1 00:00:01,639 --> 00:00:05,480 Speaker 1: Nineteenth of December nineteen eighty one, four minutes past six 2 00:00:05,519 --> 00:00:08,880 in the evening, somewhere off the coast of Land's End, 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:10,480 right at the tip of Cornwall. 4 00:00:11,439 --> 00:00:15,080 Speaker 2: Then then God, God Lord Land in coast God Union Star, 5 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:16,600 Union Star, going Land. 6 00:00:18,039 --> 00:00:18,559 Speaker 3: Millions. 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:27,960 Speaker 4: That's way off apportunately now eight miles east of Rock. 8 00:00:28,839 --> 00:00:32,399 Engines have stop and we are able to get started 9 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:37,079 at the moment. Could you please have a helicopter standing 10 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:47,719 by Ford please, yes, that is correct, that is correct, 11 00:00:47,799 --> 00:00:50,600 and play all night pavor worries. 12 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:00,079 Speaker 2: We are a poster at the moment we are to 13 00:01:00,079 --> 00:01:04,799 get the mioing story. But whatever everybody else. 14 00:01:09,159 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: The voice you heard there was thirty two year old 15 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:16,159 Captain Henry Morton. Here's the master of a coaster, in fact, 16 00:01:16,239 --> 00:01:19,480 a brand new one on its maiden voyage. This type 17 00:01:19,519 --> 00:01:22,959 of ship would carry bulk cargo between mainland Europe and 18 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,719 the United Kingdom and out to Ireland and up to Scandinavia. 19 00:01:27,599 --> 00:01:29,799 It could go out into the Irish Sea and the 20 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,000 North Sea and the English Channel, but it was designed 21 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:38,239 for traveling in coastal waters. It had been heading out 22 00:01:38,439 --> 00:01:42,680 from the Netherlands out round the bottom of England around 23 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,560 the south coast out up to Ireland. It was taking 24 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,920 bulk fertilizer and it was a couple of days into 25 00:01:49,079 --> 00:01:51,840 what should be a routine voyage. But in those couple 26 00:01:51,879 --> 00:01:56,280 of days it had headed out into a huge storm 27 00:01:56,519 --> 00:01:59,840 rolling in off the Atlantic, coming in from the south southwest, 28 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,879 and in the height of that storm, the engines had failed. 29 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,599 So it's now sat there with the engines off, no lights, 30 00:02:09,960 --> 00:02:15,719 no power, a drift in monstrous seas, huge crashing waves. 31 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:20,719 But he sounds calm, he's dealing with a problem, and 32 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:24,199 the coast Guard aren't alarmed. Engines fail all the time, 33 00:02:25,039 --> 00:02:30,000 ships lose power. They fix things, but it's just it's 34 00:02:30,039 --> 00:02:33,319 a big, modern ship, a brand new one, out in 35 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:37,919 the ocean. It's a problem, but it's not yet a disaster. 36 00:02:39,520 --> 00:02:41,879 So what the coast Guard do is they arrange a 37 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:46,120 conversation between the Union Star and a tug, an ocean 38 00:02:46,159 --> 00:02:50,000 going tug, the Nord Holland that tug is at anchor 39 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,719 out in Mount's Bay, so it's inland from where the 40 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,719 Union Star is, but it's sat at anchor. The next 41 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,240 day it was planning to go around to Falmouth to 42 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,400 go and pick up a contract there, but for now 43 00:03:03,479 --> 00:03:05,599 it's just riding out the storm in the shelter of 44 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:11,400 Mount Bay. The problem comes in that radio call between 45 00:03:11,479 --> 00:03:14,879 Morton and the Union Star and Captain Guy Berman on 46 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:20,000 the nord Holland, because the tug is not there for rescue, 47 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,719 it's there for salvage. And if the tug comes along 48 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:27,960 and hooks onto the Union Star and toes them back 49 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,800 into port or back into a place of safety, there's 50 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:34,000 a cost implication. And because they can't get hold of 51 00:03:34,159 --> 00:03:36,919 the owners of the Union Star or the owners of 52 00:03:37,000 --> 00:03:39,719 the cargo, the only thing open to them is something 53 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,840 called the Lloyd's open form, which means that well, once 54 00:03:45,039 --> 00:03:48,840 the Union Star accepts a toe from the nord Holland 55 00:03:48,919 --> 00:03:53,280 from the tug, the cargo and the ship effectively become 56 00:03:53,439 --> 00:03:58,639 temporary property of the owners of that tug. So Morton 57 00:03:59,280 --> 00:04:03,879 falls out with this skipper of the tug because he 58 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:06,599 doesn't want to give that over straight away. He thinks 59 00:04:06,639 --> 00:04:08,879 he can fix it. He thinks what is god is 60 00:04:08,919 --> 00:04:12,360 a temporary problem. But he is playing it safe. He 61 00:04:12,439 --> 00:04:15,400 wants to have a helicopter on standby and is looking 62 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:17,839 for the tug to just come along and sit there 63 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:21,879 just in case. The tug captain quite reasonably says no, 64 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,040 I'm not going to do that unless we have a 65 00:04:24,079 --> 00:04:28,680 contract on how to proceed. So Morton gets back in 66 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:29,560 touch with the coast guard. 67 00:04:42,319 --> 00:04:45,560 Speaker 5: Yeah, either woman, hold the money at the moment, but 68 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:48,959 quit at this moment we're holding to know where we are. 69 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,240 We don't see him be good in his name, we quit. 70 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:58,759 We have one woman, two children, and the group a helicopter, say. 71 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:22,439 Speaker 3: Any the mom alice woman. 72 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: So this changes things entirely for the coastguard because now 73 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:35,160 this situation isn't just merchant marine sailors who know how 74 00:05:35,240 --> 00:05:37,560 to handle engine failure and know how to behave in 75 00:05:37,639 --> 00:05:40,600 a storm, know what life at sea is like. This 76 00:05:40,959 --> 00:05:44,920 is a mother and her children, and that mother is 77 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:49,759 Henry Morton's wife, and the kids are two daughters from 78 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,199 a previous marriage of hers. They're not meant to be 79 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:58,920 there because they're they're not stowaways. But Morton had decided 80 00:05:58,959 --> 00:06:01,000 to take them along on the trip. He had actually 81 00:06:01,079 --> 00:06:03,120 diverted the ship to go and pick them up from 82 00:06:03,199 --> 00:06:06,800 England on the way, without telling the owners of the cargo, 83 00:06:07,439 --> 00:06:10,959 without telling the Union shipping company. He was something of 84 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,800 a rising star in this business, in this shipping company. 