MV Princess Victoria (1946)

[4] 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.

[6] 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.

[7] Possibly, the first warship in the area was HMS Launceston Castle, commanded by Lt Cdr J. M. Cowling, a frigate that was en route to Derry.

[8] The court of inquiry found that assistance to Princess Victoria had been hampered by resources attending to 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.

[9] 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.

There were 135 deaths,[4][11] including the Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Maynard Sinclair, and the MP for North Down, Sir Walter Smiles.

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 miles, 32 km) in what were believed to be safe waters.

As a consequence of the enquiry, the duty destroyer from the 3rd Squadron was subsequently based "on station" at the mouth of Lough Foyle on one hour readiness to put to sea.

RNLB Sir Samuel Kelly (ON 885), from Donaghadee, one of the two lifeboats involved in the Princess Victoria rescue, has been preserved and is in a nearby car park.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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