# Wrecking of Hemsley 1 near Padstow 1969



## clydesiderman (Nov 28, 2004)

Does anyone have further details of the wrecking of the small tanker Hemsley 1 on 12 May 1969 off Porthcothan, 6 miles south of Padstow (details from Miramar) ?
Thanks, Douglas


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## melliget (Dec 3, 2006)

Hi Douglas.

Two reports from The Times.

*The Times, Tue, 13 May 1969
13 escape in tanker*

Three of the crew of 13 of the
British tanker Hemsley I (1,178
tons) were treated in hospital for
minor injuries after the vessel
went aground in thick fog at Pad-
stow, Cornwall, yesterday. She
was close enough to the shore for
all the crew to scramble on to the
rocks to safety. Most of the men
climbed up a 100ft. cliff.

Hemsley I was on passage with-
out cargo from Liverpool to Ant-
werp. She sent out a signal that
she had foundered on the rocks
below Lizard Point in thick mist,
and had no power, steam or
lights.

Her signal flares had been used
up and she was unable to use her
foghorn to indicate her position.
Lizard lifeboat was immediately
launched, and coastguards began
a search of the sheer cliffs.

When no trace of the vessel
could be found around the Lizard,
the search was extended. The
Coverack and Sennen Cove life-
boats were launched, and other
coastguards around the Land's End
peninsula were called out. Finally,
the Hemsley I was located at Pad-
stow.

The three crewmen treated at
the Royal Cornwall Hospital,
Truro, were: Mr. Francis Hughes,
aged 22, of Balmoral Gardens, 
Birkenhead; Mr. Aubyn Haynes,
aged 59, of Thackeray Street,
Liverpool; and Mr. Walter Jones,
aged 41, of Woodlands Street,
Shotton, Flintshire.


*The Times, Wed, 21 Jan 1970
Wrecked tanker 'had lost her way'*

The 53-year-old tanker
Hemlsey I, had, "to put it
mildly", lost her way when she
went aground on the Cornish
coast last year, a Board of Trade
inquiry was told in Liverpool
yesterday.

She sent out a distress signal
saying she was at the Lizard
on the south coast when she was
stranded on the north Cornish
coast, Mr. Anthony Clarke,
representing the board, said.

The inquiry, into the strand-
ing of the 1,178 ton tanker, is
being conducted by Mr. R. F.
Stone, Wreck Commissioner.

Mr. Clarke said the tanker
was stranded on May 12. There
was no loss of life.

Mr. Clarke said the vessel had
been well maintained but had
limited navigational aids. No
criticism was directed at the
owners, Hemsley Bell, Ltd., in
that respect. The only proviso
was to the adequacy of her charts.

Visibility was so bad on the
voyage that the master could not
see any shore marks, Mr. Clarke
said. After the weather cleared
a little, the master, Captain Roy
Kilby Leonard, aged 48, who had
been on the bridge for almost
the whole of the voyage, felt
weary.

He went below and left Mr.
Ritchie Noble, chief officer, and
the helmsman on the bridge.
Later a light was seen and the
master was called to the bridge.
The course was altered to the east
after it had been assumed that
the light was the Lizard.

Mr. Clarke said the Hemsley I
was still at Trevose Head but
was being broken up for scrap.
The Board of Trade's case was
that neither the master nor the
chief officer could escape blame
for the incident. He said he was
instructed to ask the court to
deal with the master's certificate
and to attach censure upon the
chief officer.

After describing how this crew
got ashore without loss of life
Captain Kilby-Leonard said:
"All my men behaved extremely
well at all times."
The inquiry continues today.


regards,
Martin


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## treeve (Nov 15, 2005)

Hemsley I - once a Naval Auxiliary; later Merchant ship. 
Under way from Liverpool to Portsmouth for breaking up.
Parts of the ship were salvaged.
Hi Martin you got it all - different story from what I had been told.


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## danube4 (Aug 20, 2005)

Google tanker hemsley.
page 4,the farr family.
scroll down to august 8 2005 for pic of hemsley
all the best
barney.


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## clydesiderman (Nov 28, 2004)

Hi to Martin, Treeve and Barney.
A massive thank you to all for your fast answers to Hemsley !.
This is exactly what I needed - and a photo also!!!
I'm over the moon with it.
Again, very many thanks. Douglas, Irvine, Scotland.


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## price (Feb 2, 2006)

I remember, sometime after the incident being told by someone, apparently in the know, that the ship was in continuous dense fog ever since she left the Mersey. The only electronic navigational aid on board was a rather ancient echo sounder. The ship was steaming at slow speed, at the mercy of the tides, the log distance checked at regular intervals. The Captain tried to confirm his EP by taking a succession of lines of soundings, the results of the soundings put her position further south than the log distance. After more soundings tallied with with earlier results, the captain altered course to pass south of the Longships, the rest is history.
The Hemsley1 was on her delivery voyage to the shipbreakers in Belgium and had previously been virtually confined to the Mersey area for many years, it was very unfortunate that she should encounter such weather conditions for her swan song.
Bruce.


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## mondeoman (Mar 3, 2007)

I have a Voice Pipe end/whistle that was removed from the captains cabin while the ship was aground. The person I bought it from had managed to get aboard as he was involved in salvage (though not in relation to the Hemsley) and it was the only thing small enough to smuggle out wrapped in a boilersuit past the customs and excise people on the beach! Apparently, a lot of other stuff had already gone!


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## Rich Chandler (Oct 18, 2020)

deleted


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## Rich Chandler (Oct 18, 2020)

deleted


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