Although not strictly an Arun Valley story, this incident is included as an example of the dangers of operating vessels along this part of the south coast even in the summer months, and because of the landing of some of the survivors by lifeboat within Littlehampton harbour. It shows the extraordinary courage which has always been the hallmark of the volunteers who operate our lifeboat services.

The Harbourmaster's Journal for Littlehampton records the incident and the arrival of the Selsey lifeboat.

A postcard posted from the town at the time noted the incident, and visitors would have been familiar with the regular visits from excursion steamers much like the one involved, and would of course have known of the local lifeboats.

The Incident

The vessel was observed by fishermen on the beach at about 7pm who realised she was heading into difficulty but, in the absence of any signal, assumed no assistance was needed. By 10pm she was amongst rocks and signalled for help, and this was answered by rockets from shore where local PC Prior was involved. The rockets alerted the village to the event and many locals, including fishermen, gathered on the beach to offer assistance.

The vessel was now about a mile and a half offshore and her lights could be seen dancing about in the waves. The Selsey lifeboat Lucy Newbon was launched across the beach on rollers sometime after 10:30pm. The crew comprised skipper Chief Coxswain Thomas Sparshott, 2nd Coxswain F. Barnes and 13 others. She was a pulling and sailing craft with six oars a side, and it would have been slow progress against the wind and waves.

It was 1:30am by the time the lifeboat returned with its load of thirty one drenched women and children. Since it was high water, it was forced to tranship the rescued to smaller craft to land them through the heavy surf before returning again to the anchored ship. At this point, the ship's captain considered the weather too severe to risk transferring any more passengers and it would be safer to wait for dawn and a possible easing of the conditions. The lifeboat was back on shore by 4am and the coxswain bore a message from the ship's captain to request a tug be dispatched by the agents as soon as possible, while the ship remained at anchor about a mile from the shore. Arrangements had already been made to accommodate the survivors in a plethora of local cottages and a hotel.

The lifeboat crew remained on the beach for the rest of the night and at daybreak they were signalled for again, despite a worsening of the weather to possibly the most extreme they had experienced. They set out to Queen at 7am in blinding rain and remained laying by the vessel for two or three hours, eventually taking twenty five more passengers aboard, with both vessels incurring some damage in the process. The continued poor weather made a beach landing even more difficult, so they departed downwind the fifteen miles to Littlehampton, probably under sail, where landing in the harbour was easier. Their safe arrival was telephoned to Selsey about 12.30 in the afternoon and the lifeboat remained in Littlehampton so that damage to the keel could be repaired.

The hefty screw tug Hector from Southampton, operated by the same company, arrived at about 4.30pm by which time conditions had moderated, and took Queen under tow with seventy or eighty passengers still aboard. The survivors in Selsey departed on the 3:15pm tram, having seen the tug arriving offshore to render assistance.

Great praise was expressed for the locals who gave so much help to the survivors. In particular, PC Prior was referred to as "a brick" by one of the ladies. The same individual described her experiences at length to the press correspondent from which it is clear that the conditions aboard after the grounding were terrifying, with waves sweeping the deck and the wind howling about them. Much praying and singing of hymns helped to allay their fears, and there was perfect order when the time came to transfer to the lifeboat. Although the crossing to the shore was terrible they had a feeling of safety at last.

It was remarkable that, apart from minor damage to the lifeboat and the ship's rudder plus a few minor injuries to some passengers and one of the lifeboat crew, there was no serious outcome from the incident and everyone survived. The ship went on to complete many more successful excursions, and served in WW1 as a minesweeper, as described in Paddle Steamers at War 1914-18, published by J.T. Sylvester. After the war she returned to public operations, having been renamed Mauretania in 1936 to preserve the name for Cunard. She was again renamed as Corfe Castle in 1938, and finally retired and broken up in 1939. The lifeboat continued rescue duties at Selsey until it was replaced in 1919.

Acknowledgements: Postcard of P.S. Queen, thanks to ‘Woody’, I.O.W. (eBay). Postcard of Lucy Newbon from West Sussex Past Pictures. Picture of French lifeboat in storm, from an L.L. Postcard.

Rescue when Queen Hits Bottom

On 31st August 1908, Queen, operated by the Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company (Red Funnel), was returning in the late afternoon from Brighton to Southampton with some 130 passengers on a day trip when she briefly grounded on rocks or shingle off Selsey Bill. A strong south westerly was blowing with driving rain and heavy breaking seas on the inshore shallows.

The incident was featured in the Sussex Recorder on Wednesday September 2nd under the headline "Excursionists in Peril off Selsey", and the extensive report forms part of the basis for this account. Other details have come from The Salisbury Times of September 4th and The Story of the Selsey Lifeboats by Jeff Morris, which includes photographs of the lifeboat and crew involved. The website www.selseylifeboats.co.uk also has photos and text in the History section. The events received wide coverage at the time in the national press.