Принцесса Виктория: Трагедия парома в Лох-Райане

British ferry (1947–1953)
the roll on/roll off ferry built in 1947

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Princess Victoria was launched on 27 August 1946 and completed in 1947 by William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). She was the first purpose built ferry of her kind to operate in British coastal waters and the fourth ship to bear the name, her 1939 predecessor, on minesweeping duties, having been sunk during World War II in the Humber Estuary by a German mine. Although innovative in her loading methods, the vessel looked externally similar to her predecessor. She could hold 1,500 passengers plus cargo and had sleeping accommodation for 54.

Captained by 55 year old James Ferguson, the vessel left Stranraer's railway loading pier at 07:45 with 44 tons of cargo, 128 passengers and 51 crew. Captain Ferguson had served as master on various ferries on the same route for 17 years. A gale warning was in force but he made the decision to put to sea. Loch Ryan is a sheltered inlet and the immediate force of the wind and sea was not apparent, but it was noted that spray was breaking over the stern doors. A "guillotine door" had been fitted, because of a previously identified problem with spray and waves hitting the stern doors, but it was rarely used, because it took too long to raise and lower. This would have provided extra protection for the sliding stern doors. On this occasion, it was already damaged and therefore not able to be lowered. Shortly after clearing the mouth of Loch Ryan, which took 40 minutes longer than usual, the ship turned west towards Larne and exposed her stern to the worst of the high seas. Huge waves damaged the low stern doors, allowing water to enter the car deck. The crew struggled to close the doors again but they proved to be too badly damaged and water continued to flood in from the waves. The scuppers did not allow the water to drain away properly because the ship had been built with a level deck; the inquiry revealed that the scuppers were not large enough anyway. The ship took a list to starboard and at this point Captain Ferguson decided to retreat to the safety of Loch Ryan by going astern and using the bow rudder. This proved to be impossible because the extreme conditions prevented the deckhands from releasing the securing pin on the bow rudder. The captain then made a decision to try to reach the Irish coast by adopting a course which would keep the stern of the craft sheltered from the worst of the elements. At 09:46, almost two hours after leaving Stranraer, a message was transmitted in Morse code (Princess Victoria did not have a radio telephone) by radio operator David Broadfoot to the Portpatrick Radio Station: "Hove to off mouth of Loch Ryan. Vessel not under command. Urgent assistance of tugs required". With a list to starboard exacerbated by shifting cargo, water continued to enter the ship. At 10:32, an SOS message was finally transmitted, and the order to abandon ship was given at 14:00. Possibly, the first warship in the area was , commanded by Lt Cdr J. M. Cowling, a frigate that was en route to Derry. Searches were carried out but Launceston Castle was forced to leave when her condensers were contaminated by salt. Upon the upgrade of the assistance message to an SOS, the Portpatrick Lifeboat Jeannie Spiers was dispatched, as was the destroyer Contest, commanded by Lt Cdr H. P. Fleming, left Rothesay at 11:09. Although she came close to Princess Victorias position at 13:30, poor visibility prevented the crew from seeing the sinking ship. The destroyer had been trying to maintain a speed of to reach the listing ferry but, after sustaining damage from the seas, Lt Cdr Fleming was forced to reduce speed to
Princess Victoria was still reporting her position as 5 mile (8 km) north west of Corsewall Point but her engines were still turning and even at the speed of were gradually drawing the vessel closer to the coast of Ireland and away from her reported position. At 13:08, the ship broadcast that her engines had stopped. The final Morse code message at 13:58 reported the ship "on her beam ends" five miles east of the Copeland Islands.

The court of inquiry found that assistance to Princess Victoria had been hampered by other distress operations already underway elsewhere in the extreme weather conditions of the day. An RAF Hastings aircraft had been assisting rescues off Lewis and Barra and as a result did not reach the position of the ferry until 15:31, dropping supplies and guiding HMS Contest to the scene. The inquiry noted how different the outcome might have been had the aircraft been available earlier. Lieutenant Commander Stanley Lawrence McArdle and Chief Petty Officer Wilfred Warren of HMS Contest were both awarded the George Medal for diving into the water to help survivors. The ship's radio officer, David Broadfoot, was posthumously awarded the George Cross for staying at his post to the very end, allowing passengers and crew to escape, even though by doing so he was preventing his own escape. His medal is on permanent display in Stranraer Museum. There were 44 survivors, all men, and none of the ship's officers were among them.

The sinking of Princess Victoria occurred during a severe European windstorm that also caused the North Sea flood of 1953, sometimes called the Great Flood, claiming 531 fatalities in the UK, 53 on Canvey Island alone, in the Thames Estuary, although this sinking was the worst single incident in that storm. There were 135 deaths, including the Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Maynard Sinclair, and the MP for North Down, Sir Walter Smiles. There were no women or children among the survivors. Eyewitnesses reported seeing a lifeboat containing at least some of the women and children being smashed against the side of Princess Victoria by the huge waves. The disaster shocked many people because, although it took place in exceptionally extreme weather conditions, it involved a routine journey, on a relatively short crossing (20 mile (32 km)) in what were believed to be safe waters.

Memorials have been erected in Chaine Road, Larne, County Antrim, in Portpatrick, Wigtownshire and in Stranraer, Wigtownshire (where 23 inhabitants lost their lives in the disaster). It has become the custom for a memorial service to be held on both sides of the North Channel on the anniversary of the sinking. Many of the survivors continue to attend these religious services. In 2003, on the 50th anniversary, a new plaque with the names of those lost was unveiled at the Victoria Memorial in Agnew Park, Stranraer. A piper played the tune "Lament of the MV Princess Victoria". Two new plaques were also unveiled at the Victoria Memorial in Larne. , from Donaghadee, one of the two lifeboats involved in the Princess Victoria rescue, has been preserved and is in a nearby car park. There is a memorial plaque and sculpture by Joseph Scherrer, on the cliff face overlooking the Irish Sea, which was erected in 2003, 50 years after the disaster. There were calls for a 60th anniversary memorial service to be held in 2013, at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast. The disaster was memorialised by Belfast poet Roy McFadden in "Elegy for the Dead of the Princess Victoria" (Lisnagarvey Press 1953). British folk singer Gareth Davies Jones wrote a song "Princess Victoria" dedicated to those who lost their lives in the disaster which he recorded on his 2008 album Water & Light. On 28 January 2018, a memorial service was held in Donaghadee for the 65th anniversary of the sinking. Donaghadee, Portpatrick and Larne RNLI lifeboats met at the wreck site to lay wreaths. A church service was attended by representatives from Donaghadee, Portpatrick, Larne, Portaferry, Bangor and Newcastle lifeboat crews; as well as local MPs and dignitaries from the area.

The wreck lay undiscovered until 1992. A team from Cromarty Firth Diving, led by John MacKenzie and funded by the BBC, was able to locate it by using data provided by a Royal Navy seabed survey carried out in 1973. The ship was 5 mile (8 km) north north east of the Copeland Islands in of water. Video footage and stills from this expedition were transmitted on a BBC programme called Home Truths (Things Don't Happen to Boats Like This) on the 40th anniversary of the sinking in 1993.

There have been other sinkings of roll on/roll off ferries e. g. the and (both of which sank in storms that they should have survived), as well as the (which capsized due to water ingress into the car deck through the bow doors inadvertently left open when the vessel was under way).