Article from unknown source January 30 1964.

Supplied by Les Howard

The 337 ton Fleetwood trawler Wyre Majestic arrived in port on Tuesday with a dented bow caused when she collided with an iceberg off Iceland’s North Cape.

Skipper Alec Middleton, aged 36, of Fleetwood, yesterday told of the thirty minutes of tension before the vessel managed to steer clear of the massive ice obstacle.
Crew members said that the skipper’s swift thinking saved not just Wyre Majestic but 15 other trawlers heading for the iceberg.

The incident happened in darkness last Wednesday night. An Arctic gale blew up suddenly and the vessel came to a crunching halt.
Skipper Middleton said yesterday, “I ordered ‘Stop engines’ straight away. There were several other trawlers astern of me so I immediately got on the radio telephone and warned them of the iceberg. They were heading in the same direction as me and would have run into the same trouble if I hadn’t warned them. Directly behind Wyre Majestic was another Fleetwood vessel, Red Sabre. All managed to miss the iceberg except for one – the Irvana, which damaged her propeller.”

On Tuesday night the Fleetwood based Irvana was being towed by another trawler to dry dock at Hull.

Wyre Majestic managed to steer herself out of trouble by a careful and gradual change of course. When milder weather returned the crew quickly removed the ice which had accumulated around the bows.
“It was a very dangerous situation,” Skipper Middleton said, “for half an hour we were edging away from the danger.”

The trawler’s mate, Mr Alex Wood said, “The skipper saved the ship and the others as well, we feel we owe him our lives.”