Anniversary of Scotland to Ireland ferry disaster

On this day 31st January 1953 the coasts of northern Europe were facing one of the worst gales in living memory. It was on the morning of this day that a car ferry, The Princess Victoria, set out from Stranraer (Scottish Gaelic: An t-Sròn Reamhar) on the south-west coast of Scotland at 07.45 AM on a journey to Larne (Irish: Latharna) in the north-east of Ireland. An hour into the sailing across the North Channel (Irish and Scottish Gaelic: Sruth na Maoile), the strait between north-eastern Ireland and south-western Scotland and which connects the Irish Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, tragedy struck. 

The stern gates of the car deck were forced open in the heavy seas. Water flooded into the vessel and the heavy load of cargo it was carrying shifted. Within hours the ship sank with the loss of 133 passengers & crew. The captain, James Ferguson, went down with the ship. Only 44 of those who set out on the crossing are known to have survived. Services to mark the anniversary of the ferry disaster have been held in Ireland and Scotland this week.