The MV Union Star, a mini-bulk carrier registered in Dublin, had sailed from IJmuiden in the Netherlands on 17 December with a cargo of fertiliser for its maiden voyage to Arklow, Ireland.

They eventually contacted Coxswain Trevelyan Richards and asked him to put the lifeboat on standby in case the helicopter rescue failed.

[7] Lt Cdr Smith USN, the pilot of the rescue helicopter, later reported that:[13] The greatest act of courage that I have ever seen, and am ever likely to see, was the penultimate courage and dedication shown by the Penlee [crew] when it manoeuvred back alongside the casualty in over 60 ft breakers and rescued four people shortly after the Penlee had been bashed on top of the casualty's hatch covers.

They were truly the bravest eight men I've ever seen, who were also totally dedicated to upholding the highest standards of the RNLI.Lifeboats were summoned from Sennen Cove, The Lizard and St Mary's to try to help their colleagues from Penlee.

[2] In the aftermath of the disaster, wreckage from the Solomon Browne was found along the shore, and the Union Star lay capsized onto the rocks, west of Tater Du Lighthouse.

[2] Two nights before the disaster, Charlie Greenhaugh, who in civilian life was the landlord of the Ship Inn on the quayside in Mousehole, had turned on the village's Christmas lights.

[7] A plaque was also erected on the Ship Inn on behalf of the tenants, managers, directors and employees of the St Austell Brewery, the pub's owner.

[8] The old boathouse at Penlee Point with its slipway is kept the same as it was when the lifeboat launched and a memorial garden was created beside it in 1985 to commemorate the crew of the Solomon Browne.

[16] The Sea King helicopter involved in the rescue attempt is today preserved at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at RNAS Yeovilton, primarily because it had been flown by Prince Andrew, Duke of York during the Falklands War.

English folk singer and songwriter Seth Lakeman wrote the song "Solomon Browne", which appears on his 2008 album Poor Man's Heaven.

[18] In 2015, Cornish-American singer-songwriter Jim Wearne's album Half Alive in Wallaroo featured the track "The Boys of Penlee", written by fellow Cornish bard Craig Weatherhill, and featuring Weatherhill playing mellotron whose haunting choir sound ends the song with the line "For those in peril on the sea", from the popular sailors' hymn.

[21] To commemorate the 40th anniversary, a docudrama, Solomon Browne, written and narrated by Callum Mitchell and featuring recorded testimonies from relatives of some of the lifeboat crew, was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 20 December 2021.