85 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:17,720 He was a very young captain in charge of a 86 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:22,079 brand new, state of the art vessel. He was confident 87 00:06:22,399 --> 00:06:24,360 that it was an easy trip. He was confident that 88 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:26,439 he had time to go and pick them up, and 89 00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:30,120 that they could spend Christmas together at sea on this trip. 90 00:06:31,079 --> 00:06:34,519 Why not. It would make a nice family memory. It 91 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:36,720 would be a way of bonding this new family together. 92 00:06:37,639 --> 00:06:41,160 But now they were adrift in a storm in huge waves, 93 00:06:41,319 --> 00:06:44,600 waves higher than a house crashing over the side of 94 00:06:44,639 --> 00:06:50,600 the ship. So you can understand why he wants to 95 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:52,959 try and get them out of this situation, at least 96 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,720 return it just to professional mariners on the ship and 97 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:00,680 from the coast guard side. While this is a more 98 00:07:00,759 --> 00:07:07,079 serious situation. The lifeboat, they say, is anticipatory, which means 99 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:09,959 they're just aware of the situation. He's also saying that 100 00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,959 the Sea King is being made ready. In actual fact, 101 00:07:13,040 --> 00:07:15,519 what it means is that the crew of the Sea 102 00:07:15,639 --> 00:07:18,959 King have been made aware of the situation and been 103 00:07:19,040 --> 00:07:22,560 told to come from their homes to base. They're not 104 00:07:23,279 --> 00:07:26,399 turning up the engines, spooling up the aircraft ready. They're 105 00:07:26,519 --> 00:07:29,000 just making their way to a point where they can 106 00:07:29,079 --> 00:07:32,959 get ready. So despite the confidence on both the Coastguard 107 00:07:33,079 --> 00:07:36,040 side and the skipper's side on Henry Morton's side. There 108 00:07:38,079 --> 00:07:44,120 this is a really serious situation that's developing that the 109 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:49,439 steps to deal with it aren't really there yet. Something 110 00:07:49,519 --> 00:07:53,079 that's not in that radio call is that the skipper 111 00:07:53,199 --> 00:07:58,279 of the tug, Captain Guy Burman, he's decided that as 112 00:07:58,319 --> 00:08:01,160 he's got to go to Falmouth tomorrow anyway, he's going 113 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,800 to raise the anchor and head out towards the rough 114 00:08:04,879 --> 00:08:07,560 position of the Union Star, because if he's got to 115 00:08:07,639 --> 00:08:10,040 head out soon anyway, you may as well head out 116 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,519 in a direction where maybe he can be useful to 117 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:16,920 the situation. At around seven pm, the Coast Guard get 118 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,639 back in touch with Henry Morton to see if there's 119 00:08:19,639 --> 00:08:22,680 any improvement to the situation with the engines. 120 00:08:27,199 --> 00:08:34,399 Speaker 2: With one of the Well Star, and we're hoping that 121 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:35,120 one is okay. 122 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:37,200 Speaker 3: Could you do? 123 00:08:37,279 --> 00:08:48,600 Speaker 1: All through that afternoon, the Union Star had been heading 124 00:08:48,759 --> 00:08:51,679 into this storm with waves crashing over her port side. 125 00:08:52,519 --> 00:08:56,000 On that port side you have the filling valves for 126 00:08:56,399 --> 00:09:00,120 the main fuel tanks. It's not known exactly what the 127 00:09:00,159 --> 00:09:02,360 problem was. It's either going to be that one of 128 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:05,240 the covers for the fuel tanks wasn't put on properly 129 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:08,360 or had just come off in the storm, or that 130 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,879 the breather pipe for the fuel tank that equalizes pressure 131 00:09:12,559 --> 00:09:16,120 the valve on that that stopped seawater getting in had 132 00:09:16,159 --> 00:09:21,759 failed either way. For several hours, seawater had been pouring 133 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,799 in by the gallon into one of the fuel tanks. 134 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,399 Later on in that afternoon, as we standard procedure, the 135 00:09:29,480 --> 00:09:32,679 engineer had moved fuel from one of the main tanks 136 00:09:32,759 --> 00:09:35,320 into the tank that were running the engine from and 137 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:38,320 at that time had pulled seawater through into the fuel tank, 138 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:40,120 which had then made its way into the engine, and 139 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,399 the engine stalled. It can't run on seawater. The generator 140 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:48,240 that powers the electrical gear that can't run on seawater, 141 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:53,159 so everything stops. But you've got to think about this 142 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:57,960 scene below, decks in complete darkness, with everything rolling, tipping 143 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:00,200 right over onto its side and then back up right 144 00:10:00,279 --> 00:10:04,799 and then back the other way, working by torch, working 145 00:10:04,879 --> 00:10:09,200 by feel in really tight spaces, breaking apart every single 146 00:10:09,279 --> 00:10:11,919 fuel pipe, every single joint, trying to find out, okay, 147 00:10:12,000 --> 00:10:14,600 there's fuel coming to here, there's fuel getting to hear, 148 00:10:14,840 --> 00:10:18,279 why won't the engine start? And they've tried starting the engines. 149 00:10:18,320 --> 00:10:23,080 The engines are restarted using compressed air, compressed air held 150 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,799 in huge tanks that then they run through into the 151 00:10:26,879 --> 00:10:30,120 engine to turn the pistons over to then draw more 152 00:10:30,159 --> 00:10:32,320 fuel in and start the engine. They can only do 153 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:34,399 that so many times with the air they have in 154 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:37,480 those tanks, and by this point they've depleted it. They've 155 00:10:37,480 --> 00:10:40,639 tried so many times that all the air's gone, and 156 00:10:40,759 --> 00:10:43,279 they have no way of refilling those tanks because they 157 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:49,159 need the generator to do that, so they're stuck. They 158 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,759 can open all these brand new pipes, all this brand 159 00:10:52,799 --> 00:10:55,759 new engine gear, but they are trying to work out 160 00:10:55,799 --> 00:10:58,080 why they've got fuel it's getting into the engine, why 161 00:10:58,120 --> 00:11:00,440 won't it work until they actually dip the tank and 162 00:11:00,519 --> 00:11:03,840 discover that it's half full of seawater, So they have 163 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:06,480 other fuel on board. But that means they've got to 164 00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:11,480 redivert everything, refill everything, which will take time. Even in 165 00:11:11,639 --> 00:11:15,240 calm water a harbor with an experienced crew and good lighting, 166 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:18,879 that's going to take several hours. But they haven't got 167 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:24,200 several hours because well, they're not where they think they are. 168 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:29,519 They thought they were miles out to sea, which sounds drastic, 169 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:32,080 but really in a storm if you're a big ship, 170 00:11:32,159 --> 00:11:36,000 a drift being miles out to sea isn't a huge 171 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:39,519 problem because you can't crash into anything if you're miles 172 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:41,320 out to see if you're in out in empty space. 