S.T. Lancella H290 | The Bosun's Watch

In Marr (Fleetwood) ownership. Did not fish from the port.
Additional material courtesy of Mike Thompson

Technical

Official Number: 185151
Yard Number: 880
Completed: 1953
Gross Tonnage: 790
Net Tonnage: 286
Length: 190.2 ft
Breadth: 32.1 ft
Depth: 15.7 ft
Engine: T.3-cyl and boiler by C. D. Holmes & Co Ltd, Hull
Fitted for burning oil fuel, F.P. above 150°F

History

3.4.1953: Launched by Cook, Welton & Gemmell Ltd, Beverley (Yd.No.880) for J. Marr & Son Ltd, Fleetwood as LANCELLA.
18.7.1953: Completed at a cost of £170,067 (Geoffrey Edwards Marr, Hull, manager).
18.7.1953: Registered at Hull (H290).
21.7.1953: Sailed Hull on first trip to Bear Island (Sk. Leo Romyn DSC).
10.8.1953: At Hull landed 2,760 kits grossed £5,586 (Hull fishing industry slump).
1.1955: Sailed Hull for Icelandic grounds (Sk. William Turner).
24.1.1955: At 2000 RODERIGO (H135) (Sk. George Coverdale) and LORELLA (H455) (Sk. Stephen J. Blackshaw) informed YORK CITY (GY153) that they were proceeding to try to find KINGSTON GARNET (H106) (Sk. Norman Trolle), which was understood to be disabled in very heavy weather with fouled propeller some 40 miles N of Ritur Huk. In fact by 1600 KINGSTON GARNET had freed obstruction and proceeded to shelter; message announcing this was not received by RODERIGO and LORELLA. Having reached approximate position of KINGSTON GARNET and found nothing the pair could not turn due to weather and headed into wind to dodge.
25.1.1955: At 0900 RODERIGO informed LANCELLA “Been blowing a hurricane all night and still blowing very very hard. Wind E, not freezing as much now. Last bearing Cape SW by S at 0815, 300 fathoms”.
At 1650 LORELLA reported to LANCELLA “Wind E force 10 since breakfast time. About same position as yesterday. We dodged back a bit early this morning when it fined a bit. Now blowing very very hard and also continous snow.”
At 2115 Roderigo reported “Still dodging ENE gale force 10.”
26.1.1955: At 0910 RODERIGO reported to LANCELLA “Been dodging full speed and half speed at night to keep her up. Been trying to get round but no go. Wind freshening again.”
At 1421 RODERIGO spoke to KINGSTON ZIRCON (H108) (Sk. R. Rivett) “weather very bad and freezing”.
At 1435 a Mayday was faintly heard from LORELLA by CONAN DOYLE (H251) (Sk. A. Thompson) and getting fainter “Heeling right over and can’t get back”. This was her last transmission.
At 1633 RODERIGO reported that she was manoeuvring with difficulty.
At 1650 LANCELLA received a further message from RODERIGO “ We are listing badly to starboard would like you to come to us.”
At 1652 left shelter of Ritur Huk to join with CONAN DOYLE (H251), REIGHTON WYKE (H425) (Sk. Ian Turner), KINGSTON ONYX (H140) (Sk. J. Howson) and GRIMSBY TOWN (GY246) to proceed towards supposed position with USAF aircraft airborne.
At 1700. IMPERIALIST (H2) (Sk. T. Hanold) picked up distress call, “90 miles NE of North Cape, listing heavily to starboard and going over, unable to abandon ship, wind NE force 11-12, freezing hard”.
At 1705: “She is going over and can’t get her back.”
At 1710 RODERIGO sent out an S.O.S. on w/t “Heeling right over, please acknowledge”, followed some minutes later by “Going over, going over.”
At 1712 messages ceased.
27.1.1955: In mid morning when some 50 miles N of North Cape and fearing for own safety in storm/hurricane force conditions, nil visibility, and icing, LANCELLA terminated search after consultation with RN and USAF. (one newspaper report stated “one vessel refused to be beaten by conditions, the LANCELLA continued her search in the worst weather conditions imaginable until mid morning on the 27th 18 hours after LORELLA’S last distress message had been picked up.”).
11.8.1955: At Formal Investigation at Hull (No.S.432) the Court found that RODERIGO and LORELLA capsized and foundered due to an unusual and unpredictable combination of heavy gales, high seas and loss of stability due to heavy accumulation of ice on their upper structures.
1956: Silver Cod Challenge Trophy winner – Sk. William Turner 340 days/45,936 kits, £131,633.
1.1974: Sold to Hughes Bolckow Ltd, Blyth for breaking up.
27.2.1974: Commenced breaking up at Blyth.
12.6.1974: Hull registry closed.

From Yorkshirepride.co.uk

The conditions were appalling.
Hurricane force winds lashed the seas into a frenzy. Blizzards swept down from the Arctic the true intensity of the swirling white-out apparent only in the deck lights.
On the Hull trawlers LORELLA and RODERIGO, both several miles off Iceland’s North Cape, the skippers put their trawlers head into wind and prayed for the only thing they knew could save them – a moderation in the weather.
Each vessel fought its own battle to survive, the forepeak smashing downwards into the angry, mountainous seas and erupting in a mass of spray. They had no choice in which direction they could take. They sailed onwards – ever more northerly.
Neither trawler could turn and to do so would mean instant disaster. And they knew that their position became every more dangerous by the hour.
The vessels faced another problem, too, that of the relentless build-up of ice on their upperworks . The air temperature was 23F and the sea temperature 34F. The spray froze as it fell on the trawlers.
The time was early in the morning. From the LORELLA came a message to the RODERIGO:
“Boat deck frozen with solid snow, Lads digging it out since breakfast. Terrible lot on bridge top and they are going out there in daylight if possible.
“RODERIGO: “Same here. The whaleback is a solid mass.”
And so into the day..
14.21, RODERIGO: One side of our aerial is down. Weather very bad and freezing.
14.36, LORELLA: Heeling over.
14.39, LORELLA: Going down. Heeling over. LORELLA going down. Heeling over…
There was no further transmission.
15.43, RODERIGO: Calling all ships, we are now taking heavy water.
16.30, Aerials now icing up.
16.45: Can anyone take a bearing on this frequency?
From the trawler LANCELLA, which was in shelter and listening into the broadcasts: Bearing as near as can say north east.
16.50, RODERIGO to LANCELLA: Come to us. Position becoming serious now.
16.52, LANCELLA to RODERIGO: We are coming to you.
An American aircraft from the USAF base on Iceland now asked Lancella for RODERIGO’S position. LANCELLA replied: RODERIGO is 90 miles NE of Iceland’s North Cape. Wind NE force 11-12, visibility nil to one cable.
Aircraft to RODERIGO: What are your intentions?
1704, RODERIGO: No intentions. Going further over. No visibility. Still going over to starboard.
17.05: Still going over to starboard. Cannot get her back.
17.08: Still going over. Going over.
17.09: RODERIGO going over…
The message was repeated in Morse until, after three minutes transmission ceased.
Two vessels were missing.
And 40 Hull fishermen were dead.
Seven months later the calm of a Hull inquiry heard a witness say: “They could only hope for a moderation in weather or a rise in temperature.”

Click to enlarge images

S.T. Lancella H290
Picture from the Internet

S.T. Lancella H290
Picture courtesy of The JJ Collection

Changelog

19/06/2011: Page published. 10 updates since then.
26/12/2018: Removed FMHT watermarks from images.