On New Year’s Eve 1918, over 200 men crowded the dock at the port of Kyle of Lochalsh waiting to the board the HMY Iolaire, a 190′ long iron-hulled yacht requisitioned by the Admiralty. Most of the men were Royal Navy Reservists. The Great War was over and they were returning home to the Isle of Lewis on the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. When they boarded the Iolaire, it was a tight fit, but after fighting the long and brutal war, no one seemed to mind a bit of crowding.
At 2:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, as the ship approached the port of Stornoway, a few yards offshore and a mile away from the safety of the harbor, the Iolaire hit the infamous rocks “The Beasts of Holm” and sank. Unlike the many Hebrides islanders aboard, the officers on the bridge were unfamiliar with the local waters and made a fatal error in navigation.
Of the 283 aboard, at least 205 died. Because of the crowding aboard, the number could have been higher. Among the dead, were 181 islanders. There were only 83 survivors. The sinking of the Iolaire was the worst peacetime maritime disaster in Great Britain since the Titanic.
Thanks to Brian Frizell for contributing to this post.
How sad. They survived the war only to die a mile from home.
It is only my opinion that the reason for so many to have died was because of it being 2am in the morning. Not so much the over crowding.
If they hadn’t slammed into the rocks at speed, no one would have died. The crowding only made the death toll worse.
Google “The Beasts of Holm” and you’ll find at leat two videos of the site.
One about diving it and the other about diving the sinking site.
What a beautiful vessel (apart from the funnel).