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MV Princess Victoria Disaster: The Isle Of Wight Remembers

On Wednesday May 15 Medina Bookshop in Cowes will host a fascinating talk by Liz Barron about the Island's connections with a tragedy in the Irish Sea over 70 years ago.

The loss of the Stranraer/Larne car ferry the Princess Victoria in a storm-lashed Irish Sea more than 70 years ago has surprising resonance on the Isle of Wight today.
 
The disaster--the worst in UK waters since the Second World War--claimed 133 lives. Among the lost was Sir Walter Smiles MP, much loved grandfather of Bembridge resident Lady Sally Grylls who was 11 years old when the ferry foundered on 31 January 1953. 
 
Only 44 people survived the wreck--33 of them rescued by the Sir Samuel Kelly Lifeboat and her courageous crew from Donaghadee, County Down.
 
 
The 'Kelly, a Watson Class Lifeboat, was built in Cowes in the Samuel White and Co. boatyard.
 
Speaker Liz Barron is a former TV executive and now an outreach officer for Donaghadee Heritage Preservation Company, Northern Ireland which houses the Island built lifeboat. 
 
The event takes place at 7pm (doors 6.45pm) on Wednesday May 15, tickets are £5 and can be purchased from Medina Bookshop direct, by phone on 300044, or from the official website.

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