Pantry boy who survived Princess Victoria disaster went on to spend a lifetime at sea

It happened on January 31, 1953, when the ship – one of the first roll-on roll-off ferries which was making the crossing from Larne to Stranraer – got caught up in severe weather during the great storm of 1953.

The heavy seas led to the stern gates of the car deck being forced open, and within four hours The Princess Victoria sank close to the Copeland Islands off the coast of Co Down.

Only 44 of the 177 people on board escaped with their lives with not a single woman or child surviving.

Many of those lost to the sea that day were residents of Belfast, along with the many crew members whose homes were in port towns of Larne and Stranraer in Scotland.

The dead included the Deputy Prime Minister of Northern Ireland, Maynard Sinclair, and the MP for North Down, Sir Walter Smiles.

In 2017 the last surviving witness to the ferry disaster – Billy McAllister – passed away.

Mr McAllister was aged just 17 when disaster struck the ship on which he was pantry boy.

Amazingly, despite having lived through such an awful tragedy, Mr McAllister went on to spend a lifetime at sea, making the same journey working on ferries between Larne and Stranraer until his retirement.

He spoke to the Larne Times a few years ago at an anniversary service of the Princess Victoria disaster.

“I got up at six o’clock that morning and the ship was due to set sail at seven,” he recalled.

“When we got out to the open sea, the ship was hammered about by large waves, and the stern gates to the car deck burst open. The crew couldn’t get them shut, water flooded into the ship and as the cargo shifted, the ferry listed onto her side.”

Billy was eventually rescued by the RNLI lifeboat the Sir Samuel Kelly, from Donaghadee.

While Mr McAllister was one of the 44 survivors his cousin William Hooper was not so fortunate – his body was recovered from the sea the following day, his name added to the death toll of 135.