173 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,840 The problem comes when you get close to shore. And 174 00:11:44,919 --> 00:11:47,480 the Union Star was coming close to shore. It was 175 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:51,799 drifting inward mile by mile. It was a hell of 176 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,279 a lot closer than Morton thought. And the way that 177 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:58,480 was confirmed was with radar. The coast Guard fired up 178 00:11:58,519 --> 00:12:01,399 the radar, they picked up the signal of where the 179 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:04,759 Union Star was. It was miles and miles closer than 180 00:12:04,799 --> 00:12:06,360 it should have been. It was only a few miles 181 00:12:06,399 --> 00:12:10,519 offshore rather than the ten plus miles he thought he had. 182 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:16,320 So this situation is degrading the whole time. It's descending 183 00:12:16,399 --> 00:12:22,519 into more more, not chaos, but the stakes are getting 184 00:12:22,559 --> 00:12:27,639 higher and the options are getting less. So the Coastguard 185 00:12:27,919 --> 00:12:31,159 and Morton, between them, they come up with a wording 186 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:33,240 for something called a pan call. So this is a 187 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:37,080 bit like a may day, except it's maybe one grade down. 188 00:12:37,879 --> 00:12:41,799 A may day means all hope is lost, we can't 189 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,879 do anything. We need as much help as you can 190 00:12:43,960 --> 00:12:48,600 send now. A pan call means it's a bad situation. 191 00:12:49,120 --> 00:12:51,799 We need help, but we have some element of control 192 00:12:51,879 --> 00:12:54,799 left in this, but we still need help. So a 193 00:12:54,879 --> 00:13:00,000 pan pan call goes out sometime just after seven pm 194 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,399 at this time. Also they contact the lifeboat at Penley, 195 00:13:04,639 --> 00:13:07,480 or rather the village of Mausel, just around the corner 196 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:12,440 from Newlyn. And this is a tiny fishing community and 197 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,799 the lifeboat, like pretty much every lifeboat at the time 198 00:13:16,159 --> 00:13:21,440 around the UK, was staffed by volunteers, volunteers drawn from 199 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:27,320 the local fishing community, experienced people and in this case 200 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,639 all men who were experiencing the sea, experience in the 201 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:34,440 local waters and experienced in rescue. But they were volunteers 202 00:13:34,759 --> 00:13:38,879 who volunteered to go out in all weathers to rescue people, 203 00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:41,799 to come to the aid of others. They were the 204 00:13:41,919 --> 00:13:47,639 nearest boat to this problem, so they started to make ready. 205 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:50,000 But people have to come from the homes, they have 206 00:13:50,120 --> 00:13:51,720 to get to the lifeboat station, they have to make 207 00:13:51,759 --> 00:13:55,480 it ready to launch. This doesn't happen instantly. So while 208 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,559 that's happening, Rescue eighty a seeking helicopter from Roll Naval 209 00:14:00,600 --> 00:14:04,399 Air Station called DROs Over on the Lizard so Over 210 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:07,399 on another peninsula that sticks out into the English Channel, 211 00:14:07,919 --> 00:14:11,519 only about twenty or so miles away, is making ready 212 00:14:11,759 --> 00:14:16,000 to take off. The pilot of that is Russell Smith. 213 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:18,840 He's he's not a brit He's an American over on 214 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,480 an exchange visit from I think the US Navy, and 215 00:14:22,840 --> 00:14:27,879 he is the pilot of this aircraft that can deal 216 00:14:28,159 --> 00:14:32,320 with bad weather, but it's operating just at the edge 217 00:14:32,559 --> 00:14:34,480 of what it can deal with when it heads out 218 00:14:34,559 --> 00:14:40,000 into this storm at about nineteen thirty seven. The aircraft 219 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,919 is airborne, and it's five minutes away from the position 220 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:43,879 of the Union Star. 221 00:14:47,120 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 2: Pioneer like you, oh yesterday, okay, thank you very much, 222 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:04,480 the handler anybody will how many people do you plan 223 00:15:04,519 --> 00:15:12,440 on trampering? One woman and children mother san one woman 224 00:15:12,519 --> 00:15:17,759 and children mother by Sagan, one woman and two children 225 00:15:17,879 --> 00:15:24,679 with throw a reminder order until yes, that's right. 226 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:29,360 Speaker 1: So they're five minutes out. They've got to locate this 227 00:15:29,559 --> 00:15:35,360 completely darkened ship out in the chaos of this rolling sea. 228 00:15:37,240 --> 00:15:39,600 And you can hear in the pilot's voice there in 229 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:43,279 Russell Smith's voice, he didn't know that he was heading 230 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,519 out to a small family out on this coaster. He 231 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:51,080 thought he was heading out to a commercial ship in distress. 232 00:15:52,000 --> 00:15:56,279 But it's it's not that situation. It's now a much 233 00:15:57,039 --> 00:16:03,960 more dire situation. So this changes everything for them in 234 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,200 terms of the rescue, but they can't get there any faster. 235 00:16:06,320 --> 00:16:08,679 They can't do something different just because there's a woman 236 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,559 and two children there. They still have to do their job. 237 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,679 They still have to do a very technical, very dangerous 238 00:16:15,799 --> 00:16:18,799 job right at the edge of what they can deal 239 00:16:18,879 --> 00:16:25,159 with operationally. So around this time, the Coast Guard has 240 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:27,799 calculated that they've got about an hour, hour and a 241 00:16:27,919 --> 00:16:31,200 quarter before the Union Star hits the shore and hits 242 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:35,120 the rocks, and at this point they request the immediate 243 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:37,799 launch of the Penley lifeboat. They were already getting ready, 244 00:16:37,879 --> 00:16:40,240 but then they have to get out now and have 245 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,120 to get out into the water, and they issue a 246 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:48,320 second pan notice with an updated location for the Union Star. 247 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:01,399 Speaker 6: Mid the Onion. 