Two Bridges Too Far..the Loss of the Training Ship HMS Conway 1953..

[Gulliver]

A few years after the war,in 1949 ,the venerable cadet training ship HMS Conway was relocated from off Bangor at the eastern end of the Menai Strait to her new safe haven at the western end of the Menai Strait on Anglesey. It was a carefully planned operation to get her there,as no vessel with her draft of 22 feet had ever negotiated the Strait.


Four years later in 1953 ,and in much need of a long -delayed overdue drydock and refit,Conway began her once-again carefully pre-planned voyage back through the Menai Strait to the Mersey.
This time she never made it out of the Strait.
What went wrong,and why? The following is a sad,sometimes bizarre blow-by-blow account of what happened…

TWO BRIDGES TOO FAR

HMS Conway at Rock Ferry,Mersey..jpg

[Wagga]

I am aware of this tradgedy. I was supposed to go to the college of Conway but failed the entrance exam. By then of course, the ship was shore based. The currents in the Menai Straits are notorious and this was directly linked to the loss of the old sailing ship.

In the end, I went to the Indefatigable just down from Conway. It was here that I experienced those powerful currents whilst sailing and rowing Whalers so I am not surprised that the towing vessel lost control leading up to the disaster.