A terrible storm occurred on the 17th December 1872.
Newspapers of the time reported that six Seaham based ships were lost with
all hands but unfortunately they gave no names. It may be that dozens of Seaham men went
to a watery grave but there is no record of who they were.
On Tuesday 26th June 1873 a dreadful boat accident took
the lives of five men within hailing distance of the end of the
pier. Having finished work and wishing for an adventure on that long
summer evening of long ago seven bottle makers John Jefferson, Ralph Hush,
James Coyle, Robert Miller, Joseph Hall, Benjamin Turns and Andrew Davison
engaged a coble and placed themselves under the charge of Morley Scott
junior, an experienced junior pilot. The boat was brand new, the skipper
an accomplished seaman, the seven passengers were mature and sober men and
the weather was very calm so there should have been little possibility of
a mishap.
Morley Scott rowed the coble out of the harbour and then raised the
mast to catch what little breeze there was. When they were about three
hundred yards out from the old north pier something happened which was to
hasten the tragedy. Morley Scott's brace button snapped and he was in
danger of his trousers falling down, being equipped with a needle, thread
and a spare button. While he repaired his button he handed charge of the
sail to James Coyle, who he believed was an experienced sailor.
A slight wind then hit the sail, James lost his grip and the sail fell
into the water. The situation was still not a dangerous one and Morley,
seeing the slight problem, forgot his trousers and moved towards the side
of the boat to pull the mast back upright again. Unfortunately the other
men in the boat, being inexperienced, all moved instinctively to help him.
The boat overbalanced and tipped over throwing all eight into the water.
Benjamin Turns, Andrew Davison and Morley Scott survived and were able to
walk home unassisted, the other five drowned.
A tragedy that hit Seaham and the Country happened on Saturday 17th
November 1962, on a fishing trip from Seaham. Gordon Burrell, Donald
Burrell his son David Burrell, George Firth and Joseph Kennedy were in a
coble called Economy to go on a fishing trip when the coble started to
take in water in rough seas. The George Elmy Seaham's lifeboat went to
their rescue. The four were transferred from the coble into the lifeboat
safely and they headed back to Seaham Harbour.
As the lifeboat reached the piers it was hit by two massive waves and
overturned. John Miller, Arthur Brown, Leonard Brown, James Farrington and
Fred Gippert the lifeboat crew all died, and the only survivor from the
coble was Donald Burrell who had wrapped his arm around the propeller
shaft to stay afloat. Tragically his son David who also died was only nine
years old.