248 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:15,680 Speaker 3: Point, nine a mile from I've gone with Echo novem. 249 00:17:19,319 --> 00:17:20,319 Speaker 2: Alma Elma. 250 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:30,359 Speaker 1: It's difficult to imagine now what that scene out at 251 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:36,039 the sea would look like. Helicopters are big, particularly rescue helicopters. 252 00:17:36,079 --> 00:17:38,319 I've been in a seeking It's like a block of 253 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:44,119 flats hovering on its side, huge rotor disc above. You've 254 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,359 got these big search lights that come down from it, 255 00:17:46,519 --> 00:17:49,440 but even then they can only illuminate so much, so 256 00:17:49,519 --> 00:17:52,880 they're pointing out into the darkness, and somewhere out there 257 00:17:52,920 --> 00:17:56,640 in the darkness, you've got the sixty eight meter long 258 00:17:56,839 --> 00:18:01,160 Union Star rolling around in the waves. So you've got 259 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:05,000 to get up to it, come in at a steady 260 00:18:05,119 --> 00:18:07,359 rate so you can predict where it's going to be 261 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:12,680 and meet it whilst maneuvering in gale force winds. Gale 262 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:16,240 force ten at this point, so you've got to maneuver 263 00:18:16,559 --> 00:18:22,880 an aircraft in basically hurricane force winds to a point 264 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,759 that you can barely see. But that ship isn't just 265 00:18:25,799 --> 00:18:29,640 static on the ocean. It's drifting and it's riding up 266 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,240 and down on the waves. These waves are about nine 267 00:18:33,319 --> 00:18:37,440 meters high, which means you can look down on the 268 00:18:37,519 --> 00:18:41,759 ship hovering above it for thirty feet up and within 269 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:45,480 seconds the ship is almost at your rotor disc. The 270 00:18:45,599 --> 00:18:50,200 Union Star has a large radio mass that sits above 271 00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:54,119 the crew and an accommodation section of the ship where 272 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:58,759 everyone is. The antenna on top of this mass stick 273 00:18:58,880 --> 00:19:01,160 right up, stick a long way up above the ship 274 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:03,640 when it goes into port, and it has to go 275 00:19:03,759 --> 00:19:05,880 under bridges and things like that. It can be folded down, 276 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,480 but that's a process that takes time. Right now, it's 277 00:19:09,519 --> 00:19:12,799 a massive obstacle that prevents the helicopter from getting too close. 278 00:19:13,880 --> 00:19:16,000 They throw out the winchman on a cable out of 279 00:19:16,039 --> 00:19:18,599 the side of the helicopter and try and dangle him 280 00:19:18,640 --> 00:19:22,680 down towards the ship, but no way he can get 281 00:19:22,759 --> 00:19:26,319 close enough without endangering the aircraft. And at several points, 282 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,400 as the ship rolls through on the waves, the antenna 283 00:19:30,519 --> 00:19:33,799 on this mass come within meters of the rotor disc, 284 00:19:34,519 --> 00:19:38,160 nearly bringing the helicopter down. So Russell Smith makes the 285 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:40,880 decision to pull back and they're going to attempt a 286 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,599 different technique. So this technique involves something called a high line, 287 00:19:44,759 --> 00:19:49,079 which is basically a rope that goes between the aircraft 288 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:51,839 and a point on the sea or on the ground, 289 00:19:52,559 --> 00:19:55,599 and in this case they're trying to get it onto 290 00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:59,759 the rear deck of the Union Star where someone could 291 00:19:59,799 --> 00:20:03,599 hold and then they can direct the wenchmen in effectively 292 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,519 diagonally from the side you would the helicopter hovers out 293 00:20:07,559 --> 00:20:10,119 to one side away from the ship, so the ship 294 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,839 can move in the storm. And then the winchmen comes 295 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:16,559 down at an angle towards towards the Union Star, and 296 00:20:16,640 --> 00:20:20,920 they attempt this again and again and again. But there 297 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,519 are two problems. There's one the high line they have 298 00:20:25,599 --> 00:20:28,160 isn't long enough. They have a standard one in the 299 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:31,519 aircraft that is used for all rescue operations, but it's 300 00:20:31,559 --> 00:20:34,119 not long enough. They can't get close enough to get 301 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,799 it onto the ship. And another problem, which seems bizarre, 302 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,920 but you can't look back in time and judge people's actions, 303 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:47,559 that the crew don't seem to know what to do 304 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,640 with it. They make no efforts to grab this thing. 305 00:20:50,839 --> 00:20:52,599 This thing which is the only way they can get 306 00:20:52,599 --> 00:20:56,839 a winchman aboard the ship or get casualties off the 307 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:00,400 ship into the helicopter. It goes within meters of them. 308 00:21:00,559 --> 00:21:02,480 At one point one of them sort of just grabs 309 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,839 onto it gently, but then let's go again. Almost immediately 310 00:21:05,880 --> 00:21:12,160 when a wave comes in. Whatever happens, however, that however, 311 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:15,359 that breaks down. They can't get the high line onto 312 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,480 the ship, and all the while they are drifting closer 313 00:21:18,599 --> 00:21:22,319 and closer and closer to the coast. The crew of 314 00:21:22,480 --> 00:21:26,319 Union Star are having some success, though they've been able 315 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,640 to redirect some clean fuel into the generator and they're 316 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:33,680 able to get some lights working. Eight minutes past eight. 317 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 3: Zero. 318 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:48,359 Speaker 2: Yes you told, yes, we're might you get a generator? 319 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:49,599 Started off with the lark on. 320 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 5: Here I goes up. 321 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:59,319 Speaker 1: The addition of lighting and it's these are pretty big 322 00:21:59,400 --> 00:22:01,240 floodlights all the way down the side of the ship. 323 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:06,559 That changes the situation, but it doesn't necessarily make it better. 