sell out for just £6,000, their agreement with The Royal Navy for transit through Sheerness Dockyard seemingly in question and "Anzio I" , as too at the same time the paddle steamer "Medway Queen", then withdrawn from service and laid up at Tilbury.

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The "Medway Queen", built on The Clyde at Ailsa's yard Troon in 1924, had been operating from Strood, on The Medway, to Southend and Herne Bay but, her company's directors, they too directors of the London-based General Steam Navigation Company, had decided that 'summer butterflies' played little in their operation of their cargo fleet operations, albeit that some of their cargo ships also carried some passengers on certain routes.

Three years later, the GSN Co. also, to their later acknowledged loss, withdrew their three last remaining 'day-tripping' passenger ships, the "Royal Daffodil" (1939), "Royal Sovereign" (1948) and "Queen of The Channel (II)" (1949) from The Thames, these operating from London's Tower Bridge to Gravesend, Southend, Margate, Clacton and across The English Channel, the GSN Company's accountants lamenting the severe drop in company profits at the end of the following year and being immediately rebuked by one of the older and wiser company directors, who had earlier and strongly opposed withdrawing the passenger ships for all the GSN Company's profits had indeed come from the pockets of the day-trippers going 'Down The Water' on The Thames passenger ships !

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Perhaps, had The Clyde's three turbines, the "Duchess of Montrose", the "Duchess of Hamilton" and the "Queen Mary (/II)" been diesel-engined, like the GSN Company's 1936-built "Queen of The Channel", she lost at Dunkirk in May 1940, many of The Clyde (and indeed the Oban to Iona and Staffa) excursion routes might just have proved viable even to the present-day.

In any case, we now return to the story of the "Anzio I", laid up after the 1963 Thames excursion season, some of the story recalled from the Lincolnshire's North Summercote's 'Parish History' for in 1964, a group of Scotsmen living in London, recognised the "Anzio I" as MacBrayne's old "Lochinvar" and, with the intention of returning themselves and the ship to Scotland and making their living by running a seasonal cruise service on the 50-mile round trip from Inverness to Cromarty and Invergordon, had their offer, from Cromarty Cruises Ltd., accepted.

The men, some of whom came from the Bishopton area in Renfrewshire and worked as telegraphers at Electra House in London, were all keen sailors in their spare time and had seemingly served time in either the Merchant or Royal Navy, set about repainting the ship, refitting her bar and cafeteria and then, well in time for the 1966 season, distributing flyers and posters around the Inverness area, the round cruise trip to cost 25/- (£1.25p), her fully qualified and appointed captain coming from Oban.

A Board of Trade surveyor duly issued a certificate for the ship to carry 261 passengers on its 'Cromarty Cruises' and declared the life saving and fire fighting equipment, lights, signals and radio receiver to be adequate for her 'positioning trip' north, from The Thames to Inverness but, the BoT surveyor stressed the importance of listening to the BBC weather forecasts and taking the ship immediately into the nearest port in the event of bad weather and also stressed that no 'supernumary' passengers or cargo could be carried on the voyage north to Scotland. 

Contrary to the BoT surveyor's instructions and the surveyor away, the men loaded three vehicles, all the household effects of the ship's owners AND all the equipment needed for her new service, including hundreds of life jackets and the new seats that were to be fitted before going into service and so it was, at 8.30 pm on Friday, April 1, 1966, that the ship left Tilbury on her trip to Inverness.

Thirteen people were aboard her as she cleared The Thames and, little surprisingly, not only as many might view the number '13' unlucky, there are also many sailors who claim it is unlucky to rename a boat or sail on a Friday. 

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Perhaps all seemed well enough for the weather when the ship left Tilbury on the Friday evening but, as Saturday wore on, a Force 8 north-easterly gale set in with sleet and rain and, at 11.23 pm on the Saturday night, the Donna Nook coastguard Ivan Cartwright spotted the "Anzio I", she, despite his signalling, running straight in for the shore and then, at 11.33 pm firing off a red distress flare.

