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| Souvenir | |||||||||
| Came to grief: 4th February 1916 at/near Brook | |||||||||
| Crew of 9 | |||||||||
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On the night of February 4th 1916, the Norwegian barque Souvenir, after being in difficulties off Atherfield Point, eventually ran ashore at Brook. The members of the Coastguard were away, serving in the war, and the soldiers on duty probably did not understand her signals, so it was some time before her plight was known by the local lifeboat coxswain, Ben Jacobs. As soon as it was brought to his notice, the Susan Ashley was launched but the weather was very rough, and they could not reach the vessel, being driven back time after time by the heavy seas breaking over them. “Much damage was being done to the wreck at the same time, and, seeing that the lifeboat could not reach them, the crew, with the exception of the captain, jumped overboard and were all picked up by the lifeboat, one dying of exposure in the boat while another lost his reason for a time.” Ben Jacobs was awarded a silver medal for the rescue of 8 crew. Soon after the rescue, the Souvenir was reduced to matchwood, the shore being littered with the debris, and the body of her captain was washed ashore. What remains of the Souvenir today, can be seen in the Brighstone Village Museum (photo in our Wrecks Gallery). | |
Fatalities: 2 | |
Bibliography: Back of the Wight - Fred Mew Shipwrecks of the Wight - J.C.Medland Shipwrecks of The Isle of Wight - Ken Phillips The Lifeboats of Brighstone Bay - Christopher J. Willis and Edward H. Roberts |