Pulley block, salvaged from the wreck of the SS Samtampa, Sker Point, Porthcawl, 23 April 1947

Description

At 3.45pm, on Wednesday, 23 April 1947, two boys reported to the Porthcawl coastguard that there was a ship aground in Rest Bay. On investigation, the ship, called Samtampa, proved not to be aground, but stationary, and in a bad position. Although showing no distress signals initially, the Mumbles lifeboat was sent for, as the weather was windy and there are low-lying rocks near the coast at Porthcawl.

Samtampa reported her starboard anchor missing at 4.55pm, and at 5.05pm she fired a maroon, before travelling along the coast for a mile or so and running aground on rocks off Sker Point. The weather was increasingly rough, and the Coastguard Rescue Company arrived on the scene to mount a rescue from the beach, attempting to fire rockets with ropes attached onto the deck of the stricken ship. Driven back again and again by the heavy seas, they had to wait till the tide turned to get anywhere near the Samtampa, and all the while she was being broken against the rocks by the wind and waves.

All 39 crew members aboard the Samtampa were lost, but this was not the end of the tragedy. The Mumbles lifeboat, 'Edward Prince of Wales' had been launched, heading for the last known position of the Samtampa. The Mumbles Coastguard received her exact position following the launch, and attempted to convey this information by lamp to the lifeboat. Unable to read it due to the horrendous conditions, the lifeboat returned to the slipway to confirm Samtampa's position, before heading out again into the face of the storm. The boat was not seen again until found upturned on the rocks near the wreck of the Samtampa; her crew of eight men drowned.

A total of 47 men lost their lives.