Commercial fishing and seafaring are challenging occupations. Although creature comforts have improved, forecasting is much better, and rescue services are more proficient, accidents still occur. This Christmas blog looks at a different era, two very different seafaring misadventures at Christmas 1929. The difficult experience for the crew of the Milford Haven trawler Oceanic and the struggle aboard the steamer Oak en route to Waterford.
Both crews set out on Christmas Eve and experienced nightmare voyages. The nine-man crew of the Oceanic faced a relentless battle for survival against a terrifying storm, spending Christmas Day 1929 fighting to save their ship—and their lives. Meanwhile, the sixteen-man crew of the Oak resorted to using buckets to keep their steamer afloat.
St Stephen’s Day Refuge
The 80-foot trawler Oceanic finally limped into the safety of Dunmore East Harbour on St Stephen’s Day. Her exhausted crew had spent over 24 hours manning hand pumps to keep their leaking, rudderless vessel afloat. Survivors of that voyage would later recount the harrowing experience. These included a man named Fred Etherington who preserved a clipping from the Irish Times detailing the drama of that perilous Christmas at sea.
A steam trawler of the era from Milford Haven. Ann Axford image. Accessed from Milford Trawlers.
A Storm for the Ages
Under the command of Skipper Williams, the Oceanic departed Milford Haven on Christmas Eve, heading for the fishing grounds off the Irish coast. But off Mine Head, Co Waterford, the trawler encountered the full fury of an 80mph gale, with gusts of up to 100mph. The mountainous seas rendered the vessel nearly helpless, and the captain could only keep her head on to the wind as the storm blew in fury. Due to the pounding of the seas, the trawler sustained severe damage: her bow was stoved, midsection weakened, and the rudder twisted beyond use. Worse still, the Oceanic began taking on water through a damaged bottom plate, adding a leaking hull to her list of woes.
Meanwhile, the SS Oak(1906) of Newry, had departed Cardiff with a cargo of coal, on a routine journey to Waterford. Built by J. Fullerton & Co, Paisley for the Newry & Kilkeel Steamship Co Ltd – Joseph Fisher & Sons, she was 346 grt and just over 142 feet long. Off the Smalls, the ship met the worst of the storm. As the steamer pounded through the seas a leak developed around her stern tube.
SS Oak. Image courtesy of York collection and accessed from Clyde built ships.
Fighting for Survival
For over 24 gruelling hours aboard the Oceanic, the nine crew members took shifts at the hand pumps, battling exhaustion and rising waters. Seeking refuge, Skipper Williams worked his battered vessel toward the Waterford coast. With great difficulty, the Oceanic made it into Dunmore East harbour, the last leg apparently on the crest of a surging wave. The Irish Times reported rather curtly that: “The crew were in a very exhausted state and on arrival showed the signs of their ordeal.” I bet they did!
The Mate, Preston, later admitted that during the height of the storm on Christmas Eve, he had almost given up hope. “It was only with the arrival of daylight on Christmas morning that we felt some relief and faintly revived our hopes of survival,” he recalled. He also claimed it was the worst weather he had seen in 47 years at sea. They set fire to some bedding on the deck off Mine Head in the hopes of rescue. The signal was never seen it seems. There was no radio aboard.
Meanwhile on the Oak, seas broke over the mast heads, carrying away everything on deck. With dismay the crew found that the pumps were not working. Four fruitless hours were spent below trying to restart them. Meanwhile the remainder of the crew turned to the only means at their disposal, hand bailing with buckets. They filled and emptied sea water all through Christmas day, without even time for a break, let alone a morsel of food.
Christmas at Sea
For trawlermen of course spending Christmas at sea wasn’t unusual. Special holiday meals were rare aboard trawlers of the era, and crews often sailed on Christmas Eve if the weather permitted. “I’d been at sea for seven Christmases in a row,” one of the crew recounted, “and we only had the usual kind of trawler food.” The same gentleman, Billy Norman had a sense of humor. Even as they battled for their lives he recalled slipping a note into a companion’s drying sock, asking Santa for a better ship.
The crew of the Oak struggled on until late in the evening of Christmas Day, when the wind moderated somewhat and the ship could finally make some headway. It would be later on St Stephen’s Day when she arrived, reported to be “just afloat” but details of the damage were not recorded. With a cargo of coal for Joseph Spencer the ship would have berthed, eventually, above Redmond’s Bridge at Grattan Quay.
Lighters above Redmond Bridge, Waterford City. Note the steamer at Grattan Quay. Image courtesy of Waterford County Museum
Stranded but Alive
Even after making it to Dunmore, the Oceanic’s ordeal was far from over. Her waterlogged hull made her too unstable to navigate further upriver and the pilots refused to move her. The vessel was beached and braced with wires to prevent her from toppling. Following an examination by a surveyor, repairs were ordered and began immediately, but I’m sure the crew were shown hospitality by the people of Dunmore East.
The roof of the original lifeboat house at Portcullin Cove, Dunmore East. The area was also referred to sometimes as the graving bank. I would say it is the most likely area where the Oceanic was grounded and repaired
Conclusion
The Oceanic’s Christmas voyage in 1929 is testament to the resilience and courage of Milford Haven’s fishermen in an era when every voyage carried the potential for extraordinary peril. The sixteen man crew of the Oak, were no less couragous. Unfortunately their views, seemingly, were never recorded, although they probably just took it all in their stride. Their vessel must have been strongly built however, she continued to ply the coastal routes until she went to the breakers in September 1951.
Part of this story is based on a report in the Cork Examiner 28 December 1929, p. 7-8. and an original account by Ethel Clarke published in the West Wales Guardian of Friday 4th January 1980 into the Oceanic. You can access Ethel’s piece here. More details on the SS Oak here. For information on her owners Joseph Fisher & Sons Ltd, Newry here’s a really interesting blog post by Noreen Cunningham. Any further details on either event would be appreciated in the comments below. I’m grateful to Cian Manning who assisted me.
Postscript
William Power to thank for the following. Oceanic was not the only Milford trawler in Dunmore East that Christmas. The Mansfield had also put in due to “stress of weather”. The skipper Thomas Roach went ashore with some of the others and when boarding his craft later that night fell between the trawler and the quay wall. Due to the adverse weather, a heavy swell was running in the harbour and he was crushed between the vessel and the quayside. Although dragged aboard, all efforts to resuscitate the man failed. Perhaps another story to record here in the future.
As mentioned in the piece, the crew of the Oceanic did try signal the shore for assistance. Checking on Dauntless Courage (p 105) – David Carroll’s book on the Dunmore East lifeboats there is no mention of a call out in 1929. The next shout was 29 January 1930 when the ketch Bernard foundered, coincidentally, off Mine Head in a storm. Her three man crew took to the ships boat and running before the wind, eventually arrived off Dunmore. Seen from the shore the RNLB C and S launched. They went short handed as they could not wait due to the perilous location of the small craft. The crew of the ketch were exhausted, one man unconscious and had been on the small craft 31 hours. The lifeboat crew were; William Burke (cox), Andrew Doherty, Patrick Glody, Joseph Walsh and R Murphy (mechanic)
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I think I have cauht up now.
Two more scary stories of the cruel and kind sea around us.