SS Monte Nevoso
Encyclopedia
SS Monte Nevoso was a Merchant vessel
Merchant vessel
A merchant vessel is a ship that transports cargo or passengers. The closely related term commercial vessel is defined by the United States Coast Guard as any vessel engaged in commercial trade or that carries passengers for hire...
which became stranded before becoming a total wreck off the coast of Norfolk, England at Haisbro Sands
Haisborough Sands
Haisborough Sands is a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk, England at Happisburgh. The shoal is long and wide and lies parallel to the North east coast of Norfolk. The shoal is marked to the north-west by north by the Haisbro Light Buoy, North cardinal...
in between the 14 and 16 October 1932.
History
The Monte Nevoso was a steam merchant ship which was built in 1920 at the The Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Co. Ltd. Wallsend-on TyneWallsend
Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...
, Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Final voyage
In early October 1932 Monte Nevoso left the port of La PlataLa Plata
La Plata is the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and of La Plata partido. According to the , the city proper has a population of 574,369 and its metropolitan area has 694,253 inhabitants....
, Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
in Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
with a cargo of 8600 tons of Wheat
Wheat
Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...
, Maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
and Linseeds, bound for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Once she had discharged this cargo she would return to her home port of Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
after more than eight months at sea. Captain Angelino Solvatore received an Instruction by Radio when the ship was 300 miles from Land's End
Land's End
Land's End is a headland and small settlement in west Cornwall, England, within the United Kingdom. It is located on the Penwith peninsula approximately eight miles west-southwest of Penzance....
that he should proceed to Hul
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
l where he was to discharge his cargo. The third officer found the necessary charts and the Monte Nevoso proceeded towards the East coast of England. In the English channel the ship ran in to thick fog and slowed to half speed to the Foreland
Foreland
Foreland is the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It is located three miles east of the town of Brading, and due south of the city of Portsmouth on the British mainland. It is characterised by a pub called the Crab and Lobster and various beach huts plus a beach cafe and a coast guard...
s. By Friday the 14 October Captain Solvatore was trying to locate the Newarp Light vessel but there was no sign of this guiding light. The Monte Nevoso was now at a steady speed of nine Knots and on the last hundred miles and Captain Solvatore radioed an estimated time of arrival to his agent in Hull. Still unable to locate the guiding light of Newarp the Captain’s next step was to get a bearing from the Humber
Humber
The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
radio station but just before this was done an officer on the bridge saw the light vessel six miles away, just as the Captain had calculated.
Run aground
It was now after 3:00 am and the Captain waited for the change of watch and went into the chart room before turning in for the night. There he and the chief officer studied the charts of the Haisbro buoys. The chief officer recommended that they steer a course more to port to avoid the flood tide carrying them farther starboard. As they spoke it was reported from the bridge that there was a light on the port bow. The captain and chief checked this sighting from the port rail. Realising that the Monte Nevoso was now by the South Middle Haisbro Light, the Captain ordered the bridge to turn hard to port. The Captain needed to be starboard of the Buoy for a safe passage. No sooner had he given the order, he got a reply that the ship wouldn’t answer to the helm. The captain soon realised that the Monte Nevoso had run aground on the Haisborough SandsHaisborough Sands
Haisborough Sands is a sandbank off the coast of Norfolk, England at Happisburgh. The shoal is long and wide and lies parallel to the North east coast of Norfolk. The shoal is marked to the north-west by north by the Haisbro Light Buoy, North cardinal...
. It was now 4:00 am and for the next four hours the Captain tried in vain to dislodge the Monte Nevoso from the Sands.
Rescue
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Gorleston
Gorleston-On-Sea, also known colloquially as Gorleston, is a settlement in Norfolk in the United Kingdom, forming part of the larger town of Great Yarmouth. Situated at the mouth of the River Yare it was a port town at the time of the Domesday Book. The port then became a centre of fishing for...
coastguard informed the Cromer
Cromer
Cromer is a coastal town and civil parish in north Norfolk, England. The local government authority is North Norfolk District Council, whose headquarters is in Holt Road in the town. The town is situated 23 miles north of the county town, Norwich, and is 4 miles east of Sheringham...
Lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
of the situation and the H F Bailey
Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey ON 694
H F Bailey was the second lifeboat at Cromer in the county of Norfolk to bear the name of H F Bailey. She replaced H F Bailey which had been stationed at Cromer until 1924. In 1936 she became the station's reserve lifeboat and was renamed J B Proudfoot.-Description:The lifeboat was built by J....
was launched. By Noon the lifeboat arrived at the incident. Also now in attendance was a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
tug Noordzee of L. Smit & Co.
Fop Smit
Fop Smit was a Dutch naval architect, shipbuilder, and shipowner. He founded the towage and salvage company L. Smit & Co that is now part of Smit International...
, which was based in Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
. Coxswain Henry Blogg
Henry Blogg
Henry George Blogg GC BEM was a famous lifeboatman from Cromer on the north coast of Norfolk, England.Henry Blogg of Cromer is referred to as "the greatest of the lifeboatmen"...
boarded the Monte Nevoso along with the Captain of the tug. The two men tried to persuade Captain Solvatore to allow the tug to pull his ship to safety. It was 4:30 pm before the captain reluctantly agreed to the assistance, mainly due to the fact that the Captain of the tug had spotted a fracture appearing on the deck over the ships bunker and Blogg had warned that the weather was to change for the worse.
Salvage attempts
Captain Martin Van der Hidde of the Dutch salvage tugSalvage tug
A salvage tug is a specialized type of tugboat which is used to rescue or marine salvage ships which are in distress or in danger of sinking, or which have already sunk or run aground....
Noordzee, with the assistance of the Lifeboat attached a line to the stern of the Monte Nevoso and started to tow. Along with the engines of the ship and the tow of the tug the ship did not move. Captain Van der Hidde called for the further assistance of five more Tugs. The Scotsman, Irishman, Hermies, Gelezee and the Yorkshireman arrived and the lifeboat coupled them to the Monte Nevoso. In the late afternoon the six tugs and the ship’s engines made a united attempt to break the ship free but without success. At nightfall all attempts had failed. The north westerly wind had reached gale force by 5:00 am and by daybreak two of the tugs, the Irishman and Yorkshireman had lost there lines. Another of the tugs, the Scotsman, had to be cut free for safety and by 8:00 am the other tugs were cast off as the Monte Nevoso showed signs that she was beginning to break up. Coxswain Blogg received the signal to take of the crew. After on hour the lifeboat had saved 29 members of the Monte Nevoso’s crew along with the Dutch Captain Martin Van der Hidde.
Stubborn refusal
Captain Solvatore, the Chief mateChief Mate
A Chief Mate or Chief Officer, usually also synonymous with the First Mate or First Officer , is a licensed member and head of the deck department of a merchant ship...
, Chief Engineer
Chief Engineer
In marine transportation, the chief engineer is a licensed mariner in charge of the engineering department on a merchant vessel. "Chief engineer" is the official title of someone qualified to oversee the entire engine department; the qualification is colloquially called a "chief's...
and the Wireless Operator
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
refused to leave the Monte Nevoso. Coxswain Blogg tried in vain to get the men to leave but they refused. The Cromer lifeboat set of to Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
with the rescued men. At 2:00 pm, after obtaining dry clothes and fuel the H F Bailey set of with it weary crew back to the Monte Nevoso, there work not yet completed. By 4:45 pm the H F Bailey was back with the ship but the Captain still refused to leave the ship saying My radio is all right, if I need assistance I will send for you. Once more the lifeboat returned to Great Yarmouth. Coxswain Blogg informed the coastguard of the situation and arranged for his crew to stay at the Mariners’ Refuge and eat their first hot meal for twenty seven hours.
By 5:00am on Sunday no further SOS
SOS
SOS is the commonly used description for the international Morse code distress signal...
had been heard from the Monte Nevoso and so Coxswain
Coxswain
The coxswain is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives us a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from cox, a coxboat or other small vessel kept aboard a ship, and swain, which can be rendered as boy, in authority. ...
Blogg and his crew put to sea. By 8:00am they had reached the vessel but could find no sign of the missing four men. They had in fact taken to one of the ship's motor boats when the ship had broken in two, losing her wireless mast. At 6:00am a Lowestoft
Lowestoft
Lowestoft is a town in the English county of Suffolk. The town is on the North Sea coast and is the most easterly point of the United Kingdom. It is north-east of London, north-east of Ipswich and south-east of Norwich...
trawler called Gleam had spotted a flare and had picked up the four men from their motor boat.
