The SS Pembroke was built of steel by Laird Brothers of Birkenhead, in the year 1880 and was originally a paddle steamer.  The Pembroke was registered at the Port of Milford.  In 1896 the ship was altered by the shipyard into a twin screw steamship as shown above.

The vessel was operated by the Great Western Railway Company and regularly sailed on the Milford Haven to Waterford route and as such would have been a regular to the people of Cheekpoint and the Waterford estuary.

She departed Milford port on the 18th of February 1899 with 28 passengers, the mail, and a cargo of 28 tons, under the command of Captain John Driver, and with a crew of 30. Passing close to the Saltee Islands off the Wexford coast,  the master, spotted breakers ahead, and immediately reversed the engines to full speed astern.  The response came too late and before the way could be taken off her, she struck the Islands.

A passenger takes up the story; “…we were thrown out of our bunks onto the cabin floor.  For a few seconds, we heard a terrible sound underneath the vessel.  The rest of the passengers thought that the vessel had collided with another vessel and was sinking…When we got on deck, other passengers were huddled together in a group, half-dressed.  Among the passengers were some ladies, who seemed very calm, while male passengers were running about in terror.  The captain ordered the boats to be launched and by 7 o clock all the passengers were landed on the island”1

There were two men staying on the Island at the time who guided the ship’s boats and treated the passengers to tea and comfort.  The second mate then set off for Kilmore Quay where he raised the alarm.  The entire fishing fleet set to sea and the tug “Flying Huntsman” part of the Waterford Steamship Co fleet at Dunmore responded and eventually took on the passengers, cargo, and mail and brought all to Waterford that same day.

A man named Ensor from Queenstown (Dun Laoighre) was engaged as salvor and it was considered feasible to refloat the ship.  This was achieved five days later on the 23rd Feb and under the ship’s own steam, but with several tugs on stand-by, she was brought into Waterford harbour and up to Cheekpoint.2

She was re-grounded at the Strand Road, above the main quay, and it seems that it was a significant draw for city and country people alike.  The photo above clearly shows the view afforded to the damaged section.  It won’t be lost on my regular readers, that the position was almost certainly chosen to provide such access, highlighting that a lot of local knowledge was drawn on to achieve such benefit.  Confident of the extent of the damage and that temporary repairs could keep the ship watertight, a quick patch up was completed, and the Pembroke sailed once more for Lairds for repairs.

The Pembroke returned to service the Irish Sea and continued up until 1916.  In that year she was given over to general cargo runs and she was retired and sold for scrap in 1925.  The subsequent inquiry into the incident on the Saltees makes for interesting reading and parts of the account have been taken directly from that source.

The original story was passed on to me by Tomás Sullivan Cheekpoint.

1 & 2. John Power – A Maritime History of County Wexford Vol 1(2011) pp 377- 381

 All photos above are sourced from the National Library of Ireland and were part of the AH Poole Collection.