324 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:09,160 One thing that it changes is that it means the 325 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,960 ship is now visible from the shore. But also everyone 326 00:22:13,039 --> 00:22:15,400 on the ship can see the situation that they're in. 327 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:20,240 They can see these huge, monstrous waves crashing over the 328 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:26,039 side of the ship. They can see that it's not 329 00:22:26,720 --> 00:22:29,440 going to be possible to get the helicopter any closer, 330 00:22:29,799 --> 00:22:31,640 so they have to try again and again with a 331 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:35,440 high line. Now, Rescue eighty is not the only other 332 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:37,799 crew that started to arrive on the scene. 333 00:22:45,079 --> 00:23:03,160 Speaker 6: They wait. 334 00:23:18,039 --> 00:23:20,079 Speaker 1: So that's Cox and Trevalli and Richards. 335 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:20,720 Speaker 3: He is. 336 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: An incredibly experienced man. He knows this coastline very very well. 337 00:23:28,799 --> 00:23:32,680 He has spent his entire life working there, fishing there, 338 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:38,000 and he knows that being one mile from the coast 339 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,160 is not just a bad situation, it's the worst of situations. 340 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:46,880 He's got twenty minutes to get there, and he's having 341 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:52,039 to battle through these storms in his forty seven foot lifeboat. 342 00:23:52,319 --> 00:23:55,519 And it's not the lifeboats that we see today it is. 343 00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,039 It's just been refitted. It's as modern as it can 344 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:03,039 be for that time, but it's still a wooden lifeboat 345 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,680 that has to fight its way through these storms. He's 346 00:24:06,759 --> 00:24:10,480 there with his crew, and you, in my experience with that, 347 00:24:11,039 --> 00:24:13,559 the way he says he repeats the call, he's not 348 00:24:13,799 --> 00:24:17,240 just saying it for the radio. He's saying it for 349 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:21,359 the benefit of the people that he's in that cabin with. 350 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:24,039 He's saying it for the benefit of his crew. He 351 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,480 sort of says it as a statement rather than repeating 352 00:24:27,799 --> 00:24:32,799 what was said to him by Rescue EIGHTI. So the 353 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:35,319 fact that they have twenty minutes to get there, the 354 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,519 Union Star is only a mile from the shore, and 355 00:24:39,599 --> 00:24:41,480 that they still haven't been able to get anyone off 356 00:24:41,599 --> 00:24:45,480 this situation is it's about as bad as it can be. 357 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:48,960 The tug nord Holland also arrives around about this time, 358 00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:53,079 but there's not much they can do either. Tugs can 359 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:57,079 do amazing things. They can do some amazing rescues and 360 00:24:57,599 --> 00:25:00,400 hook on to anchor chains and hook on with ropes 361 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:06,039 and do some spectacular rescues in terrible seas, but they 362 00:25:06,079 --> 00:25:08,799 need sea room, they need space to do that. You 363 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:13,599 can't maneuver delicately in a storm like this when you're 364 00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,880 so close to the rocks. And tugs are big, much 365 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:21,240 bigger than the lifeboat. So if the lifeboat's nervous about 366 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:25,039 getting into this position, the tug has no chance. And 367 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,559 it's not just the tug that's starting to become concerned 368 00:25:28,559 --> 00:25:31,359 about their proximity to the cliffs and the danger of 369 00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:36,279 the situation. Rescue eighty also decides that they can't do 370 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:37,079 much else. 371 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:42,480 Speaker 5: Now, running union start and looking too difficult for refueing neer. 372 00:25:42,359 --> 00:25:44,160 Speaker 2: All Memoir and Safety in the nerd. 373 00:25:44,559 --> 00:25:46,480 Speaker 3: We're getting very quiet near man that the man. 374 00:25:46,599 --> 00:25:49,599 Speaker 2: We don't have a woman of highlight. Yeah, okay, well 375 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,799 very much as well as you have. You're going to. 376 00:25:52,839 --> 00:25:53,519 Speaker 3: Point anchor out. 377 00:25:54,839 --> 00:26:02,079 Speaker 1: I'm you can hear the exhaustion in Morton's voice there 378 00:26:02,119 --> 00:26:06,160 as well. He has to remain professional. He has to 379 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,720 do these radio calls. He has to communicate clearly, but 380 00:26:10,359 --> 00:26:14,000 he has been battling for hours now, not just physically 381 00:26:14,079 --> 00:26:16,119 and trying to keep his balance and trying to move 382 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:19,279 around the ship in these storms, but also to deal 383 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,160 with his stresses, to deal with the stress of Dawn 384 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,880 and the kids who aren't familiar with these situations, his 385 00:26:25,039 --> 00:26:29,559 responsibility to them, his responsibility to the crew, his responsibility 386 00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:35,000 to his unborn child. He has this huge weight on 387 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:38,559 him and the things he was hoping on. The tug 388 00:26:39,079 --> 00:26:44,119 and the helicopter. Neither of them can help him. Whether 389 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:48,079 it was the delay, whether it was something he could 390 00:26:48,119 --> 00:26:50,359 have changed early on. He has to be playing this 391 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:52,559 over and over again in his mind. He has to 392 00:26:52,640 --> 00:26:56,680 be thinking back to that conversation with the Lord Holland 393 00:26:57,079 --> 00:27:01,119 hours before about could they come out to them away? Well, no, 394 00:27:01,279 --> 00:27:04,839 he hasn't. He won't give over the ship to the 395 00:27:05,079 --> 00:27:09,079 Lloyd's open form. All of this has to be running 396 00:27:09,079 --> 00:27:13,359 through his mind as they face these oncoming waves, and 397 00:27:13,599 --> 00:27:15,720 they do turn to face them because they put an 398 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:20,480 anchor down and it breaks straight away. The anchor just 399 00:27:20,519 --> 00:27:23,720 snaps up, or the chain does. So they put another 400 00:27:23,799 --> 00:27:28,759 anchor down that holds, or rather it drags on the seabed. 