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Just before midnight on 1st November 1936, the St.Ives Lifeboat crew were summoned by the rockets which boomed just prior to the church clock striking midnight.
The alarm was raised by Mr J.Eddy who lived at Trevalgan Farm, 2 miles west of St.Ives. He had heard a loud grating sound and after making his way to the coastline he saw the lights of a vessel aground beneath the cliffs. He then returned home to call the Coastguard and raise the alarm.
It was an unusually low spring tide that night so the launchers had to pull the Lifeboat a long way across the beach, wading into the water up to their necks before the boat was afloat and the engine could be started.
The Coxswain, Thomas Cocking was at the helm of the first motorised St.Ives Lifeboat Caroline Parsons along with his crew: W.Peters, M.Barber, R.Stevens, J.Cocking, J.Thomas, T.Cocking Jnr and W.Paynter.
The Caroline Parsons was underway within 15 minutes and a cheer went up from the large crowd which had gathered to watch the Lifeboat launch.
The wreck was soon located close to Pen Enys point and proved to be the American steamship Bessemer City bound for London from America via Liverpool with a general cargo and a crew of 33. The Bessemer City left Liverpool on the evening of 31st October and passed Godrevy Lighthouse 24 hours later. There was a strong NNE wind, rough seas and a thick wintry haze which almost obscured the Lighthouse. Shortly after, she grounded heavily near Pen Enys point just before midnight.
When the Lifeboat arrived on scene and managed to get alongside the Bessemer City, her captain refused to leave the ship but ordered ten of his crew to board the Lifeboat which then returned to St.Ives, arriving at 1.45am. At 2.40am she returned to the wreck to remove another seventeen crew members returning them to safety at 4.50am. After refuelling the Lifeboat she then returned for a third time only to find the Bessemer City breaking up and in half but despite the danger the Captain and his five officers were taken off the stricken ship. It is recorded that the Lifeboat was afloat for over 16 hours during this rescue.
The Bessemer City was one of the largest ships to be wrecked on the North Cornish coast.
She was built in 1920 by the Chickasaw Shipbuilding Co. and had a gross tonnage of 5686. Two state of the art steam turbines powered the ship and with a length of 441 feet and a beam of 56ft.
The ship carried a vast amount of cargo which included: Harley Davidson motorcycles, Zinc ingots, Mink fur coats, boxes of raisins and sultanas and cases of tinned fruit and salmon.
Most of the tinned food was washed ashore and quickly collected by locals, who had to guess what was in the cans because the labels had washed off. Rumour has it that one family’s supply lasted until well after the Second World War.
Roland Morris from Penzance was hired by the ship’s owners to salvage an important part of equipment, a high-tech Gyro Compass. Part of the contract entitled him to salvage the rest of the ship’s cargo for himself but when he found the Mink fur coats they were thrown overboard because they were covered in oil. Many years later he learned that fur coats are transported in oil.
The American Government presented awards to the Lifeboat crew and launchers in recognition of their bravery in rescuing the 33 crew of the Bessemer City.
The Coxswain was presented with a gold watch engraved: ”Presented to Coxswain T.Cocking, by the Government of the United States of America in grateful recognition of his service in rescuing the crew of the Bessemer City off St.Ives on November 1st 1936”
Although the location of the wreck was well known, the Bessemer City was left undisturbed until crayfish divers re-discovered the wreck in 1963. In the early 1980’s the wreck became a popular dive site for scuba divers and it is still a popular site today with many parts of the ship’s structure and fittings clearly recognisable.
Story written by Robin Langford.
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