By M S F
December 19 2023

Solomon Browne 19/12/81 Not Forgotten

With Thanks To Mike Sagar-Fenton

It's almost a matter of routine - we see the lifeboat go out of Mounts Bay and later watch it come home towing a broken-down boat, or if we hear it at night we know it'll be back at its pontoon in the morning, job done.

So no-one was prepared for the unthinkable in 1981 when she went out one dark night into a dreadful storm, and never came home. The pain of that loss is still with us, with the families particularly but also with all friends and supporters and in fact everyone who was here that awful morning. We all lost someone.

The pain has diminished over the years, and is now mixed with enormous pride in what incredible feats those boys achieved, battling 50' waves just yards from the cliffs yet still managing to rescue four souls before succumbing to the power of the sea.

And yet the wonder is that despite the loss of the boat and the crew, the Penlee Lifeboat did not die. Another boat was found, another crew trained, and within weeks the work went on.

And of course it still does. Two first-class boats and an always over-subscribed volunteer crew still patrol the arms of Mounts Bay, performing around 60 life-saving missions a year as well as all the training, practice and public appearances which are part of the crews' life.

But the other heroes are those who work so hard to keep the boats afloat and the crews equipped and trained, that is everyone who helps to raise funds for us.

The RNLI is not and never will be supported by the government but survives and flourishes as a world leader in sea rescue because decent people organise events and put their hands in their pockets, a yearly miracle which has never failed.

1981: Penlee lifeboat disaster >>

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