Low water had been at 10 pm and, when Alan Loughton alerted by the red distress flare at 11.33 pm, the tide was a long way out, encouraging him to make an attempt to reach the ship on foot. 

It took him about 20 minutes to reach the sea and, managing wade out until he was in about 4 feet of water, he got within about 30 yards of the boat and he shouted to the five men who appeared on deck to "Jump for it" ! 

The tide now on the turn, coming in fast, Alan Loughton had to return to the shore, he unable to hear what the men shouted because of the noise of the wind. 

Meanwhile, alerted by the maroons, a team of Auxiliary Coastguards, lead by Station Officer Craigie, had assembled at the Coastguard station. Ron Hasthorpe, one of the team, remembers that it was near midnight and he was in bed. 

There was a routine for summoning each other, including Cab Tacey and Reg Lowis and his wife always filled him a small bottle of brandy.  Everyone mustered except Reg Humberstone who somehow missed the signal. The team were well rehearsed and according to the bearing taken by Ivan Cartwight the boat was N.E from the look out. 

It was pitch black when they arrived at the waters edge, about 150 yards from a 'black shape', a parachute flare provided a moment of brief illumination and torch light signals from the boat indicated there were 13 people on board the stricken ship.

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Ron Hasthorpe waded out with Station Officer Craigie until they were waist deep, they holding the box containing therecuse line as high as possible and, as expected, the line fell short of the ship. 

Even though the sea was by now very rough and extremely cold, they returned to the beach for another box and waded back for a second attempt but, with the wind against them, there was little hope of getting the line aboard. 

Norman Stubbs warned them of the dangers  of the incoming tide and they had to retreat for, even if a line had been landed, it was doubtful whether the crew would of seen it or been able to drag the heavy ropes of the breeches buoy aboard, as the ship now listing heavily towards the sea.

At about this time the Humber lifeboat arrived but was unable to get close to the "Anzio I" because of the now 15 foot high waves and, with no response being made to the lifeboat's signals, she went south to search for survivors. 

The Coastguard Land-Rover from Mablethorpe, with a search light on and more powerful rescue equipment, arrived but it too was driven back by the tide.

By now the waves were breaking over the ship and Reg Lewis and Charlie Bocock, who had gone south along the beach to search for survivors, soon found the first man but could not revive him. There was little chance that anyone could survive for many minutes in such a cold sea. 

By day break the sea was calm, the beach littered with debris and ten bodies recovered, the bodies of the ship's captain and two others recovered later.

The disaster left everyone with a feeling of helplessness and sorrow for, despite all the bravery and efforts, so many lives had been lost, so close to the shore.  Angeline Aston remembers her mother frying bacon and crying and her dad (Alan Loughton) being very upset and the whole village very much saddened.

Though many questions remain unanswered to this day, for, at the inquest, the coroner did not apportion any blame, the one constant and undeniable factor was always 'the might of

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the sea' and, as Geoff Humberstone says 'The North Sea doesn’t run like other seas it jumps up anywhere'.

The following Christmas the local Womens' Institute organised a whist drive to send a cash present to the children of the Anzio victims.  They each received £2.10/- (£2.50) this was quite alot of money for beer was 1/6 (7 p) a pint and a 1st class stamp was 4 d (2 p).  Mrs Capp still has the thank you letters they wrote to say what they had brought with the money, some of the children buying shoes and good pens for school.

Though the 1966 season would be the last for the GSN Company's Thames passenger excursion ships, Don Rose'sCoastal Steam Packet Company had brought the big 1931-built Clyde paddle steamer "Jeanie Deans" to The Thames the previous winter, the intention being to operate her from London's Tower Pier to Greenwich, Southend, Clacton and Herne Bay.

Renamed "Queen of The South", her career was short-lived, she completing less than a dozen sailings, after a catalogue of mechanical problems and she scapped at the end of 1967.

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Now, after decades of neglect and thanks to a huge grant from The Lottery Heritage Fund, the 1924-built "Medway Queen", withdrawn at the end of the 1963 season, is undergoing a complete hull rebuild at Bristol and, all being well, might well return to active service on The Thames and Medway within the next few years.

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