Remembrance
Mar. 5th, 2010 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anteros_lmcWhile reading Mr. Midshipman Hornblower the scenes describing the wreck of the Spanish ship on the Devil's Teeth at the end of "The Duchess and the Devil" forcibly reminded me of a naval tragedy suffered by the Western Isles in 1919. Clearly we're way off Age of Sail here, but this is a significant episode of naval history which is relatively unknown outside the islands and the circumstances are horribly similar.
Following the Armistice of 1919 servicemen all over the UK were granted leave to return home for their first Christmas and New Year since the war ended. Most of the young men of the Western Isles served as seamen and I have read somewhere that the islands lost proportionally more men per head of population than anywhere else in the Scotland. On December 31st those seamen who had been lucky enough to survive the war assembled on the pier at Kyle of Lochalsh, anxious to return home for Hogmanay. HM Yacht Iolaire (meaning "eagle" in gaelic) had been comissioned to take the men of Lewis and Harris home across the Minch and into Stornoway. Stornoway provides a safe anchorage, the Norse derivation of the name means Bay of Steering or Bay of Anchorage, however the entry to the harbour can be tricky owing to a reef called the Beasts of Holm east of the bay.
Approaching the harbour in the dark, with the wind rising the Iolaire struck the Beasts of Holm and foundered on the reef in the early hours of New Year's day. Of approximately 280 ratings on board around 200 drowned within sight of shore and the harbour where their families were waiting. The wind, the darkness and the danger of the reef made it impossible to get boats out to the yacht however one local man managed to swim to the wreck with a line which enabled many of the survivors to reach shore.
The Admiralty held an inconclusive enquiry into the disaster which many locals believed was a white wash. There were some suggestions that captain or crew, all of whom perished, may have been drinking but this was never proven. It is likely that the First Lieutenant was not familiar with the harbour approach and that an error of navigation was to blame. What is certain though is that there were too many men aboard and too few lifeboats. The Iolaire, carrying 280 men that night, had a capacity of only 80 and lifeboats for 100.
For so many young seamen to survive the war only to be drowned in sight of home and harbour was a tragedy beyond enduring for the island. The fact that the men were dressed in heavy uniforms, coats and boots may have contributed to the fact that so few men made it ashore. However it's probable that, like so many sailors, few could actually swim. It was not uncommon for sailors to view learning to swim as tantamount to tempting fate. Many islanders are also profoundly religious and see their ultimate fate as God's will.
To this day the Iolaire is one of the UK's worst peacetime disasters in terms of loss of life, however it is relatively unknown, partially due to islanders reluctance to talk about the event. Even when I was growing up on the islands, over 50 years later, talk of the Iolaire was not encouraged. In the last 20 years however a number of books have been published and the story of the disaster is perhaps better known.
(Sorry, that's a rather grim post for Friday evening. Normal service will be resumed shortly.)
Following the Armistice of 1919 servicemen all over the UK were granted leave to return home for their first Christmas and New Year since the war ended. Most of the young men of the Western Isles served as seamen and I have read somewhere that the islands lost proportionally more men per head of population than anywhere else in the Scotland. On December 31st those seamen who had been lucky enough to survive the war assembled on the pier at Kyle of Lochalsh, anxious to return home for Hogmanay. HM Yacht Iolaire (meaning "eagle" in gaelic) had been comissioned to take the men of Lewis and Harris home across the Minch and into Stornoway. Stornoway provides a safe anchorage, the Norse derivation of the name means Bay of Steering or Bay of Anchorage, however the entry to the harbour can be tricky owing to a reef called the Beasts of Holm east of the bay.
Approaching the harbour in the dark, with the wind rising the Iolaire struck the Beasts of Holm and foundered on the reef in the early hours of New Year's day. Of approximately 280 ratings on board around 200 drowned within sight of shore and the harbour where their families were waiting. The wind, the darkness and the danger of the reef made it impossible to get boats out to the yacht however one local man managed to swim to the wreck with a line which enabled many of the survivors to reach shore.
The Admiralty held an inconclusive enquiry into the disaster which many locals believed was a white wash. There were some suggestions that captain or crew, all of whom perished, may have been drinking but this was never proven. It is likely that the First Lieutenant was not familiar with the harbour approach and that an error of navigation was to blame. What is certain though is that there were too many men aboard and too few lifeboats. The Iolaire, carrying 280 men that night, had a capacity of only 80 and lifeboats for 100.
For so many young seamen to survive the war only to be drowned in sight of home and harbour was a tragedy beyond enduring for the island. The fact that the men were dressed in heavy uniforms, coats and boots may have contributed to the fact that so few men made it ashore. However it's probable that, like so many sailors, few could actually swim. It was not uncommon for sailors to view learning to swim as tantamount to tempting fate. Many islanders are also profoundly religious and see their ultimate fate as God's will.
To this day the Iolaire is one of the UK's worst peacetime disasters in terms of loss of life, however it is relatively unknown, partially due to islanders reluctance to talk about the event. Even when I was growing up on the islands, over 50 years later, talk of the Iolaire was not encouraged. In the last 20 years however a number of books have been published and the story of the disaster is perhaps better known.
(Sorry, that's a rather grim post for Friday evening. Normal service will be resumed shortly.)
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-05 08:58 pm (UTC)Many islanders are also profoundly religious and see their ultimate fate as God's will.
Is this still the case? The last time my Dad and I were in Donegal, my grandparets were talking about how the local priest had 'the touch' and had brought a boy out of a coma. They, and most of the community, completely believe it. I was surprised their faith was so, well, literal.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-05 09:45 pm (UTC)Is this still the case?
I believe so. I wasn't brought up "in the church" but the influence of the Free Church still pervades Lewis, Harris and North Uist and people do take their faith very literally. And for many observance of the Sabbath is still absolute.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-06 12:06 pm (UTC)It must have been horrific for the people watching from the harbour.
And for many observance of the Sabbath is still absolute.
Ah, of course.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-06 12:30 pm (UTC)You can't actually see the reef from Stornoway harbour but word would have reached the town almost immediately that the yacht had foundered. The reef is only about 20 yards from Holm point though but it was impossible to reach the wreck in the dark and the gale. In the morning one man was rescued from one of the masts where he'd clung all night but a further 3 died then the mast they had climbed snapped. Most of the bodies were washed ashore not far from town but many were never recovered. It hardly bears thinking about.
Ah, of course.
Never underestimate the influence of the Lords Day Observance Society!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-06 12:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-06 07:46 pm (UTC)It was not uncommon for sailors to view learing to swim as tantamount to tempting fate.
One would think that a sailor who can't swim would seem like the ultimate temptation to fate. :p
no subject
Date: 2010-03-06 08:28 pm (UTC)One would think that a sailor who can't swim would seem like the ultimate temptation to fate. :p
Yes indeed. It was still fairly common when I was a kid for islanders in general and sailors in particular not to know how to swim. It's a strange thing.