RNLI History – 1907 The SS Suevic rescue

The Suevic rescue in 1907 saw the largest number of people saved in a single operation in RNLI history – a record that still stands to date.

The SS Suevic ran aground against the rocks of the Maenheere Reef, a quarter of a mile off Lizard Point in Cornwall on 17th March 1907. Sixty volunteer crewmen in four wooden lifeboats from Cadgwith, Coverack, The Lizard and Porthleven battled the seas for 16 hours to rescue all of the passengers and crew. Their incredible courage and perseverance saved 456 lives that day, not a single life was lost.

2nd February 1907

On 2 February 1907 the Suevic left Melbourne under the command of Captain Thomas Johnson Jones with scheduled stops at Cape Town, Tenerife, Plymouth, London and finally Liverpool. With over 400 passengers and crew members, and nearly a full cargo, including thousands of sheep carcasses worth £400,000.

17th March 1907

By 10 pm on 17th March, Suevic was encountering a strong south-westerly gale and severely reduced visibility due to showers of drizzling rain and dense fog, the ship’s officers intended to use the Lizard lighthouse on Lizard Point, to navigate safe passage.

At the ship’s estimated position, the lighthouse should have been seen straight ahead, but at 10:15 pm it suddenly appeared out of the gloom close to the port side; due to miscalculations Suevic was 16 miles ahead of her estimated position.

The Captain wrongly estimated that the lighthouse was several miles away, and pressed ahead at full speed. At 10:25 pm the ship ran aground violently on the Stag Rock at Maenheere Reef.

The Rescue

At 10.30pm, Captain Jones ordered the distress rockets sent up and the ship’s lifeboats to be launched, but their awkward grounding position on the reef prevented many of them from being lowered. The rescue of the crew and passengers was led by the RNLI, and it became the largest rescue in the institution’s 190-year history.

By 4.25am, two RNLI lifeboats had arrived with two more inbound. The fog was so dense, the first lifeboat actually collided with the side of the Suevic. The lifeboats, crewed by 6 oarsman each, battled back and forth recovering the passengers for 16 hours. At the mercy of the open sea and ferocious winds in open wooden boats, the lifeboat crews saved 456 lives, including 70 babies on board.

Four silver RNLI medals were awarded to various lifeboat crew volunteers and two were awarded to Suevic crew members for their actions in the operation, including Cadgwith lifeboat crew: Edwin Rutter, Coxswain Superintendent and Rev. ‘Harry’ Vyvyan, Honorary Secretary.

[References: Wikipedia Image Source: Wikimedia Commons]