More information : Wreck Site and Archaeological Remains:
Vertical datum: LAT
Horizontal datum: WGS 84
Quality of fix: position unreliable.
Charted as HEMSLEY 1, entire wreck, in Intertidal zone near cliffs south of Treyarnon Bay.
'Stern, not bow, still lies among rocks on coastline at fox's cove. [photographs enclosed]. (P.R.Jones, 3.12.78).' (1)
12.12.78
'The wreck was partially salvaged in the shallows, but parts of her hull still show above the surface at low water, and her engine room machinery and fittings lie scattered across the sea bed on a very rocky bottom.' (2)
Documentary evidence for the vessel - After grounding
'Visual Inspection by Lloyd's, all superstructure and bridge gone bows cut away, truck on deck removed as have been most of the tank tops. Parts of the boiler are exposed. The wreck is nothing more than an open shell. (Lloyds Visual Report 27.5.70 Tel com 5.6.70).' (1)
5.6.70
'21.4.70 Approx 80 tons of superstructure removed to level of deck. Hull full of sand. Salvage co report unable to remove all remaining parts. (HM CG, Trevose Head).' (1)
21.4.70
'Demolition work started. (LL, 197/447).' (1)
7.10.69
Documentary evidence for the vessel - vessel history
'HEMSLEY 1 was built for the Admiralty in 1916 by the Tyne Iron Steamboat Company Ltd as the SCOTOL. Following a long career working in the Mersey and Manchester ship canal, this 1,178-ton London-registered ship was sold for breaking in Antwerp. She set off on her final voyage from Liverpool in April, but in fog and a southerly gale went ashore under the high cliffs; the crew escaped by clambering onto the rocks and up the cliffs.' (2)
'Ex-SCOTOL. The oldest steamship in British registry at the time of her loss, this vessel was built for the Admiralty as a fleet tanker om WW1.' (3) This source gives the HEMSLEY 1's dimensions as 67.36 x 10.67 x 4.6m, and her tonnage as 1178 gross.
Source 4 shows photographs of the HEMSLEY 1 in service, as well as an article from the Daily Mail dated 13th October 1969 which describes her stranding.
'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 without cargo from Liverpool to Antwerp. 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 lifeboats were launched, and other coastguards around the Land's End peninsula were called out. Finally the HEMSLEY I was located at Padstow.' (5)(6 - The Times, Tue, 13 May 1969 13 'Escape in tanker'.)
'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 stranding 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'' (7 - The Times, Wed, 21 Jan 1970 Wrecked tanker 'had lost her way')
Source 8 also shows some photographs of the vessel in service, and newspaper articles describing the circumstances of her loss.
'SCOTOL Oiler (RFA)' (11)
Aerial photograph of the wreck at Fox Cove, Cornwall, taken 25 September 1969, and text recounting the incident. Historic England: Aerofilms Collection; EAW200562 (12)
Built: 1916 (1)(3)(9); 23.6.1916 (11)
Where built: Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1)(3)(9)
Builder: Tyne Iron Shipbuilding Co. Ltd (1); Tyne Iron Steamboat Company Ltd. (2)(3); Tyne Iron (9); Tyne Iron SB Co (11)
LBD: 67.4 x 10.7 x 4.9m (1); 64 x 10.6m (9); 220 X 35 FT (11)
Tonnage: 1178 (1); 1177 (9); 2200 (11)
Propulsion: Steam, screw-driven 3-cylinder triple expansion engine (3); 1T-12 (9)
Boilers: 2 (3)
Owner: 1916-1648 The Admiralty, when the vessel was registered as the SCOTOL (10)
1948-1969 HLR Bell when the vessel was re-registered as the HEMSLEY 1 (10); 11.1947 (11)
Captain: Roy Kilby Leonard (7)
Crew: 13 (5)(6)
Date of loss qualifier: Actual date of grounding
Additional sources cited in the Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
LWB 1969 p78; Loyd's LIst 13-17 & 23.05.1969
|