Kingstown lifeboat disaster off Dún Laoghaire
- When
- 1895
- Where
- Kingstown; Off Kingstown
- Episodes
- 2
The Kingstown lifeboat disaster occurred on Christmas Eve 1895 off Kingstown, now Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. The Kingstown No. 2 lifeboat capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the stricken SS Palme. The event is commemorated annually at Dún Laoghaire Harbour.
Episodes
- Kingstown lifeboat disaster
The Kingstown No. 2 lifeboat capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the stricken SS Palme off Kingstown, Ireland.
- Rescue of the Palme crew
The Irish Lights steamer Tearaght rescued the Master, his family, 17 crew, and the ship's cat from the Palme.
Background and detail
Background. The disaster involved the SS Palme, a 1,114 ton barque owned by the Eriksson family of Mariehamn, Finland, then part of the Russian Empire. The incident took place off Kingstown, a town renamed in honour of George IV's 1821 visit, which later reverted to its original Irish name, Dún Laoghaire, in 1920.
Rescue Attempt. The Kingstown No. 2 lifeboat capsized while attempting to rescue the crew of the stricken SS Palme. The crew of the Palme subsequently tried to launch their ship's longboat to rescue their rescuers, but it was smashed by the waves.
Aftermath. On Saint Stephen's Day, 26 December, the Irish Lights steamer Tearaght under Captain Thomas McCombie reached the Palme and rescued the Master, his wife and child, 17 crew, and the ship's cat. The event is commemorated annually at Dún Laoghaire Harbour.
People involved
- Thomas McCombie · Captain of the Irish Lights steamer Tearaght
- Eriksson family · Owners of the SS Palme
Sources
- Kingstown lifeboat disaster Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-05
- Dún Laoghaire Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-30
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.