SS Alba

SS Alba was a Panamanian-registered ship owned by Burger B. that sank off St Ives in Cornwall, England on 31 January 1938.

SS Alba

History
Owner:	Burger B.
Port of registry:
Builder:	Detroit Shipbuilding Company, Wyandotte, Michigan
Launched:	1920
Fate:	Sank 31 January 1938
General characteristics
Tonnage:	2,310 tons
Length:	76.5 m (251 ft)
Beam:	13 m (43 ft)
Installed power:	Triple expansion steam engine 2 × boilers 265 hp (198 kW)
Propulsion:	Single shaft
Speed:	9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)

Shipwreck

Where the SS Alba perished

Alba was seeking shelter from rough seas driven by a northwesterly gale and her captain, Joseph Horvath,[1] guided her into St Ives Bay. He mistook the lights of Porthmeor for the lights of St Ives, and Alba went aground on the Three Brothers Rocks.[1]

All Alba's 23 crew members were initially rescued on the first run by the local RNLI lifeboat Caroline Parsons, but the lifeboat overturned on its way to shore.[2] With its engine not working, Caroline Parsons was driven ashore.

Using torches and lamps rescuers managed to save all the members of the RNLI's crew, but five of Alba's crew died. Three bodies were brought ashore and two others were never found.[1] An inquest on the three was held on 2 February 1938, and returned a finding of accidental death. The Times records them as Ernest Stitanovic, first engineer aged 50 from Budapest; Gyulya Szabo, second engineer aged 28 from Tapocla, Hungary; and George Kovacs, mess-room boy aged 26 from Budapest, and notes that "The two missing bodies have not yet been recovered".[3] Two of the crew, named as engineers Ernest Stipanovi and Gyula Szabo, are commemorated on a plaque in Barnoon cemetery.[2] Several sources incorrectly state that only two of the crew died.[2][4]

At the inquest it was asserted that the Godrevy Lighthouse shone less brightly since its recent conversion to an unmanned light, the implication being that this might have contributed to the accident.[3]

Specifications

Weighing in at 2,310 tons Alba was a steel ship built by the Detroit Shipbuilding Company in Detroit, USA, in 1920.[1] She was 76.5 metres (251 ft) long, 13 metres (43 ft) wide and 6.5 metres (21 ft) tall, powered by steam propulsion using 2 boilers giving 265 horsepower (198 kW) and a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph), which may be a reason why she could not reverse fast enough on the fateful night.

SS Alba in art

Alfred Wallis painted several versions of Wreck of the Alba, one of which is held by Tate St Ives.[5]

False alarm

Alba's boiler can still be seen on the beach and in September 2012 bomb disposal experts were summoned from Plymouth after holidaymakers misidentified it as an unexploded bomb.[6]

References

1. "SS Alba (+1938)". Wrecksite. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
2. "When the Boat Goes Out". Spooky St Ives. Retrieved 22 March 2013. States that two crewmen died and has image of cemetery plaque commemorating two ship's engineers.
3. "Inquest on victims of St. Ives wreck". The Times. 3 February 1938. p. 4.
4. Gillilan, Lesley (2009). "Far West: St Ives and Carbis Bay". Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. p. 279. ISBN 978-1-85458-424-3.
5. Klein, Jacky (June 2002). "Alfred Wallis: Wreck of the Alba c.1938-9". Tate. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
6. "Beach 'bomb' was the SS Alba boiler". The Cornishman. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2013.