George Boothby

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On 11 May 1972, the UK-flagged Houlder Line refrigerated cargo liner Royston Grange collided with the tanker Tien Chee in the Río de la Plata. The resulting fire killed all 74 people aboard Royston Grange and eight people aboard Tien Chee.

The Royston Grange memorial window in the Church of All Hallows-by-the-Tower in London is signed by F.W. Cole and dated 1973. An almost identical window by the same artist is installed at the Church of St Paul, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan.

George Boothby, the captain of the Royston Grange, lived in Barry and a similar window was placed in St Pauls church, Barry in his and the crews memory. St Pauls church has since been demolished but the window is in storage awaiting funds to restore it in a suitable location.

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IN MEMORY OF:

Captain George Boothby of Barry and the crew of the "Royston Grange" lost with all hands in the River Plate 1972.

RIP.

S.T.V. Royston Grange

Worse things happen at sea they say, worse things happen at sea,
In `72 this came true with the tanker `Tien Chee`,
Within dense fog near the River Plate, she collided with a freighter,
Crude Oil gushed from shattered tanks exploding seconds later.

The other ship the `Royston Grange ` in fatal rendezvous,
Lost seventy four razed on her - all passengers and crew,
Full cargo holds of butter ignited overall,
Fused in mighty fireball that left no chance at all.

Ten thousand tons of vessel went up in lethal blaze,
No time then for rescue or warning sound to raise,
Montevideo close at hand, bodies still entrapped,
The Houlder`s ship towed away and later on just scrapped.

By the Tower of London in All Hallows Church,
There is a stained glass window - if carrying out research,
In commemoration colour with burning red repands,
Depicting Royston Grange in memory of all hands.

Worse things happen at sea they say,
Worse things happen at sea.

Capt J S Earl
2005

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Farewell service at St Paul’s, Barry.

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IN TRIBUTE VIA MUDCAT CAFE:

Subject: Lyr Add - ROYSTON GRANGE
From: Ross Campbell
Date: 30 Apr 08 - 02:01 PM

ROYSTON GRANGE
(Ron Baxter et al)
Tune: Ross Campbell

You men that sail the ocean, come listen to my song;
And find a lesson, if you can, in a voyage that went wrong.
For when you leave the land behind, your luck may quickly change -
Sit down, I'll tell to you the tale of the vessel "Royston Grange".

Her cargo it was frozen beef, sent from the Argentine;
Her crew they hailed from London, from Glasgow and the Tyne.
Off the River Plate they met the fog, and in that lies the blame;
For through that fog there came a ship - the doom of the "Royston Grange".

The RADAR was revolving, for an echo could be seen;
Coming fast, but it would pass by on the starboard beam;
But that heavy-laden tanker, for reasons never found,
Put her helm to starboard and the "Royston Grange" ran down.

Though the Captain called for "Full Astern" and the wheel was spun around,
The tanker's bows drew nearer, and through her sides they ground;
No explosions lit the sky, no tanks went up in flames,
But silent as a marble tomb, lay the "Royston Grange".

For her Phreon tanks had ruptured and the gas had quickly spread;
And all within a minute, the whole of the crew was dead.
And though they searched from stem to stern, no-one was left alive;
More than eighty men were dead, not one of them survived.

So let's drink to their memory, as another song we sing;
But don't forget today, lads, what tomorrow it might bring;
For Death, she stalks silent, and she strikes both swift and strange,
As when she took into her arms the crew of the "Royston Grange".

Notes (RJC) The Royston Grange

Approaching each other in a narrow channel of the River Plate, seven miles from the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, two freighters collided on May 11, 1972. A violent explosion devastated both ships and killed eighty-four persons. Destroyed were the Houlder Line's Royston Grange, a British cargo ship carrying grains and refrigerated meat to London, and the Liberian-flagged tanker Tien Chee carrying 20,000 tons of crude petroleum.

How the collision came about was never determined; all aboard the Royston Grange, ten passengers and sixty-three crew members, were killed; ten on the Tien Chee were never found. The ships locked bows, and the Liberian ship's holds were ruptured, causing tons of oil to spill into the Plate and spread out for miles onto the Uruguayan beaches. Fire then erupted, and the oil-coated water was soon aflame.

No time was available for either ship to lower lifeboats, and only thirty-one of the Chinese crew on the Tien Chee managed to jump overboard and swim through the fiery waters before the two ships disappeared in a titanic explosion. One of the desperate swimmers was so badly burned that he died only minutes after being dragged from the flaming water. Despite the immense damage, both ships remained afloat and were later towed away to be scrapped.

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10 May 2018.

St Paul’s, Barry held its last service at 10.15am on New Year’s Eve – with people from all the Anglican Churches of Barry joining the local congregation for the celebration. Anyone know what will occur with the stained glass windows ?

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Dedication: 'Remember Captain George Boothby and crew of the "Royston Grange" lost with all hands in the River Plate. 1972. R.I.P.'

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50 Years on A Memorial Service:

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