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Saturday, November 01, 2025

Remembering a disaster

The Story of Mumbles website features the stained glass window in All Saints Church, Mumbles to commemorate the Samtampa Lifeboat Disaster of April 23rd, 1947.

The entire crew of The Mumbles Lifeboat, Edward, Prince of Wales, lost their lives in attempting to rescue the crew of the SS Samptampa which came to grief on rocks close to Sker Point, Porthcawl. There is also a memorial in Rest Bay, Porthcawl, pictured below, which was unveiled almost exactly a year ago.

The memorials remember the events on the night of 23 April 1947, when the SS Samtampa and the Mumbles Lifeboat Edward Prince of Wales were lost in one of the most tragic maritime disasters in British history.

In hurricane-force winds, in a powerful tidal surge, just 30 miles from its destination, the vessel broke apart on Sker Point. All 39 crew members were stranded, with no hope of rescue from land due to the ferocious conditions.

The Mumbles Lifeboat Edward Prince of Wales launched, battling extreme winds, tidal spray, and oil slicks. Despite their efforts, all eight volunteer lifeboat crew and the crew of the Samtampa were lost.

The Samtampa was a 'Liberty ship' built in America in 1943 and was on her way to Newport from Middlesborough when she ran aground on the rocky ledges of the Sker Point near Porthcawl. The total death toll for the disaster was 47.
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1 comment:

  1. nigel hunter10:17 AM

    The sea is a dangerous place when it is angry.

    ReplyDelete

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