Only two out of a crew of 27 survived when the Polish freighter SS Wigry was lost in a storm off the coast of West Iceland on January 15th 1942. On the 75th anniversary of the tragedy, a memorial in honour of the drowned sailors was unveiled on a beach by Syðra-Skógarnes peninsula, close to where the ship went down yesterday.
The storm was one of the worst on record in Iceland. The wind speed measured in Reykjavík that day is indeed still the fastest on record and it caused four foreign ships to run aground near the city. Several boats sank in harbours along the South Coast.
Exhibition in the Maritime Museum in June
According to the National Broadcasting Service RÚV, the SS Wigry was stricken in the storm and drifted for hours until it ran aground near Mýrar on the West Coast of Iceland. Of the 27 crewmen, 25 made it into a life boat. However, the life boat drifted aimlessly in the storm before capsizing, killing twenty sailors.
Only three sailors eventually made it to shore, two Polish men and one local. One of the Polish sailors died on the beach.
The Maritime Museum will remember the disaster with an exhibition that will run from the 10th to the 30th of June.
Only two out of a crew of 27 survived when the Polish freighter SS Wigry was lost in a storm off the coast of West Iceland on January 15th 1942. On the 75th anniversary of the tragedy, a memorial in honour of the drowned sailors was unveiled on a beach by Syðra-Skógarnes peninsula, close to where the ship went down yesterday.
The storm was one of the worst on record in Iceland. The wind speed measured in Reykjavík that day is indeed still the fastest on record and it caused four foreign ships to run aground near the city. Several boats sank in harbours along the South Coast.
Exhibition in the Maritime Museum in June
According to the National Broadcasting Service RÚV, the SS Wigry was stricken in the storm and drifted for hours until it ran aground near Mýrar on the West Coast of Iceland. Of the 27 crewmen, 25 made it into a life boat. However, the life boat drifted aimlessly in the storm before capsizing, killing twenty sailors.
Only three sailors eventually made it to shore, two Polish men and one local. One of the Polish sailors died on the beach.
The Maritime Museum will remember the disaster with an exhibition that will run from the 10th to the 30th of June.