401 00:27:29,480 --> 00:27:32,880 So this turns the ship from being side onto the 402 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:37,839 waves to being bow onto the waves. It changes the 403 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,359 movement of the deck. It changes the movement of everything. 404 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,119 But now it means that every time the ship goes 405 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,640 down over a wave into the trough and faces the 406 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:52,720 next wave, that next wave crashes over the bow. Now 407 00:27:53,119 --> 00:27:56,559 you can't go out onto the bow at all, but 408 00:27:56,680 --> 00:27:58,400 you will be killed. You will be crushed by the 409 00:27:58,440 --> 00:28:01,119 way to the water. They've got less of the deck, 410 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:03,720 they can move around on fewer places that they can 411 00:28:03,759 --> 00:28:06,480 go out on to meet a lifeboat or to meet 412 00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:11,519 the helicopter. So the situation continues to get worse. It 413 00:28:11,599 --> 00:28:15,279 feels like it couldn't possibly get any worse, But there 414 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,759 it is. Behind them. They have the search lights from 415 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,960 another Coastguard team that has come out onto the top 416 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,519 of the cliffs. They've set up there with big search 417 00:28:24,599 --> 00:28:27,559 lights to illuminate the scene. They can show them how 418 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:33,119 close they are getting to these rocks. I can't imagine 419 00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:37,279 what it's like for Morton in those moments, running everything 420 00:28:37,319 --> 00:28:41,119 through his head, seeing the reality of the situation. It's inescapable. 421 00:28:42,279 --> 00:28:46,319 And then the radio breaks into life again with at 422 00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:47,359 least one more hope. 423 00:29:05,920 --> 00:29:10,200 Speaker 2: Yes, they think I've done a bit of difficulty getting there. 424 00:29:12,319 --> 00:29:15,160 If you would pop out after the women. 425 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:21,720 Speaker 1: And well the woman off on me very much, pop 426 00:29:21,799 --> 00:29:23,759 out and come and take the women and children off that. 427 00:29:25,599 --> 00:29:28,920 You can still hear the exhaustion, but his note has changed. 428 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:33,559 Then there's there's something about the power of hope. There's 429 00:29:34,519 --> 00:29:39,039 hopelessness is such an awful feeling, knowing that there's nothing 430 00:29:39,119 --> 00:29:41,279 that can happen. But that's nothing that you can do 431 00:29:41,440 --> 00:29:42,559 to improve this situation. 432 00:29:42,799 --> 00:29:44,559 Speaker 5: But the. 433 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:50,039 Speaker 1: Voice and a cornish accent of Trevelli and Richards and 434 00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:54,720 his crew coming in there, and this tiny wooden lifeboat 435 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:59,079 they powering through the waves, have powered through this storm, 436 00:29:59,279 --> 00:30:03,440 and now they've on scene right next to the Union Star. 437 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:09,519 So hope is there and this seems to sort of 438 00:30:10,519 --> 00:30:13,559 give a resurgence of effort to everyone involved as well. 439 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:17,599 The tug is watching out from this about a mile away, 440 00:30:18,039 --> 00:30:21,519 watching the lights of this rescue, watching everything silhouetted against 441 00:30:21,519 --> 00:30:26,119 the cliff face Rescue EIGHTI there is hovering just out 442 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:28,680 to one side. It's spotlight shining down on the scene. 443 00:30:29,279 --> 00:30:33,119 And that helicopter crew. They're all young, bold men. You 444 00:30:33,279 --> 00:30:37,960 don't choose to work in search and rescue and particularly 445 00:30:38,039 --> 00:30:41,880 anything on the Atlantic coast if you're timid. And they 446 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:46,799 try again. They've cobbled together and extra highline using literally 447 00:30:46,839 --> 00:30:49,400 scraps of rope that they can pull from the existing 448 00:30:49,519 --> 00:30:52,359 kit inside the helicopter. They've tied it all together with 449 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,279 a weight bag on the end. And then they try again, 450 00:30:57,759 --> 00:31:00,960 and then the weight bag is ripped away by a wave. 451 00:31:01,279 --> 00:31:04,160 That's it. They can't get the high line there at all. 452 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,559 There's no other option. They try again with the winchman 453 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:12,319 and he nearly gets smacked into by the mast. Again 454 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:16,400 nothing works. They're in danger now of hitting the cliff 455 00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:20,119 face with their rotor disc. So the only thing that 456 00:31:20,240 --> 00:31:24,960 can work now is the lifeboat. They come alongside, and 457 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:29,440 they're still communicating with the Union Star. This is happening 458 00:31:29,519 --> 00:31:33,759 over just a few minutes, but you can hear the 459 00:31:33,920 --> 00:31:39,519 increase in the urgency in the voices that transfer back 460 00:31:39,519 --> 00:31:43,440 and forth between the radio calls. This radio call is 461 00:31:43,559 --> 00:31:47,240 at twenty to fifty seven, and it's not Travalian Richards, 462 00:31:47,279 --> 00:31:50,319 I don't think on the lifeboat, and the person on 463 00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:52,119 the other end on the Union Star, I think is 464 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,279 one of the mates. It's not Henry Morton. But you 465 00:31:56,400 --> 00:32:00,920 can hear you can hear the urgent seeing their voices. 466 00:32:02,759 --> 00:32:13,759 Speaker 2: If that's going everybody, we're all going on. 467 00:32:15,519 --> 00:32:19,440 Speaker 1: Somewhere around this time, the anchor chain breaks, so now 468 00:32:19,519 --> 00:32:23,119 the Union Star is fully adrift again, rolling side on 469 00:32:23,359 --> 00:32:31,200 towards the cliff face. The helicopter is still there, hovering above, 470 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:34,880 but pretty much powerless to do anything other than provide 471 00:32:35,079 --> 00:32:39,160 an overview and provide some extra lighting. And they're calling 472 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,079 out the distance to between the Union Star and the 473 00:32:42,119 --> 00:32:45,559 cliff face, both for for everyone on the scene, for 474 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:48,559 the coast guard back at Falmouth, and really for the record, 475 00:32:53,559 --> 00:32:54,039 like your. 476 00:32:58,519 --> 00:33:01,400 Speaker 2: Having trouble getting a long time family life or wherever 477 00:33:01,599 --> 00:33:09,440 any that rapidly. 