This virtual cache has been set in memory of all those who were lost in the sinking of the M/V Princess Victoria on 31st January 1953.
The Princess Victoria
Built in 1947, the Princess Victoria was a new design of 'roll on - roll off' ferry that sailed between Stranraer in Scotland and Larne in Northern Ireland. Weighing in at 2,694 tons, she could carry up to 1,500 passengers as well as cars and lorries.
Photo credit: Dumfries and Galloway Council
The tragedy
The Princess Victoria left Stranraer's railway loading pier at 07:45 with 128 passengers, 51 crew and 44 tons of cargo onboard. A gale warning was in force (later described as the ‘Great Storm’) but Captain Ferguson made the decision to put to sea. Loch Ryan is a sheltered inlet, and the full force of the storm was not yet apparent, but spray was already breaking over the stern doors. A secondary 'guillotine door' had been fitted because of a previously identified problem with spray and waves hitting the stern doors. This would have provided extra protection, although on this occasion it was damaged and therefore could not be lowered.
Shortly after clearing the mouth of Loch Ryan, the ship turned west towards Larne and exposed her stern to the worst of the high seas. Huge waves damaged the stern doors, allowing water to enter the car deck. The crew struggled to close the doors again but they were too badly damaged and water continued to flood in. The scuppers (later found to be too small) did not allow the water to drain away properly. The ship took a list to starboard and at this point Captain Ferguson decided to retreat back to the safety of Loch Ryan by going astern. This proved to be impossible because the securing pin on the bow rudder couldn’t be released due to the rough conditions.
At 09:46, almost two hours after leaving Stranraer, a message was transmitted in Morse code (Princess Victoria did not have a radio telephone) by radio operator David Broadfoot to the Portpatrick Radio Station: "Hove-to off mouth of Loch Ryan. Vessel not under command. Urgent assistance of tugs required". With a list to starboard exacerbated by shifting cargo, water continued to enter the ship. At 10:32, an SOS message was finally transmitted. The captain then decided to try to reach the Irish coast by adopting a course which would keep the stern sheltered from the worst of the elements.
At 13:08, the ship broadcast that her engines had stopped. The final Morse code message at 13:58 reported the ship "on her beam end" five miles east of the Copeland Islands. The order to abandon ship was given at 14:00.
Picture credit: BBC
David Broadfoot stayed at his radio station until the very end. He was posthumously awarded the George Cross. Captain James Ferguson is reported to have stood at salute on the bridge as the ship went down. He was posthumously awarded the George Medal.
In total, 135 people lost their lives in the tragedy and there were 44 survivors. The dead included the Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Maynard Sinclair, and the MP for North Down, Sir Walter Smiles. There were no women or children among the survivors. More details, including rescue efforts, can be found in this talk. The sinking of the Princess Victoria remains the biggest peacetime maritime disaster in UK coastal waters.
Source: adapted from Wikipedia
A personal connection
It is with much sadness that my great-aunt, Ada Prior (1919-1953), was a passenger on the Princess Victoria that day. Ada had flown to England to attend her mother's funeral (my great-grandmother) on the 29th January 1953. News of an impending storm meant that her return flight was cancelled. Ada wanted to immediately get back to Carnlough and so decided to return home by rail and ferry instead, setting off for Stranraer straight after the funeral.
A story told to me by my late-father was that a survivor had seen Ada emerge from one of the stairwells helping a passenger only to then turn back and descend the stairwell again to help others. Sadly, she was never seen again and so declared lost at sea.
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To claim this cache, please upload to your 'Found it' log a photo of either yourself, or a sign with your geocaching name, or your GPSr with the M/V Princess Victoria memorial clearly showing in the background. Please don't send me the photo seperately via the message centre/email.
Any 'Found it' logs without the photo will be deleted.
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Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.