Cevic – a Fleetwood trawler whose wrecked hull lies at rest on the Isle of Man
This particular Trawler Tale is a story with a difference which must have caused a lot of “pub talk” when it happened.
Luckily no one was hurt – but the trawler Cevic was a total wreck. And part of her rusted hull can be seen at low tide near Port Lewaigne on the Isle of Man.
It all happened in June 1927 when the ship went to shelter in Ramsey Bay. The skipper (Dick Collinson) and 3 officers decided to go ashore at Ramsey. They were rowed ashore in the ship’s lifeboat.
The little craft was then returned to the Cevic and moored under the stern of the trawler.
But later it began to fill with water and a crewman climbed in and started to bail out.
Then fate took over and the lifeboat drifted away.
Cevic’s crew – with their officers ashore – decided to take action to save their shipmate. They got up steam and gave chase in the Cevic. But they got too close inshore and ran aground south of Ramsey. Meanwhile the small boat and its occupant had been carried ashore!
A report at the time stated that the Cevic put into IOM for shelter when the weather became “boisterous”.
As the little boat drifted away the 6 remaining crewmen decided to rescue their shipmate. But a strong North East wind got up and they abandoned their attempts. The Cevic was brought to anchor but the anchor would not hold.
Driven onto a bank the Cevic began to bump severely and it was feared she would break her back.
The crew put up a flare and the Ramsey lifeboat was launched. But they experienced considerable difficulties getting alongside the Cevic – on several occasions narrowly escaping being smashed to pieces through being driven against the trawler in the mountainous seas.
The 6 crew were eventually rescued and Cevic drifted onto rocks and became a total wreck.
Carrying out the gallant rescue was the Ramsey Lifeboat, Matthew Simpson – a sailing – pulling boat.
It was her first service since arriving at the RNLI station in February. And a short report of this rescue service is recorded in a new book – Ramsey Lifeboats 1829–1991 by W. N. Seybold.
Aboard the Cevic for her last voyage were;
Skipper Dick Collinson, mate J Bywater, bosun E Salthouse, deckhands J Kitchin and J Harrison, apprentices T Whiteside and W Holden, cook P Corrigan, Chief Engineer J Hobbs, second engineer J Dicks and fireman J Simms.
First published in Life in Fleetwood issue 24, September 1992.
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