Maritime record MWX4937 - Liberty boat from HMS Illustrious

A Liberty boat from HMS Illustrious capsized in Portland Harbour in 1948 with the loss of 29 lives while returning crew from Weymouth pier to the HMS Illustrious at her moorings. She was an engine-driven Naval pinnace.

A Liberty boat from HMS Illustrious capsized in Portland Harbour in 1948 with the loss of 29 lives. (1) The building date for this vessel is an estimate based on an average age at wrecking of twenty years. This average is derived from those vessels wrecked on the Dorset coast whose age at wrecking is known. The vessel is not mentioned in the Shipwreck Index of the British Isles or charted by the UK Hydrographic Office, but source 3 lists her as follows: '1948 17th October. Liberty Boat from HMS ILLUSTRIOUS, sank in Portland Harbour, 30 drowned.' Source 4 lists the men who were lost when this 'aircraft carrier liberty boat sank in Portland Harbour, Dorset, [with] all presumed drowned'. The HMS ILLUSTRIOUS was the aircraft carrier, the 'liberty boat' has been identified as a 'pinnace', and was probably engine-driven. Source 5 states that 19 of the crew were lost and are buried in the Royal Naval cemetery on the Isle of Portland. Source 6 is a transcript of the inquiry into the loss of the vessel and puts the number of men lost at 29. It also states that 'The immediate causes of the disaster were the overloading of the boat, which should not have contained more than 40 men, and the apparent failure to reduce speed or to turn back to Weymouth pier when the boat encountered rougher water on coming out of the lee of the breakwater and entering Portland harbour. At this point the boat was steered directly into a head sea and foundered when at a distance of only 50 yards from HMS ILLUSTRIOUS. Despite the utmost exertions by rescue parties from the parent ship and other ships in the harbour, whose boats conducted unflagging searches until all hope of further rescues had to be abandoned, I regret to say that it was only possible to recover 23 of the occupants of the pinnace.' A photograph of a 'pinnace' can be seen in source 7. No dimensions are available for the vessel, and it is not known when she was built. Nothing further is known about the vessel. Date of loss qualifier: Actual date of loss

Record last edited

Mar 26 2024 5:04PM