It's a wonder she lasted this long and didn't sink in the mid 1980's at Fleetwood. I was on holiday at the time visiting an old aunt who lived in the town.
She was on a courtesy visit to the town around mid summer time and was moored up against the IOM Steamer berth, just north of the Ro Ro Terminal, because the Captain had made a co*k up of sailing into the Wyre Dock earlier in the day and run aground on the Tiger's Tail.
Once re floated she had moored up against the vacant berth. However she had tied up with an easterly onshore breeze that was getting up, and by around 19.30 hours the breeze was up to around a force 5.
Due in at 20.30 hours was the 14000grt Ro Ro Ship Tipperary which would normally swing around on her bow thrusters and moor stern on to the link span, and that night was no different.
I was walking down to a local pub as she came in and started swinging round. Unfortunately the stiff breeze caught her beam on and the thrusters could not hold her off the berths trapping the HMS Bronnington between her and the IOM berth. There was nothing that could be done without a tug to drag the Tipperary off the unfortunate wooden Minesweeper, and her hull and deck were creaking audibly above the noise of the Tipperary's engines and thrusters.
As the tide was now in the small tug from Fleetwood was called but to no avail, and a much larger tug was called from Heysham around the bay, and although it took an hour for her to get around the coast she pulled the Tipperary off the Bronninton and she escaped to be moored just inside the river mouth opposite the lifeboat station.
The crew which had gone ashore were hastily recalled and she set sail.
However she and her captain were not out of the woods yet, and although her hull and deck had withstood the continual pounding from the larger ship trapping her, for nearly two hours, two of the crew had been naughty, and just as we were extracting ourselves from the pub around 23.30 the maroons for the lifeboat to be launched, were sounded,and so a crowd stood around on the promenade to watch her motor out. we could see in the gloom and lights that she had stopped as she went past the Bronnington out in the bay just west of the light house out at the entrance to the river.
It transpired that the two naughty crew men had taken two well known ladies of the night from Fleetwood on board as stow a ways and all four had been discovered having a little fun and frolics down in their quarters.
At his court marshal, the captain said in a statement that he never wanted to see Fleetwood again if given the choice.
The two ladies drank and dined out on the story in the local drinking houses for a long while, so I was told later.
Jim.
