Princess Victoria disaster: family shares brave grandfather’s letter home after ‘nightmare’ experience during rescue operation

The Princess Victoria was one of the first roll on roll off designed ferries and made daily return crossings from Larne to Stranraer before it was caught up in severe weather in the North Channel 71 years ago. The heavy seas led to the stern gates of the car deck being forced open and within four hours the vessel sank. It is believed 177 people were on board including 49 members of the crew. The tragedy had a huge impact locally with 27 of the victims from Larne.

That connection prompted Connor Sanderson, grandson of Kenneth Sanderson who took part in the search for survivors, to share with Larne Times readers a letter home written in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Connor explained: “The letter was in my dad’s possession for numerous years, then he handed it down to me when I became older. I only came to fully understand the letter when I went to Stranraer in 2022 and pieced it together with the dates etc when I saw a plaque with his ship’s name.

"He always mentioned about taking part in a rescue of his first voyage at sea, he often referred to it as the Irish Sea disaster.”

Having joined as an ordnance electrician, Ken, from Hull, was just less than a year into his naval service when he found himself caught up in the “nightmare” events of January 31, 1953, as the destroyer HMS Contest responded to the unfolding tragedy. Two days later, the 19-year-old wrote to his parents as follows:

“Dear Mam and Dad, Well I suppose you will have heard on the news or read in the paper of our effort to rescue survivors of the BR steamer which sank in the Irish Sea on Saturday.

“We were called out on Saturday morning and by 3 o’clock we were there looking for her, but I'm afraid we were too late and anyway we didn't know exactly where to look.

Under Water

“The wind and the sea were terrible, half the time we were under water and how any of the survivors lived in it, I don't know. First we picked up six in a lifeboat and then we saw two rafts each with a man clinging to them.

“We got them aboard and one of them was practically dead but he was revived with artificial respiration. Then we cruised around until midnight, all the time searching for anyone else, the seas got worse and it was raining and in the end we had to give up. Everything on board was a shambles, mess-tables were flattened to the deck, all our cups were smashed and gear was thrown all over.

“It was impossible to stand up anywhere but we had to do it to get them onboard.

“You can't imagine what the past two days were like, it was a nightmare for us all. Everyone is tired out and some are too exhausted to do or say anything. I thought it was never going to end and I'm only sorry we couldn't do more than we did but it was impossible in that weather. I didn't wash or shave or even get out of my clothes for two days and I was in a terrible state myself.”

Ken concludes the letter with further reference to the weather before attempting to lighten the mood and offer words of reassurance to his parents.

“Well, how are you all at home, all ok, did you have any bad weather, I expect you did, it seems to have swept the country, doesn't it.

"I hear (Hull) City are out of the cup, what a crap team! I have to go and rig my phone up now for leaving harbour, so I'll have to say cheerio and I'll write when I get back to Rothesay. So long and don't worry Mam, I'm ok. Love to all, Ken, xxxx."

Ken, who went on to become a Petty Officer, joined the navy on February 4, 1952 and left on October 12, 1972 after serving on three ships and three submarines.

Asked about his memories of his grandfather, who died on September 7, 2007, Connor recalled: “Well, to sum it up, he was a true gentleman, he treated everyone with the upmost respect and it showed when he passed away - the amount of people who stood outside during the funeral and the Royal Navy flag bearers lowering the flags as his coffin was brought in. Overall, he was the ideal role model and the perfect grandad, he made my childhood amazing.”

Very poignantly, he added: “His urn rests at the bottom of the Mediterranean since his last base port was Malta.”

Two officers from HMS Contest received the George Medal for diving into the water during the Princess Victoria rescue operation: Lieutenant Commander Stanley Lawrence McArdle and Chief Petty Officer Wilfred Warren.

In January of this year, statements from survivors of the MV Princess Victoria disaster and rare historical photographs of the ship were put on display in Larne as part of a regional tour of libraries by the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. The documents included testimonies of passengers, crew, rescuers, and maritime experts connected with the formal investigation into the loss of the ferry.