List of disasters on the Severn facts for kids

The River Severn is the longest river in Britain, flowing through both England and Wales. Where it meets the sea, the tide can rise and fall more than almost anywhere else in the world! Because it's such a big and busy river, there have been many accidents over the years. This article tells you about some of the most notable ones.

River Accidents: The 1600s

• January 30, 1607: A huge flood hit the Bristol Channel and the Severn Estuary. For a long time, people thought it was just a terrible storm. But new research suggests it might have been a tsunami, a giant wave caused by an underwater earthquake.

River Accidents: The 1700s

• October 23, 1799: A ferry boat at The Tuckies was carrying workers from the Coalport China Works. The boat flipped over, and 28 people sadly drowned.

River Accidents: The 1800s

• February 6, 1809: The ferryboat that traveled between Newnham on Severn and Arlingham Passage sank. People on both sides of the river watched it happen. Two boatmen on board lost their lives.
• February 1, 1868: Near the bridge over the Severn at Caersws, a part of the railway track collapsed. Flood water had damaged the ground supporting it. A goods train was on the track, and the driver and fireman were killed when it fell.

River Accidents: The 1900s

Boats and Barges in Trouble

• August 4, 1919: On a busy holiday, pleasure boats were taking people on trips. One boat, called the May Queen, came speeding down the river near the Hampstall Ferry. The ferryboat suddenly tipped over, throwing all 17 passengers into the water. Some people said the ferry was carrying too many passengers. Nine people drowned in this accident.
• February 4, 1939: Three large tanker barges overturned in the estuary near Sharpness. The strong tide pushed them into the piers of the Severn Railway Bridge. Six of the eight crew members on board were killed.
• April 3, 1947: A British ship named the Stancliffe, carrying 3,000 tons of timber, got stuck off Sharpness. A clever local engineer, Ivor Langford, managed to cut the ship into two pieces! Both halves were then sailed to Cardiff Docks. There, they were joined back together, and the ship sailed again under a new name, the Gripfast.
• March 23, 1951: A large Egyptian ship, the Ramses II, was heading to Sharpness with 7,000 tons of maize from Russia. It ran aground (got stuck) on Lydney Sands. They couldn't get it free, so the maize had to be moved to smaller boats out in the estuary. The ship was eventually a total loss. You can sometimes still see parts of the wreck in the mud at low tide.
• February 4, 1954: A prototype plane, a Bristol Britannia G-ALRX, had to make an emergency landing in the River Severn mudflats. One of its engines exploded during the flight, and it couldn't return to the airport. Luckily, everyone on board, both crew and passengers, escaped safely. However, the plane was completely ruined because it took too long to recover it, and the salty water damaged it.

Severn Railway Bridge Disasters

• October 25, 1960: Two loaded tanker barges, the Arkendale H and the Wastdale H, crashed into each other in thick fog near Sharpness. The tide then pushed them into a pier of the Severn Railway Bridge. Two sections of the bridge came crashing down onto the barges. There was an explosion, and five of the eight crew members died.
• February 16, 1961: The BP Explorer was a loaded tanker barge heading to Sharpness from Swansea. As it traveled up the Severn Estuary, it suddenly flipped over. The next day, the upside-down tanker was seen bouncing through the wreckage of the Severn Railway Bridge. All five crew members on board were killed. The BP Explorer was later rescued and rebuilt as the BP Driver. But on January 31, 1962, it got stuck again at Nash Point. Fortunately, its crew was saved that time.

Accidents During Bridge Building

• November 19, 1961: During the building of the Severn Bridge, three men fell into the river. A rescue boat with two crew members set out from Chepstow. What they didn't know was that the three men had already been safely picked up by a ferry boat. Meanwhile, two empty tanker barges, the Wyesdale H and the Wharfedale H, were coming downriver. They were tied together and steered from one boat. The steersman didn't see the rescue boat because it had no navigation lights. The barges crashed into the rescue boat. One man was saved, but the other crew member of the rescue boat drowned.
• September 4, 1990: Three men were working on a platform underneath the Severn Bridge, doing routine maintenance. The platform suddenly broke, sending the three men falling 150 feet (about 46 meters) into the Severn. Mark Seaton, a 19-year-old painter, survived the fall. However, Robin Phelps (44) and Eric Sullivan (46) were tragically killed.

See also

• Crossings of the River Severn
• List of shipwrecks in the Bristol Channel
• Severn Area Rescue Association