TSW report on the Penlee Lifeboat disaster, Dec 1991 ©SWFTA (CID: 44749)

Filmed in December in 1991, this moving TSW documentary (SWFTA CID: 44749) follows the community of Mousehole in Cornwall as they commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Penlee Lifeboat disaster which occurred on the 19th December 1991. The footage includes extracts from a 1976 Walking Westward documentary (SWFTA CID: 33276) in which Clive Gunnell follows a launch of the Penlee Lifeboat and interviews crewmembers including Trevelyan Richards and Kevin Smith, who both lost their lives in the disaster. The film also includes an interview with Kevin’s mother, Pat Smith. The Penlee lifeboat disaster occurred on 19 December 1981 off the coast of Cornwall when the crew of the RNLB Solomon Browne went to the aid of the stricken coaster Union Star in perilous seas facing 100 mile an hour winds and 60 ft waves. After a courageous initial attempt by Navy helicopters to reach the vessel, the RNLB Solomon Browne somehow managed to get most of the crew onboard before losing radio contact in the storm. Unfortunately, both crews were lost. The anniversary of the disaster is marked every year by the community of Mousehole and the lives and courage of those lost to the storm is remembered. RNLB SOLOMON BROWNE Trevelyan Richards Stephen Madron Nigel Brockman John Blewett Charlie Greenhaugh Kevin Smith Barrie Torrie Gary Wallis MV UNION STAR Henry Moreton Dawn Moreton Sharon Brown Deanne Brown James Whittaker George Sedgwick Anghostino Verressimo Manuel Lopes Copyright: South West Film and Television Archive (SWFTA) T: 01752 202650 E: [email protected] W: www.swfta.co.uk