Four legged friend
Whilst on a final search of the Monte Nevoso some of the crew of H F Bailey heard whimpering from one of the cabins. After forcing the door Henry Blogg found two dogs, one a large St. BernardSt. Bernard (dog)
The St. Bernard is a breed of very large working dog from the Italian and Swiss Alps, originally bred for rescue. The breed has become famous through tales of alpine rescues, as well as for its large size.-Appearance:The St. Bernard is a large dog...
the other a small terrier. The terrier, which had been terrified ran away, deep into the wreckage of the ship, never to be seen again. The St Bernard was carefully carried down a rope ladder to the safety of H F Bailey. In another cabin the lifeboat men found several cage-birds and these were also rescued.
The H F Bailey returned to its berthing at the shed at the end of Cromer Pier
Cromer Pier
Cromer Pier is a seaside pier in the civil parish of Cromer on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk, 40 km due north of the city of Norwich in the United Kingdom. The pier is the home of the Cromer Lifeboat Station and the Pavilion Theatre...
. The lifeboat arrived at 1:00pm on 16 October, nearly fifty two hours after she had first launched from Cromer. Lifeboat H F Bailey had travelled a total distance of seventy miles on the Rescue. The rescued St Bernard was taken by the Police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
and placed in quarantine for six months. A grateful Captain Solvatore presented the dog to Henry Blogg after The quarantine period. Henry Blogg christened the dog Monte and Blogg became deeply attached to his first and only dog. Monte died in 1935 but his memory lives on as he is the mascot and corporate symbol at the Henry Blogg Lifeboat Museum in Cromer, Norfolk.
Awards
For his part in the rescue of the crew of the Monte Nevoso, Henry Blogg was awarded the RNLIRoyal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
Silver Medal together with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum
Vellum
Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...
. Blogg was also awarded a Silver Medal by the Canine Defence League
Dogs Trust
Dogs Trust, formerly known as the National Canine Defence League, is an animal welfare charity and humane society in the United Kingdom which specialises in the wellbeing of dogs. The charity rehabilitates and finds new homes for dogs which have been abandoned or given up by their owners...
for his part in the rescue of the St Bernard Monte. The Italian Government also awarded Henry Blogg a Silver Medal.
Each of the crew of H F Bailey were awarded a Bronze Medal from the Italian Government, along with the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum.
Position of the wreck of the Monte Nevoso today
at a depth of 14 m (45.9 ft). on Haisborough Sands.19.1 kilometres (11.9 mi) NxNE of Hemsby
Hemsby
Hemsby is a village, civil parish and seaside resort in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated some north of the town of Great Yarmouth....
22.3 kilometres (13.9 mi) N of Caister-on-Sea
Caister-on-Sea
Caister-on-Sea, also known colloquially as Caister, is a settlement in Norfolk in the United Kingdom, close to the large town of Great Yarmouth. It is a seaside resort and busy holiday destination on the "Golden Mile", with its main attraction being its sandy "Georgian Beach". It is home to Great...
24.1 kilometres (15 mi) N of Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
Cromer Lifeboat crew
| The Rescue of the Monte NevosoThe Cromer Lifeboats, by Bob Malster & Peter Stibbons,:Poppyland Publishing, ISBN 0 946 148 21 X | ||
|---|---|---|
| H. F. Bailey Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey ON 694 H F Bailey was the second lifeboat at Cromer in the county of Norfolk to bear the name of H F Bailey. She replaced H F Bailey which had been stationed at Cromer until 1924. In 1936 she became the station's reserve lifeboat and was renamed J B Proudfoot.-Description:The lifeboat was built by J.... |
||
| Name | Rank | |
| Henry G Blogg Henry Blogg Henry George Blogg GC BEM was a famous lifeboatman from Cromer on the north coast of Norfolk, England.Henry Blogg of Cromer is referred to as "the greatest of the lifeboatmen"... |
Coxswain | .jpg) |
| W T Davis | ||
| J Davis Jnr. | ||
| G Cox | ||
| A Balls | ||
| G Balls | ||
| R Davis | Mechanic | |
| William H "Pimpo" Davies | ||
| Robert "skinback" Cox | crew | |
| J Davis Snr. | ||
| J W Davis | ||
| R Blogg | ||
| W Allen | ||