Princess Victoria disaster: 70 years since worst post-war loss of life in British coastal waters

Historian Dr David Hume who has been a key figure in organising events in the Mid and East Antrim area to mark the anniversary said it was good to send message to the families who lost loved ones that the tragedy is being remembered.

Ahead of tomorrow’s service at the Princess Victoria Memorial, he said: “There’s one man coming from West Sussex called Robert Kelly, he was two when he lost his father on the ship. He’s making the journey with his family.

“There will be lots of other local families who lost someone or was involved in the rescue. It’s usually quite a well attended event despite the fact it’s on the shorefront at a pretty bleak time of year, but it helps to reinforce the event itself.

“It’s horrendous when you look into it and read into it. It was just an awful, awful event.

“It was a combination of the terrible storm and the ship’s design. It was 11 foot off the sea level where the stern doors were breached, in those seas there were 40 foot waves.”

The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) who have an MV Princess Victoria Lodge are expected to bring big numbers and there will be representatives of the RNLI and coastguard as well as civic and community groups and nearby primary school – Olderfleet.

Dr Hume is also involved in an arts performance in the McNeil Theatre on Thursday evening entitled ‘For those in peril on the sea’.

“It’s telling the story of the Princess Victoria and some of the individual stories,” he said.

"We’ve drama, music and spoken word. The Major Sinclair Pipe Band, named after Major Sinclair who was the finance minister who was lost on the ship, will be performing.

“I think it will be a very emotive event. People who have been at the rehearsal said it sounded very emotional, but it’s intended to be uplifting as well in terms of the courage and the bravery of those who played a part in the rescue and also on the ship.”