Builder needed to erect memorial to tragedy
ON APRIL 23, 1947 the lives of 39 crewmen and eight RNLI volunteers were lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Porthcawl.
It was regarded as the worst Welsh maritime disaster of modern times.
Members of the Porthcawl Shout Forum are now asking for the help of a builder to finalise the memorial to the tragedy.
The memorial has been created by a sculptor in Morriston, Swansea, and is due to be erected at Rest Bay, overlooking the site of the shipwreck.
Gary Victor, a volunteer member of the Shout Forum has been helping the campaign to erect a memorial for six years.
He said: “It has been stop-start since the start, but now the only thing that’s stopping in the completion is to find a builder to build the base and do the foundations.
“It’s such an emotional story and still people are surprised to hear about it.
“We didn’t want it to be forgotten and we thought we should do something about it, and that’s what we’re doing here.”
The Samtampa, with 39 crewmen aboard and carrying 608 tonnes of fuel oil as it had two oil-fired boilers, set off from Middlesbrough on the morning of April 19.
Soon after leaving the port, the weather deteriorated. The official inquiry report said the ship was probably spotted passing Flamborough Head in the northeast of England at 7.45am on April 19, but restricted visibility meant they couldn’t be sure.
The ship was not seen again by any shore station until she passed Hartland Point - a rocky outcrop on the north western tip of the Devon coast - at 8am on the morning of April 23. It was at this point that gale warnings were broadcast, but they were not upgraded to “exceptional” until half an hour later.
Despite the worsening weather and delays, a thrice revised arrival time for Newport was set at 2pm on April 23.
At lunchtime, it became evident the Samtampa would be unable to complete its journey in the storm, and another vessel received a wireless message from the ship which stated they would seek shelter at a Devon deadland named Foreland Point.
Nothing more was heard from the Samtampa until 3.14pm when she sent an urgent signal that she was drifting across the channel to Nash Shoal.
It was later understood that the ship was caught out by an ‘exceptional’ weather phenomenon that only those acutely acquainted with the Bristol Channel are aware of.
At 3.54pm Captain Sherwell messaged that the vessel, now sitting off the Welsh coast, had both anchors down. Just a few minutes later he sent a further urgent message giving the Samtampa’s position as around twoand-a-half miles off Porthcawl.
Just half an hour later it appears he knew what fate the Samtampa would suffer. The Samtampa sent out an SOS: “Fear cables will not hold much longer. Please send assistance.”
Just eight minutes later at 4.38pm, another message from the stricken vessel said the starboard anchor had been carried away and the Samtampa was drifting ashore. The port anchor was carried away by the sea 12 minutes later.
At 5.08pm the Samtampa sent an SOS stating she was aground. This was followed by another message six minutes later stating the vessel was breaking up and the crew would be leaving shortly. It was the last anyone heard from the crew.
The Station Officer of the Coastguard Station at Porthcawl, G Shepherd, had been on scene from around 3.45pm, firstly going to Rest Bay from where he watched the Samtampa to identify where she was likely to come ashore and the rescue equipment, which was kept three miles away, would be needed.
At 4.55pm he sent an order calling for the lifesaving equipment - rocketpropelled lines and a breeches buoy rope rescue device - to be sent to Sker Point.
Earlier that afternoon the information had been relayed to the Mumbles lifeboat Edward, Prince of Wales -
Porthcawl did not have a lifeboat station at that time - and it was launched shortly after 4pm.
But it had to return and pull alongside the slipway to get updated information on the Samtampa’s position and left for a second time at 5.10pm. It was the last time the crew was seen alive.
At daybreak on April 24 all 39 crew members were found to have perished.
Just 300 yards away from the broken Samtampa the Mumbles lifeboat was found upside down on the rocks. Its crew members; William Gammon, 48, William Noel, 42, William Richard Scourfield Thomas, 48, William Ronald Thomas, 34, William Gilbert Davies, 42, Richard Henry Smith, 35, William Lewis Howell, 32 and Ernest Griffin, 52, had also died.
The entire crews of the 7200 ton Liberty ship SS Samtampa and the Mumbles Lifeboat, Edward Prince of Wales all died from fuel oil asphyxiation in an unbelievably violent sea.
If you are a builder who can help with the memorial, please reach out to Gary Victor at g.victor@btinternet.com