The 65th anniversary of a Tayside maritime disaster has brought back memories for a Dundee woman who lost her father in the tragedy.
Irene Samson’s dad Arthur Ball was one of six crew who perished when the steam ship Islandmagee sank with the loss of all hands on October 27 1953.
The Arbroath lifeboat Robert Lindsay was launched after distress rockets were seen at sea at around 1am. However, as it was returning to harbour, it capsized and all but one of the crew died.
Mrs Samson was only six but still remembers the impact the tragedy had on her family.
“After my dad died my mum cried a lot,” she said.
“I don’t think we really saw him a great deal because he was a sailor, so I have only a few memories of him.
“I went to stay with my aunt Kitty in London for six weeks to give my mum a break.
“Life carried on as normally as it could after that, and mum got a job with the school meals service.
“She remarried when I was 16, so for 10 years she brought us up on her own.”
Neither the Arbroath lifeboat, nor the Anstruther lifeboat which had also launched found any trace of the Islandmagee.
The coastal cargo class steamship, built in 1900 by Scott and Sons, based at Bowling near Glasgow, was carrying a cargo of wet sand to the port of Leith when she sank.
The fate of the Robert Lindsay was recounted in Parliament by the Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation, Alan Lennox-Boyd, who declared: “At about 5.45am the lifeboat’s lights suddenly disappeared and shouts were heard from the water.
“The Arbroath coastguard and members of the Life Saving Company fired lines across the men in the water and one member of the lifeboat’s crew was hauled ashore alive.
“The body of the coxswain was found lashed to the wheel of the overturned lifeboat which was later washed ashore and I understand that the bodies of the other five members of the crew have all been recovered.”
The loss of the Robert Lindsay had a profound impact on the close-knit Arbroath community, and the 60th anniversary was marked by a wreath-laying at sea.
A plaque in the crew’s memory is displayed in the lifeboat shed and a street in the town was named in their honour.
The wreck of the Islandmagee was later located and remains popular with divers who explore the site.
Mrs Samson said: “I don’t mind about divers going down to the wreck.
“I have watched a couple of the videos of the divers, and it does not upset me.
“I think all of the crew’s bodies were recovered so it is not a grave and it does still keep the story alive in some ways.”
