This piece of wreck is from a ship called the S.S.Wilston which was wrecked off Cape Cornwall in 1939.On the same night, the St.Ives lifeboat the John Sarah Eliza Stych was called out to help the ship in trouble.As the lifeboat headed out, a huge wave hit her and she capsized.A rope then fouled the propeller, the anchor was dropped but the rope broke and the lifeboat began to drift.The lifeboat overturned again and drifted over St.Ives Bay,it capsized a third time and was thrown up on to rocks at Gwithian.There was only one survivor.We thought this was a very sad story and it felt strange to be touching a part of a ship knowing that all those people had died on that night.
A piece of shipwreck
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- Location
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St.Ives Cornwall
- Culture
- Period
- Theme
- Size
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- H:
- 10cm
- W:
- 60cm
- D:
- 0.5cm
- Colour
- Material
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Comments
Thanks for posting this picture. It certainly brings home the tragedy of the event. There is a good account on the www.stives-cornwall.co.uk web site. Sadly my Great Uncle was one of the sailors lost on the SS Wilston.