When, on 18 March 1967, the SS Torrey Canyon struck the Seven Stones reef the biggest disaster in UK maritime history started to unfold. An oil tanker with a cargo capacity of 118,285 long tons of crude oil, she was at that time the largest maritime vessel ever to be wrecked.
If you have a Torrey Canyon story to share – do get in touch.We plan to look back at those weeks and months from the perspective of the Fire Service. Not only Cornwall but all of the many Brigades that came to assist. It would be great to get your story if you were serving at that time, or if you had direct contact with personnel who were serving or support the effort.
Firemen in 1967 had none of the protective equipment for safe work in or on the water. Neither were there validated safe systems of work.
Fifty years ago, the supertanker SS Torrey Canyon hit rocks off the coast of Cornwall, spilling more than 100,000 tonnes of crude oil into the English Channel. Beaches were left knee-deep in sludge and thousands of sea birds were killed in what remains the UK’s worst environmental accident. It was the first major oil spill in British and European waters, causing enormous damage to marine life and the livelihoods of local people. It also led to changes in the way people viewed the environment.BBC