By Amber-Louise Thornborrow
Fifty-six years ago, on the evening of the 17th of March 1969, the volunteer crew of the TGB lifeboat assembled, venturing out into a south-easterly force nine gale that had been battering the coast, leading to waves measuring over sixty feet high. The crew were responding to a mayday call from the Liberian registered steamship Irene. The 2,600-ton freighter was being driven towards the rocky Caithness coast. Launching at the same time as the TGB was Kirkwall’s Grace Paterson Richie. Both lifeboats were manned by RNLI volunteers.
On the evening of the disaster, the crew of the Longhope consisted of eight men. Daniel Kirkpatrick, aged 59, had been a member of the Longhope crew since 1940, and had been appointed as Coxswain in 1954. His first silver medal for gallantry was awarded to him in 1959 for saving fourteen men from the trawler Strathcoe. His second was awarded to him in 1964 following the rescue of nine crew members of the Ben Barvas trawler. His third silver medal was for the rescue of fifteen men from the trawler Ross Puma. Daniel did not survive to collect his third medal.
Accompanying Daniel was his two sons, Bowman Daniel ‘Ray’ Kirkpatrick, aged 32, and Crewman John ‘Jack’ Kirkpatrick, aged 27. The other members of the crew included Second Coxswain James ‘Jimmy’ Johnston, aged 30, his brother, crew member Robert ‘Robbie’ Johnston, aged 31 and their father, Mechanic Robert ‘Bob’ Johnston, aged 62. Also onboard was Assistant Mechanic James ‘Jimmie’ Swanson, aged 59, and crewman Eric McFadyen, aged 24.
On the 17th of March, at 8pm, the TGB was launched down the tiny slipway from the shed in the small community of Brims, bearing south, the crew bracing themselves to enter the infamous Pentland Firth, a notoriously dangerous stretch of water, in conditions that rendered visibility near zero.
At 9:15 pm, the SS Irene had run aground at South Ronaldsay and was reached by coastguards, with all crew members rescued. The TGB had been in constant radio contact with the radio operator since its departure, with the last radio signal from TGB recorded at 9:28 pm. The lighthouse keeper on Pentland Skerries last spotted TGB at 9:35 pm, with the stern light visible half a mile to the northeast. At this point, the wind was registering at gale force ten. As repeated radio calls went unanswered, the original search for the SS Irene turned into a search for the missing lifeboat and its crew. The Coxswain of the Kirkwall reported to the coastguard that the chances of finding TGB in current conditions was near zero, and the search was called off for the night.
The search resumed the next day. Conditions had improved, meaning a full sea and air search and rescue could begin. Assistance in the search for TGB came from RAF Kinloss, RAF Lossiemouth, and lifeboats from Stronsay, Stromness, Kirkwall, and Thurso. On the 18th of March, London Lifeboat Day, Longhope families waited for news.
At 1:40 pm, the crew of a Thurso lifeboat found the upturned TGB, four miles southeast of Tor Ness, and found no signs of life. Unbeknownst to the crews of the Thurso and Stromness lifeboats as they towed the TGB to Scrabster on the mainland was the fact that the bodies of seven of the eight crew members were still strapped into their seats. The body of James Swanson was missing. Daniel Kirkpartrick’s watch had stopped at 9:47 pm. It was estimated that the boat was capsized by a freak wave that may have been around one hundred feet high.
Brims had lost a third of its population to the disaster, with everyone in the community affected. The crew left behind a widowed mother, seven widows and eight children. Within a week of the tragedy, volunteers had already stepped in to begin training in order to continue the work of the lost crew.
News of the disaster reached London, prompting action from the RNLI. Captain D.G. Wicksteed, the Deputy Chief Inspector of Lifeboats, who flew to Orkney with Lord Saltoun, former Convener of the Scottish Lifeboat Council, alongside other senior RNLI officials. The Duke of Atholl, and Miss E.M. Lloyd-Jones, Organising Secretary for Scotland, also travelled to Longhope on the18th of March to support the community.
The RNLI moved quickly in order to support the families of the lost crew members. Families were granted pensions based on the Royal Navy’s Chief Petty Officer scale, and the Lord Lieutenant of Orkney launched a special appeal that eventually raised over £92,000 for the families. A funeral service for the crew took place on the 22nd of March, at Walls Old Parish Church, Hoy, which was attended by RNLI officials, political figures, and hundreds of mourners. A memorial service followed the next day at St. Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall, attended by over 1,200 people.
The disaster resonated deeply with the public. The Daily Mirror led a special appeal for RNLI funds, contributing £1,000 itself, raising over £10,000 in donations from readers. The Daily Record and Daily Express also launched appeals, raising thousands more for the bereaved families and the RNLI.
The impact of the disaster led to important design changes to lifeboats. The TGB, a forty-seven-foot Watson Class Motor Lifeboat built in 1962 by J&J Whites of Cowes, was not designed to self-right when capsized. The TGB, launched thirty-four times, rescuing a total of twenty-four people, was refurbished following the disaster. The Longhope tragedy meant that all subsequent lifeboats were designed to be self-righting. The TGB was refurbished and continued service in Donegal, Ireland, launching a further forty-one times and rescuing thirty-one people, before coming to the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine in the 1980s, where she remains today.
The TGB serves as a reminder of the bravery of all RNLI crew members. Today, Kevin Kirkpatrick, who lost his father, uncle, and grandfather in the disaster, continued family tradition as the Coxswain of the Longhope lifeboat station and is now retired. He is the chair of the Longhope Lifeboat Museum Trust. The museum is located in the very shed the TGB was launched from.
At the Scottish Maritime Museum, the TGB is surrounded by boulders, which can be purchased by visitors in order to support the RNLI and the maintenance of the vessel. Alongside the lifeboat is a photograph of the crew, with a description of the events that transpired fifty-six years ago. It serves as a poignant reminder of the bravery and selflessness of the lost crew.
Amber-Louise Thornborrow is on placement with the Scottish Maritime Museum from Strathclyde University. The museum would like to thank Miss Thornborrow for her contributions to this important topic.
