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The Penlee lifeboat disaster of 19th December 1981 brought home to everyone who sets sail around the coasts of Great Britain just how much we owe to our lifeboat crews. They are all unpaid volunteers whose equipment is paid for entirely by public donations. They give their time, and sometimes their lives, in selfless devotion to their fellow seafarers.

Cornwall, at the south-west corner of England, juts out into the Atlantic, attracting the worst of the weather and the massive breakers that crash against its granite cliffs and rocks. It is not surprising that there are no fewer than fourteen lifeboat stations around the coast of this one county alone.

Penlee Point is just to the north of the fishing village of Mousehole (pronounced Mowsul to rhyme with Cowsul). The first lifeboat was stationed here in 1913, transferred from nearby Newlyn, although there had been a rescue service in the area from as far back as 1803. In the years before 1981 the station distinguished itself by carrying out many operations and saving lives, recognised by the award of many medals and certificates.

In 1981 the station was equipped with the "Solomon Browne", a 47-foot Watson class wooden boat, a type that has long been superseded. However, it was highly manoeuvrable and could be launched straight down a steep slipway into St Mount's Bay.

The Union Star was a small bulk carrier, registered in Dublin, that was making its maiden voyage from Denmark via the Netherlands to Ireland, with a cargo of fertiliser. The master was Henry Morton, who had a crew of four on board, plus his wife and her two teenage daughters. He was breaking the rules by having family members on board, but that is a rule that is often broken.

Weather conditions were bad as the Union Star beat its way towards Lands End, hoping to make it round the headland and into relatively calmer waters before the worst of the storm struck. However, Captain Morton's luck ran out when his engines failed just as he reached the most exposed part of the voyage. He was offered a tow from a tugboat, the Noord Holland, but declined the offer. By riding out the storm at anchor and repairing the engines in calmer weather, he would avoid having to pay salvage charges.

The storm was one of the worst to strike that part of the coast for years, with winds of 85 mph, gusting to 95 mph, which is hurricane force. The Union Star started to drag its anchor, and the fuel tanks became contaminated with seawater. The ship was being driven towards the Cornish

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