478 00:33:10,599 --> 00:33:12,960 Speaker 1: All through this time, the Pendey lifeboat has been making 479 00:33:13,559 --> 00:33:18,799 an attempt to get alongside the coaster and they've made it. 480 00:33:18,880 --> 00:33:20,720 They've made it right up to the railing, and they've 481 00:33:20,799 --> 00:33:24,960 thrown lines onto the deck and they've not quite moored themselves, 482 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,880 but they've held themselves up against the railing. But for 483 00:33:29,039 --> 00:33:33,160 whatever reason, for the crew and the people aboard the 484 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:37,079 Union Star, that last gap between them and the lifeboat, 485 00:33:37,079 --> 00:33:39,880 the Solomon Brown, it's just too much. They can't make 486 00:33:39,960 --> 00:33:43,599 it out there. At one point, one of the Union 487 00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,599 Star crew puts a rope ladder down on the side 488 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:51,440 but no one's suicidal enough to make that attempt to 489 00:33:51,519 --> 00:33:55,000 get from their one side to the other. And the 490 00:33:55,119 --> 00:33:58,839 Union Star is still moving towards the coast and pushing 491 00:33:59,119 --> 00:34:01,839 the lifeboat with it, so the lifeboat keeps having to 492 00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:05,599 circle around and try again in between the waves. Just 493 00:34:05,680 --> 00:34:08,440 the skill of timing those waves. I've done a tiny 494 00:34:08,559 --> 00:34:12,920 little bit with boats in rough seas and being able 495 00:34:13,000 --> 00:34:17,320 to count between the waves and working out where you 496 00:34:17,519 --> 00:34:19,480 need to be for when the wave pushes in and 497 00:34:19,559 --> 00:34:24,840 pushes you along. It's tiring, it's really occupies all of 498 00:34:24,880 --> 00:34:26,760 your brains. So to be able to do that in 499 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:31,039 the darkness below deck as well, because they're piloting this 500 00:34:31,159 --> 00:34:35,360 boat from undercover, doing it through tiny windows looking out 501 00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:37,840 onto this scene. But they know their boat, they know 502 00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:41,639 these waters, and they know that they're the only chance 503 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:44,760 that they have for getting people off. Think of all 504 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:48,760 the people watching this scene as well. There's a journalist 505 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:52,360 and there's other people from the village overlooking from the 506 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:55,960 cliff top. You've got the Coastguard crew up there shining 507 00:34:56,000 --> 00:34:58,199 the spotlights down. You've got the crew of the aircraft, 508 00:34:58,280 --> 00:35:01,400 you've got the tug out at sea, all watching this 509 00:35:01,519 --> 00:35:04,840 scene unfold. And at one point they watch a wave 510 00:35:05,039 --> 00:35:08,719 lift the Solomon Brown, the lifeboat, up onto the deck 511 00:35:08,880 --> 00:35:12,079 of the Union Star, so the entire lifeboat is out 512 00:35:12,119 --> 00:35:14,480 of the water, just perched on top of the deck, 513 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,639 and then it slowly slides backwards back into the water 514 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:22,159 as the Union Star rolls again. And this seems to 515 00:35:22,239 --> 00:35:25,639 be the moment that everyone kicks into life on the 516 00:35:25,719 --> 00:35:29,480 Union Star. I think they realize that this is not 517 00:35:30,079 --> 00:35:32,480 something that's just going to slowly evolve. They have to 518 00:35:32,559 --> 00:35:37,199 do something now or they're all dead. So they just 519 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:39,159 all burst out onto the deck and make a run 520 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:45,440 for it. And people there described watching orange waterproof covered 521 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:49,800 people just throwing themselves onto the Solomon Brown, onto the lifeboat, 522 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:52,719 and the crew they're catching them as they hit, as 523 00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:58,079 they hit the lifeboat and just pulling them in. It's 524 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:02,519 a scene that chaos, but people are trying to maintain 525 00:36:02,599 --> 00:36:06,920 control and and Travellian Riches is there as the the 526 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:18,400 only hope of these people rescue. EIGHTI is still overhead, 527 00:36:19,119 --> 00:36:25,440 illuminating the scene and giving commentary about what's unfolding beneath them, 528 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:31,119 and for them, this situation is basically done. The lifeboat 529 00:36:31,159 --> 00:36:33,880 has done all that it can really it would be 530 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:35,760 too dangerous to do anything else. 531 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:43,800 Speaker 6: And they make that call close, we're dangerously clotes. 532 00:36:43,800 --> 00:36:51,000 Speaker 2: Would I play whether the coat or if I can't 533 00:36:51,039 --> 00:36:52,119 do they. 534 00:36:57,199 --> 00:36:59,440 Speaker 1: So that's it. The Union Star is about to hit 535 00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,719 the cliffs. The helicopter can't be there any longer, and 536 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:08,440 they go. And all that's left now is the Solomon Brown, 537 00:37:08,559 --> 00:37:13,679 which should just cut its losses, take the people that 538 00:37:13,760 --> 00:37:17,719 it's saved, and just pull out to see move away 539 00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:23,719 from the cliffs and do what's sensible. But I don't know. 540 00:37:24,480 --> 00:37:25,920 There was just something that was driving them. 541 00:37:25,880 --> 00:37:33,159 Speaker 6: Onwards plenty, Like I call it, form of contract. 542 00:37:37,519 --> 00:37:38,000 Speaker 3: We got. 543 00:37:39,599 --> 00:37:41,079 Speaker 5: We got four at the moment. 544 00:37:54,039 --> 00:38:14,559 Speaker 3: Whatever, and they lighted the light, and the light. 545 00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:30,360 Speaker 1: In the hours that followed, desperate attempts were made to 546 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:33,960 try and reach the crew of the Solomon Brown over 547 00:38:34,000 --> 00:38:38,400 the radio, and then the Coast Guard rescue team upon 548 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:42,199 the cliffs were able to lower somebody down in towards 549 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,599 the site of the of the wreckage, because by now 550 00:38:45,679 --> 00:38:49,280 the Union Star had rolled over on the rocks and 551 00:38:49,480 --> 00:38:52,320 was visible. It was tipped on its side, sat there 552 00:38:52,400 --> 00:38:56,199 in the rocks amongst the breakers, and that Coast Guard 553 00:38:56,239 --> 00:38:59,880 officer there was able to get down into a zorn 554 00:39:00,119 --> 00:39:03,440 basically a big gully on the cliff face, and was 555 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:08,159 able to spot well a very very distinctive R and 556 00:39:08,320 --> 00:39:14,159 L rayal National Lifeboat Institution life jacket, pretty distinctive. Is 557 00:39:14,199 --> 00:39:17,559 seen enough of them by that point, and there shouldn't 558 00:39:17,559 --> 00:39:19,800 be one. Just a drift out on the sea. And 559 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:23,920 in the hours that followed, with even more desperate searches 560 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,480 in the coves up and down the coast, bits of 561 00:39:26,519 --> 00:39:30,880 wreckage started to wash ashore. And there's a very distinctive 562 00:39:30,960 --> 00:39:34,199 livery on the side of a wooden lifeboat like that, 563 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,800 and once bits of it started to wash ashore there 564 00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,760 was it became clear that that was the last