Her Name Was "Royston Grange"

[KG AT TREGENNA]

IN MEMORY OF:

Captain George Boothby and the crew of the "Royston Grange" lost with all hands in the River Plate 1972.

RIP.

[KG AT TREGENNA]

S.T.V. Royston Grange

Worse things happen at sea they say, worse things happen at sea,
In `72 this came true with the tanker `Tien Chee`,
Within dense fog near the River Plate, she collided with a freighter,
Crude Oil gushed from shattered tanks exploding seconds later.

The other ship the `Royston Grange ` in fatal rendezvous,
Lost seventy four razed on her - all passengers and crew,
Full cargo holds of butter ignited overall,
Fused in mighty fireball that left no chance at all.

Ten thousand tons of vessel went up in lethal blaze,
No time then for rescue or warning sound to raise,
Montevideo close at hand, bodies still entrapped,
The Houlder`s ship towed away and later on just scrapped.

By the Tower of London in All Hallows Church,
There is a stained glass window - if carrying out research,
In commemoration colour with burning red repands,
Depicting Royston Grange in memory of all hands.

Worse things happen at sea they say,
Worse things happen at sea.


Capt J S Earl
2005

We have permission to use the works of Captain Earl and do so in tribute. We advise the same of those that wish to copy such work. We again thank Joe for all assistance. Keith.

[MNA WALES Barry Branch]

The Merchant Navy Association (Barry Branch) are in reciept of our early research and reports on the demise of the merchant ship SS. Trevessa, we hope that they will make an official presentation of all to St. Pauls Church.

We now have pictures of the rescued red ensign and will feature these.

We further research the Royston Grange and will post more in the near future. KG.

[KG]

Her Name Was “Royston Grange”

The STV Royston Grange was a British cargo liner which was destroyed by fire after a collision in the Rio de la Plata on 11 May 1972. She was the first British ship to be lost with all hands since World War II. She had been built in 1959 and was owned by the Houlder Line.

Disaster

The 7,113 ton Royston Grange, carrying 61 crew, twelve passengers (including six women and a 5-year old child), and an Argentinian pilot, was bound from Buenos Aires to London with a cargo of chilled and frozen beef and butter. As she traversed the Punta Indio Channel, 35 miles from Montevideo, Uruguay, in dense fog at 5.40 a.m. she collided with the Liberian-registered tanker Tien Chee, carrying 20,000 tons of crude oil. The Tien Chee immediately burst into flames and a series of explosions rapidly carried the flames to the Royston Grange, which burned particularly hot due to the cargo of butter and the oil escaping from the Tien Chee. Most of the crew and passengers were asleep. Although the Royston Grange did not sink, every person on board was killed in the fire, most of them probably by carbon monoxide fumes emanating from the refrigeration tanks, which burst in the collision.

However, the refrigeration system on the Royston Grange was a modern electrical powered Freon system situated in a separate refrigeration room at the starbord side of the engine room. The freon gas was compressed and then cooled and injected in to a large evaporation cylinder which then super cooled brine that was circulated through the evaporator. The super cooled brine was pumped at three temperature levels to the various cargo holds where the brine circulated through fan blown radiators to cool the cargo. It would appear more probable that the crew and passengers were killed by the initial fierce fire caused by the crude oil leaking from the tanker and igniting after the collision, causing a very sudden high temperature with the fire consuming most of the oxygen. If the Freon refrigerant containers and evaporation tanks burst, it would have needed a very high temperature which would have probably been reached after the death of all persons on board.

The Tien Chee also caught fire and ran aground, blocking all traffic in and out of the port of Buenos Aires. Eight of her forty crew, who were mostly Chinese, also died, but the remainder (and the Argentinian pilot) managed to abandon ship and were picked up by cutters of the Argentine Naval Prefecture

[Sandra Wilson]

Please can you tell me if there are any photos of the crew? I lost 3 family members in the Royston Grange disaster. William Hagan, his wife Valentine and daughter Theresa Hagan. 11/05/1972. Thank you

[Administrator]

I do regret my late reponse but wll try to help.

K.

[Administrator]

Sandra Wilson: Are you on facebook?

[Administrator]

"IN REMEMBRANCE"

Her Name Was "Royston Grange"

St. Paul's Church, Barry, South Wales.

Remembering Captain George Boothby and the crew of the "Royston
Grange" lost with all hands in the River Plate 1972.

Captain George William Bernard Boothby

George William Bernard Boothby was born on 3 February 1917. He was the
son of George Boothby and Mabel Gertrude Flanagan. He married Avril
Alice Innell, daughter of John Edward Innell, on 30 December 1942.1He
died on 11 May 1972 at age 55, aboard his ship Royston Grange.

S.T.V. Royston Grange

Worse things happen at sea they say, worse things happen at sea,
In `72 this came true with the tanker `Tien Chee`,
Within dense fog near the River Plate, she collided with a freighter,
Crude Oil gushed from shattered tanks exploding seconds later.

The other ship the `Royston Grange ` in fatal rendezvous,
Lost seventy four razed on her - all passengers and crew,
Full cargo holds of butter ignited overall,
Fused in mighty fireball that left no chance at all.

Ten thousand tons of vessel went up in lethal blaze,
No time then for rescue or warning sound to raise,
Montevideo close at hand, bodies still entrapped,
The Houlder`s ship towed away and later on just scrapped.

By the Tower of London in All Hallows Church,
There is a stained glass window - if carrying out research,
In commemoration colour with burning red repands,
Depicting Royston Grange in memory of all hands.

Worse things happen at sea they say,
Worse things happen at sea.

Capt J S Earl
2005

[Administrator]

The person I had in mind, replied with:

Greetings! Am afraid I hace no photograhs at all. As one "goes out to the web",
there's only info regarding the tragedy & the burial place @ the British Cemetery...nothing more. Best wishes.

[Administrator]

Royston Grange headstone in the British Cemetery Montevideo.

[Administrator]

The remains of the 74 people who died when the British ship "Royston Grange", burnt
after a collision in the River Plate on March 11, were buried. in Montevideo yesterday (Saturday).

LINK