Cemaes Maritime Collection

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Type Ketch Sunk 28th October 1927
Gross Tonnage 80 tons Length 78.5 feet
Built 1876
 
The EXCEL was a small auxiliary ketch which, with Captain John Ballance in command, on the date of her loss was carrying a cargo of coal from Birkenhead to Holyhead. She had a single direct acting vertical four cylinder engine, and single deck and two masts.

As she got near to Carmel Head, the extreme North West corner of Anglesey, and with only an hour to go before she expected to reach port, a heavy South Westerly gale developed and the seas started to break over her. The engine room began to fill with water but fortunately her plight was seen from the shore and a message was sent to the Lifeboat Station at Moelfre.

When she started to ship water, the captain decided to run for Moelfre. The engine room was soon completely flooded and the bulwarks were disappearing one by one. Then the main gaff came crashing down onto the deck and the ketch was completely out of control. There was nothing the Captain could do but wait for help.

It was seven miles to the West of Point Lynas that the Moelfre lifeboat, the CHARLES AND ELIZA LAURA, eventually found the EXCEL. It was only by grounding the bows of the lifeboat on the deck of the EXCEL that they were able to rescue the three crew members. But the lifeboat was severely damaged and, during the several hours before the disabled lifeboat was spotted, one crew member lost his life, as did a crew member of the EXCEL.

 

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