PORTPATRICK RADIO/GPK
DISTRESS WATCH
To the radio professionals who serve at Coast Radio Stations, the Distress
Watch they have provided over the years has been their primary reason
for existing. Although they may spend most of the time during a watch
connecting link calls or handling radio telegrams, their ears were always
tuned ready to respond immediately to any call for assistance. It would
probably be putting is far too mildly to say that they regret the downgrading
of the distress watch which has taken place in recent years.
So often it takes a serious incident before authorities come to their
senses - and such was the case in the establishment of Portpatrick Radio
as a full time station.
In October 1921, in thick fog, the American vessel West Camok rammed
the Laird Lines passenger ship Rowan. Badly damaged, the Rowan sent
an SOS. The admiralty-run radio station at Portpatrick was off watch
that day but several other ships responded to the SOS. One of these,
the Clan Malcolm, being without the aid of radar in those days, also
collided with the Rowan causing her to sink rapidly. 785 passengers
were rescued by other vessels but 36 died. Alerting the Portpatrick
Lifeboat required a telephone call which had to be routed via Liverpool
and Glasgow - the consequential delay resulting in nothing to be found
by the time the lifeboat arrived on the scene. Within a month control
of the station had passed to the GPO and Portpatrick Radio/GPK was on
24-hour watch.
Over the years the station has been instrumental in bringing help to
many vessels in trouble. In 1939 it was GPK which responded to the SOS
from GFDM - the liner Athenia - which, with 1,500 people onboard, had
been torpedoed by a German U-boat. 120 people lost their lives, but
without the presence of GPK the loss might have been much greater. Many
years down the line, on a BBC television programme, the Radio Officer
of the Athenia met the Portpatrick Radio Officer who had responded to
his call for assistance.
In 1953 another disaster happened when the railway steamer Princess
Victoria sank with large loss of life. Such was the impact on the
local community and in other parts of the West of Scotland, that this
incident is remembered even today - and deserves its own
web page.
In 1989 local responsibility for Distress Watch came to an end when
control of the station's equipment passed to Stonehaven Radio. In 1996
responsibility for 2182kHz distress watch passed to HM Coastguard and
at midnight on 31st December 1997 the 500kHz Morse Code distress watch
ceased at all UK Coast Radio Stations - the final signals of this service
being an exchange between GPK and it's sister station Landsend Radio/GLD.
|
