[38320] All Hallows by the Tower : lost with all hands

All Hallows by the Tower, Byward Street, London EC3.

Window (detail) commemorating the Houlder Line STV "Royston Grange" lost with all hands in the River Plate 1972.

By Frederick Walter Cole (1908-1998), 1973.

 

The 7113 ton Royston Grange, carrying 61 crew, 12 passengers and an Argentinian harbour pilot, was bound from Buenos Aires to London with a cargo of chilled and frozen beef and butter. As she traversed the Punta Indio Channel, 35 miles from Montevideo, Uruguay, in dense fog at 5.40 a.m. she collided with the Liberian-registered tanker Tien Chee, carrying 20,000 tons of crude oil. The Tien Chee immediately burst into flames and a series of explosions rapidly carried the flames to the Royston Grange, which burned particularly hot due to the cargo of butter and the oil escaping from the Tien Chee. Most of the crew and passengers were asleep. Although the Royston Grange did not sink, every person on board was killed in the fire, most of them probably by carbon monoxide fumes emanating from the refrigeration tanks, which burst in the collision.

 

A memorial service was held here at All Hallows-by-the-Tower on 8 June 1972.

 

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In 1924, FW Cole began an apprenticeship in glassmaking at William Morris of Westminster, where he remained until World War II. After the war, he re-established a studio for the company following bomb damage. He remained as chief designer until they closed in 1958. After a short spell working for Wippell & Co he established his own workshop in Fulham and later in Canterbury, which was largely concerned with restoration of the mediaeval glass in the cathedral.

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