29th February 1952
Coal-filled steamer strikes the rocks
The wind was still and the sea was smooth on leap year’s day 1952, but that didn’t save the SS Lyntre from striking rocks off Noirmont Point as the sun came up. She put out an SOS at 6.05am and, 20 minutes later, the Jersey lifeboat, Elizabeth Rippon, motored to her aid.
The lifeboat crew found a cargo ship bringing anthracite, a particularly hard variety of coal, from Swansea to the island. She was holed below the waterline, taking on water and listing to the starboard side. She had also damaged both her rudder and propeller, leaving her powerless and drifting.
The captain’s wife was lowered into the lifeboat, carrying the ship’s log and other documents, but Captain Williams himself remained onboard to await the tug, which eventually towed the 730-ton ship, stern-first, to the harbour at St Helier.
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Other events that occured in February
The Channel Islands are cut off from the outside world
- The only communications link between Jersey and the mainland was severed, leaving the island isolated from the outside world.
- Read more…
Plane gets lost coming out of Jersey
- A Jersey Airways flight from Jersey to Portsmouth got lost in the English Channel as the fog brought visibility down to less than 20 feet.
- Read more…
Jersey’s courts are criticised for leaving a man in limbo
- A man was left in limbo for two years after being accused of rape but unable to face a court to argue his case.
- Read more…
Two women are stranded on Seymour Tower
- Two women had to be rescued by lifeboat when they became stranded on Seymour Tower as the tide rushed in around them.
- Read more…