radio 565 00:39:42,840 --> 00:39:45,840 call of the Solomon Brown and the crew was lost. 566 00:39:47,119 --> 00:39:50,880 No survivors were found. The bodies of the crew of 567 00:39:50,920 --> 00:39:54,159 both the Solomon Brown and the Union Star were washed 568 00:39:54,199 --> 00:39:58,719 up along the Cornish coast over the coming days, and 569 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:02,960 that was it. That was the loss of eight on 570 00:40:03,039 --> 00:40:08,199 the Union Star and eight on the Penley lifeboat on 571 00:40:08,280 --> 00:40:16,599 the Solomon Brown. This is a very short section to 572 00:40:16,679 --> 00:40:21,760 the podcast because this is a very short telling of 573 00:40:21,840 --> 00:40:26,039 a story. People have told this story much better than 574 00:40:26,079 --> 00:40:30,280 I have. There are three places I urge you to 575 00:40:30,360 --> 00:40:33,719 go to after listening to this one is to go 576 00:40:33,840 --> 00:40:38,039 on to weirdly Enough YouTube where you can see a 577 00:40:38,280 --> 00:40:42,320 copy of a BBC documentary called The Cruel Sea, which 578 00:40:42,800 --> 00:40:44,800 really does tell this story, and it tells a lot 579 00:40:44,840 --> 00:40:49,599 of the human story of the families involved, the relatives 580 00:40:49,639 --> 00:40:53,719 as the surviving relatives, the build up to this story. 581 00:40:56,519 --> 00:41:01,920 There's also the Solomon Brown. It's a radio it's not 582 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:04,880 quite a documentary, but it's a radio story. You can 583 00:41:04,920 --> 00:41:06,840 get it on the BBC Sounds app and we'll put 584 00:41:06,840 --> 00:41:09,199 a link in the show notes that tells even more 585 00:41:09,239 --> 00:41:13,760 of the human story that's around this and it's where 586 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,480 we found some of these radio calls. Now these are 587 00:41:16,519 --> 00:41:19,519 the original radio calls from that evening. They were recorded 588 00:41:19,559 --> 00:41:22,280 by the Coast Guard, as they always are for rescue situations, 589 00:41:22,360 --> 00:41:25,519 and the BBC had access to them and we were 590 00:41:25,559 --> 00:41:32,239 able to get them via those shows. It's not a 591 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:35,880 story that it doesn't have a happy ending, and it's 592 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:39,360 an important story. It's an important story to well, the 593 00:41:39,440 --> 00:41:43,440 people of Mousel, the people of Cornwall, the R and 594 00:41:43,599 --> 00:41:47,760 l I, they raw a national lifeboat institution and weirdly enough, 595 00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:52,440 for our family and my family has become something linked 596 00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:56,559 with Christmas, because we are a Cornish family and this 597 00:41:58,599 --> 00:42:03,000 for some people, the loss of the Solomon Brown was 598 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,480 the day that MOUs all changed and this tiny fishing 599 00:42:06,519 --> 00:42:11,440 village changed, and one member of my family described it 600 00:42:11,480 --> 00:42:15,280 as it's the death of the old Cornwall. And then 601 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:19,840 on into the eighties and the nineties and the culture 602 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:23,559 of Cornwall changed, and the people who lived and worked 603 00:42:23,599 --> 00:42:26,360 there gradually moved out or moved to other places, and 604 00:42:26,519 --> 00:42:29,679 their cottages down in the harbor and in the village 605 00:42:29,800 --> 00:42:33,039 became holiday homes and second homes and owned by somebody 606 00:42:33,079 --> 00:42:36,000 who visited maybe a couple of times a year, and 607 00:42:36,159 --> 00:42:41,719 had a nice painted fishing boy hanging outside and newly 608 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:46,800 whitewashed windows, and had nothing of the people who had 609 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:53,920 lived and died there. This whole story does seem like 610 00:42:54,039 --> 00:42:57,400 a bit of an odd fit for a podcast series 611 00:42:57,440 --> 00:43:02,280 which is about outdoor safety and survival and decision making, 612 00:43:02,400 --> 00:43:04,760 but well, really this is just. 613 00:43:06,400 --> 00:43:06,599 Speaker 6: For me. 614 00:43:06,719 --> 00:43:11,760 Speaker 1: It's a really good and personal story about decisions and 615 00:43:12,280 --> 00:43:15,719 making decisions, decisions you made days ago, and how they 616 00:43:16,760 --> 00:43:21,320 can come back to haunt you almost and also about 617 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:27,199 sometimes those decisions they're not yours, they're made by something 618 00:43:27,280 --> 00:43:30,119 outside of you, a different force made by the sea, 619 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:35,920 made by some other thing, and that just that day 620 00:43:36,599 --> 00:43:41,760 it decided this was going to be the outcome. The 621 00:43:42,119 --> 00:43:47,000 main source we had for the content for this episode 622 00:43:48,360 --> 00:43:51,400 was a book It's a Penley The Loss of a 623 00:43:51,480 --> 00:43:56,000 Lifeboat by Michael Segar Fenton, and that has the whole 624 00:43:56,119 --> 00:43:59,039 story in there. And if you are interested in learning 625 00:43:59,119 --> 00:44:02,559 more about this, then that listen to that radio show, 626 00:44:02,639 --> 00:44:05,440 listen to that, or watch that documentary, but go and 627 00:44:05,519 --> 00:44:08,159 pick up a copy of the book. It will It 628 00:44:08,320 --> 00:44:12,880 really lays out all aspects of this and it's it's 629 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:16,119 a fascinating story, but also it's a really it's a 630 00:44:16,159 --> 00:44:20,360 really important story, I think as well. So I know 631 00:44:20,480 --> 00:44:27,800 that's not particularly jolly Christmas tale, but for some people 632 00:44:27,880 --> 00:44:32,800 that is Christmas. No matter what you're doing for Christmas 633 00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:35,800 this year, think about the people you have around you, 634 00:44:35,960 --> 00:44:38,639 think about the people you no longer have around you, 635 00:44:40,199 --> 00:44:42,840 and focus on the things that you can make positive 636 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:47,840 changing and realize that there are some things that are 637 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:51,079 just outside of you, but there are some things that 638 00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:55,239 you can do and you can make forward progress with, 639 00:44:55,840 --> 00:45:02,599 even if it's something small. So Mary ch Smith Nadolac Loewen, 640 00:45:04,119 --> 00:45:13,320 and we'll be back in the new year aboard the 641 00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:21,480 Union Star that night. Master Henry Mick Morton, mate James Whittaker, 642 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:29,840 Engineer George Sedgwick, and the crew Agostino Verressimo and Manuel Lopez, 643 00:45:32,000 --> 00:45:42,280 Dawn Morton, Sharon Brown, Dianne Brown, the crew of the 644 00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:51,079 Solomon Brown Coxon, Trevalli and Richards second Cox Mechanic, Stephen Madron, 645 00:45:51,800 --> 00:45:58,519 second mechanic, Nigel Brockman, and the crew John Blewett, Charles Greenow, 646 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:07,519 Kevin Smith, Barry Tory, Gary Wallace. And if during your 647 00:46:07,639 --> 00:46:11,840 Christmas merriment you pass the donation box for a volunteer 648 00:46:11,920 --> 00:46:16,760 search and rescue team, throw some money in because they 649 00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:17,639 might be out tonight.