This small section of keel plates and the Scotch steam boiler on the rocks of Howick Haven, Northumberland are the last vestiges of the French Steam Trawler Tadorne which foundered here with 30 men on board on 29th March 1913, on her way from Boulogne to the Icelandic fishing grounds. The alarm was raised by local farmer Thomas Thompson and following the failure of the exhausted crew to secure a Breeches Buoy line fired over by the Craster Coastguard rocket team, Earl Grey of Howick Hall sent his driver four miles south to the fishing village of Boulmer where the 35' Lifeboat Arthur R Dawes was stationed. The Lifeboat was rowed by twelve men which included seven members of the Stanton family and four Stephensons, plus William Stephenson the Coxswain. Over two perilous trips through the violent storm from Boulmer back to the Tadorne, 25 of the 30 crew were rescued. The local people were quick to tend to the survivors and the Earl and Countess Grey ordered clothing and supplies from Howick Hall, communicating with the sailors through Countess Grey's French maid Mlle. Boutet. The Lifeboat Coxswain William Stephenson was awarded a gold medal by the French Government and the Societe des Hospitaliers Sauveteurs Bretons with its medal, in gratitude for this service and the crew were given a pouch with gold coins to be distributed among them. When he retired after 32 years' service William Stephenson was awarded a pension and the Coxswain's Certificate of Service by the RNLI. Of the five French seamen who perished, two had tried to swim ashore, one sailor and the 16 year old cabin boy died clinging to the rigging and the last passed away from exhaustion in the Lifeboat. Jean Guilbert, b29 Nov 1859, Louis Joseph Dugueonoy, b14 March 1865, Pierre Archenoux, b15 October 1871, Francois Nouvel, b22 March 1867 and Emile Duval Gournay, b17 September 1897 are buried in a single plot in the Churchyard of St Michael and All Angels at Howick Hall. In February 2013 a French warship the Primauguet docked in the River Tyne and a party of the descendants the Tadorne's crew visited the grave site at the Church and together with descendants of the Lifeboat crew, held a short service and readings on the beach at Howick Haven to commemorate the Centenary of the tragic event. Taken with a Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera Supercolor Autofocus on Polaroid (TIP) B+W film.

Related tags:

polaroid, sx-70, ship, b+w, sonar autofocus, ship wreck, tip film, polaroid originals, northumberland, howick haven, steam trawler, keel plates

Copyright info: