SS London Valour SS " London Valour " was a British merchant ship belonging to London & Overseas Freighters ( LOF ) . She was built as an oil tanker in England in 1956 and converted into a bulk carrier in Italy in 1966 . She was wrecked in a gale just outside the Port of Genoa in 1970 , resulting in the deaths of 20 of the 58 people aboard . Tanker . Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd of Haverton Hill - on - Tees built " London Valour " in 1956 as an oil tanker . She was launched on 12 June and completed on 6 December . She was LOF ' s first steam turbine - driven tanker . She had twin steam turbines producing a total of 8 , 200 shaft horsepower between them . They were double reduction - geared onto a single shaft to drive a single screw . The turbines were built by Richardsons Westgarth & Company of Hartlepool , which was part of the same group as Furness Shipbuilding . " London Valour " was a typical tanker of her era , with an accommodation block and her single funnel aft and her bridge on a larger accommodation block amidships . As built , she had two goalpost masts : one forward , just aft of her bow , and the other astern of her midships accommodation block . " London Valour " was the first of five sister ships ordered from Furness . The next two , SS " London Tradition " and SS " London Resolution " , were launched and completed in 1957 . The final two were built for London and Overseas Tankers : a company in which LOF held a 50 % share . SS " Overseas Pioneer " was launched and completed in 1958 ; SS " Overseas Explorer " was launched in 1958 and completed in 1959 . For several years the five sisters traded profitably , but in the early 1960s LOF ' s competitors started to operate new supertankers of about : six times the size of " Valour " or her sisters , and with much lower operating costs " per " ton . LOF continued to get cargoes on the spot market for its tanker fleet , but at scant profit . Bulk carrier . LOF and LOT therefore had the sisters converted into bulk carrier s , and awarded the work to Industria Navali Meccaniche Affini ( INMA ) of La Spezia , Italy . " London Resolution " was converted first , in October – December 1965 . Work on " London Harmony " started on 18 December 1966 and was completed on 23 April 1967 . " London Tradition " followed in March – July 1967 , then " Overseas Explorer " in April – October 1967 and " Overseas Pioneer " in April – August 1968 . The conversion changed the appearance of the ships . " London Valour " and her sisters each now had four goalpost masts – two forward of the bridge and two abaft . Each goalpost mast carried four derrick s for handling cargo . Another effect of the conversions was that the tonnage of each ship was reduced by a few hundred tons . Shipwreck . The USSR had chartered LOF ships since 1960 , starting with oil tankers . On 2 April 1970 " London Valour " left the Soviet port of Novorossiysk in the Black Sea with a cargo of 23 , 606 tons of iron ore for Genoa in northern Italy . On 7 April she arrived off the Port of Genoa and she anchored in the roads about south of the " Duca di Galliera " harbour mole to await a berth . As the bulk carrier waited at anchor the Chief Engineer , Sam Mitchell , used the time to carry out maintenance work on the ship ' s auxiliary engines . His men completed this work on the morning of 9 April . A few hours later , at about 1200 hrs , the atmospheric pressure had fallen to 748 millibars . At first the wind remained low , about Force 2 or 3 , blowing from the southeast . Then at about 1300 hrs the wind backed to southwest and grew stronger . " London Valour " s Master , Captain Donald Muir , held a meeting on the bridge but considered the ship was not in particular danger . In particular , Muir did not tell his deck officers that as the auxiliary engines had been down for maintenance , the engine room would need to be ordered to have the main engines on standby if a need arose to move the ship . Muir then rejoined his wife in his cabin , leaving Second Officer Donald Allan MacIsaac on watch . The wind intensified , causing " London Valour " to drag her anchor and driving her towards the shore . At about 1330 hrs the first officer , Robert Kitchener , saw from his cabin that the ship was getting closer to the mole . He raised a general alarm , and Second Officer MacIsaac alerted Captain Muir and the engineer on watch . Chief Engineer Mitchell tried to start the steam turbines to enable the ship to move away from the mole . At 1350 hrs atmospheric pressure had fallen to 742mm and the wind had risen to a Force 8 gale . At 1422 hrs the waves and wind drove " London Valour " aground . At 1430 hrs " London Valour " transmitted a Mayday radio message . Rescue attempts . Two pilots were on duty at Genoa ' s pilot station : Captains Giovanni Santagata and Aldo Baffo . At about 1435 hrs they saw " London Valour " was within to of the mole and notified the harbour master ' s office . Santagata also alerted the tugboat station , which ordered the tug " Forte " to sea to assist . At about 1440 hrs Santagata and Baffo joined the crew of the pilot boat " Teti " and put to sea . At about 1445 hrs " Teti " called " London Valour " by VHF radio but got no reply . The ship was now about from the mole and her crew had donned lifejacket s . At about 1455 hrs winds and to waves drove the ship broadside onto the rocks alongside the mole . At 1500 hrs the Harbour Master ' s office put Captain Santagata in charge of the rescue operation and ordered him to keep " Teti " s radio on channel 16 , the internationally - recognised distress channel . 58 people were trapped aboard " London Valour " : her British officers , Indian and Filipino crew , and the wives of two of the British officers . They were in two groups , one on each accommodation block , separated by waves now breaking over the deck . " Teti " s helmsman , Barone , positioned the pilot boat south of the ship , between her two accommodation blocks and within of her and the pilot boat now made VHF contact with " London Valour " . A " Guardia Costiera " ( " Coast Guard " ) boat now put to sea to join the rescue . CP 233 was a " " ( " Super Hope Class " ) coastguard boat , long and just over , commanded by Captain Giuliano Telmon . Within the next two hours Telmon and his crew succeeded in rescuing 25 or 26 survivors . At 1545 Captain Baffo had to pilot the cruise ship MV " Canguro Verde " to her berth . " Teti " put to sea to meet " Canguro Verde " , but Santagata continued to direct the rescue operation from the pilot boat . The gale and waves continued to drive the ship on shore . " London Valour " s double bottom , which contained her bunker fuel , had ruptured and was leaking thick black oil into the sea . Chief Engineer Mitchell tried to prepare one of the lifeboats for launch but he was thrown into the rough sea . The sea was covered with oil and débris and it was 90 minutes before Mitchell was rescued . Nevertheless the only injury he sustained was to his arm as he was pulled to safety . Second Officer MacIsaac took command of the after part of the ship . He got a covered inflatable life raft launched and ordered Third Officer Meurig Caffery and two other men into it . " Teti " cast a line to the raft , towed it to safety and transferred two of the men to another pilot boat . Third Officer Caffery asked Santagata to let him remain aboard " Teti " to help with the rescue . Caffery looked to be in good condition so Santagata agreed . The forward and midships part of the ship was against the mole , but her stern was clear of it . The ship broke her back abaft her bridge , further separating the two groups aboard . MacIsaac remained in command of the after part , acted with courage and initiative and saved many of his shipmates , but became exhausted by his efforts and did not himself survive . As the after part was not on the rocks , the braver men were able to jump from the stern into the sea and be rescued by the craft that were standing by . At 1615 hrs " Teti " returned to sea and sighted an exhausted man in the water and covered with fuel oil . Caffery dived into the sea and supported the man , and " Teti " s crew threw them a lifebuoy on a line . The sea was tossing " Teti " so violently that her crew could not haul the two men aboard , so she towed them to calmer water inside the mole . " Teti " s engineer , Fanciulli , tried to haul the men aboard but because of the oil they kept slipping from his grasp . The tug " India " came to assist . Her Captain , Ragone , passed a rope around the two men , and " Teti " took the rope and towed the two men ashore . At 1640 hrs " Teti " put to sea a third time . She found another survivor in the water , threw him a lifebelt and towed him to sheltered water behind the mole , where the tug " Aleghro " under Captain Fanciulli recovered him from the water and took him ashore . " Teti " then went back out to sea and recovered two corpses from the water . At 1745 another pilot boat , the " Preve " , approached " Teti " and signalled her back to within the shelter of the mole . There the two boats came alongside each other and exchanged crews . Captain Tanlongo and his crew of two pilots , a helmsman and an engineer from " Preve " took over " Teti " and took her back out to sea . At 1815 Santagata , Baffo and their crew took " Preve " to sea . Tanlongo radioed from " Teti " that he had seen three survivors on the rocks . " Preve " searched all along the rocks but found no - one . The " Vigili del Fuoco di Genova " ( " Genovese Fire Service " ) ashore fired a breeches buoy from the mole to the midships accommodation block . This was made fast on the ship , and the firemen hauled three Indian crewmen to safety . Captain Muir persuaded his wife Dorothy to go next , but the buoy jammed and flung Mrs Muir from the harness to her death on the rocks below . Some sources suggest that the breaking of the ship into two concided with the fire service ' s attempt to winch Mrs Muir to safety , that this caused the breeches buoy ' s nylon rope to flex and this was what caused it first to jam and then to fling Mrs Muir onto the rocks . A fireman , Giuliano Macchi , tried several times to reach her but without success . Captain Muir leapt after his wife into the sea . He was later seen in the water with one leg seriously injured , and then was not seen again . A huge wave swept the midships accommodation block , washing away the Chief Officer , Third Engineer , Radio Officer and his wife . The crew of a fire service helicopter threw a lifebelt to the Third Engineer , Arthur Carey , who managed to catch it and was rescued . The Chief Officer landed on the monkey island on top of " London Valour " s bridge , and was later rescued by the harbour master ' s boat . The Radio Officer and his wife , Eric and Nan Hill , died in the heavy sea . All of those who survived were rescued before 1800 hrs . By that time 34 men were in hospital , four were in an hotel , eight were known to be dead and 12 were still missing . By 0930 hrs the next morning 12 bodies had been recovered and eight people remained missing . Inspection , salvage and disposal . After the disaster , divers submerged to inspect " London Valour " s hull . They found her anchor chain intact and paid out to a length of . The anchor rested on the sea floor at a depth of about . However , a steel cable had snagged its flukes , causing them to point upwards and preventing them from embedding themselves in the mud . This was what had prevented the anchor from holding the ship . Salvage work started in November 1970 with the safe removal of much of the ship ' s cargo . As the ship ' s back was broken she was cut in two through her number two hold . On 11 October 1971 the Dutch company " Smit Tak International Bergingsbedriff " ( " Smit Tak International Salvage Service " ) refloated the after part by filling its holds with Styrofoam balls . Permission was given to sink the wreck on of the Balearic Abyssal Plain east of Minorca , as it is below the surface of the Mediterranean and the depth would minimise risk of pollution from the wreck . Smit Tak ' s plan was to tow the after part to its destination and then scuttle it with dynamite . On 12 October the tug " Oceanic Vortex " slowly towed the after part clear of the mole and handed it over to two Italian tugs , " Torregrande " and " Genua " . " Torregrande " was carrying the Dutch salvage crew and was in charge of the remainder of the operation . The hulk was low in the water , drawing , and showing little more than its goalpost masts above the water . For all these reasons , plus the lack of its bow , the hulk had very poor hydrodynamics . " Torregrande " and " Genua " between them developed 4 , 500 horsepower but managed to make only headway . On 12 October the weather was good but on 13 October it deteriorated , with strong squalls making it harder for the tug crews to see the hulk . The hulk sank lower in the water and the tugs struggled to maintain any headway . At about 0130 hrs on 14 October Captain Negro of the " Genua " radioed his concerns to Captain Gatti of the " Torregrande " . Gatti asked the Dutch party to authorise the tugs to recover as much as possible of the towing cables and then cast the hulk loose before it sank . At about 0230 hrs " Torregrande " hauled in its steel cable and began to recover its nylon towing rope . Gatti then cut the nylon rope and cast the hulk adrift . The hulk sank on 14 October at 0258 hrs , spilling onto the surface of the sea many of the Styrofoam balls that Smit Tak had used to refloat it . The tugs had managed to tow it only about from Genoa . It sank about south of Imperia and west of Cap Corse , and lies at a depth of . The forward part remained on the rocks at the mole in Genoa . It was broken up " in situ " , starting in May 1972 . Investigations and findings . On 23 June 1970 Paolo Cavezzali , Italy ' s Under - secretary of State for the Merchant Marine made a statement to the Italian Senate . Cavezzali stated that an initial investigation found that errors by three of " London Valour " s officers " could not be ruled out " . Cavezzali cited the initial investigation as alleging that the officers were not always on the bridge and had not remarked on the falling atmospheric pressure . They had neither established the ship ' s position in relation to fixed points on the shore nor used the radar to monitor the ship ' s distance from the shore . More seriously , no - one aboard was monitoring the VHF radio and no - one took account of a weather report received from Malta . The initial investigation also alleged that no - one raised the alarm at 1400 hrs when the storm developed ( This is contradicted by another source that states the Chief Officer raised the general alarm at 1330 hrs when he saw the ship was getting closer to the shore . ) The initial investigation also alleged that the radio officer did not listen to the VHF radio at the scheduled times . Two years later in Britain the Royal Courts of Justice considered the shipwreck under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 . The Court sat in Westminster in 1972 on 19 , 20 , 21 , 24 and 25 April and issued its judgement on 17 May , which attributed the stranding and loss to " the wrongful act or default " of the late Captain Muir . Honours and monuments . Italy awarded the " " ( " Marine Medal of Merit " ) to five participants in the rescue . The harbour master Giuliano Telmon and fire service helicopter pilot Captain Rinaldo Enrico received gold medals . The pilots Giovanni Santagata and Aldo Baffo received silver medals . A third pilot , Giuseppe Fioretti , received a bronze medal . In April 1973 Britain awarded the Medal for Saving Life at Sea to two of " London Valour " s officers . Meurig Caffery received the bronze medal for diving from " Teti " and saving a man in the water . Donald MacIsaac was posthumously awarded the silver medal for his command of the after part of the ship , which " undoubtedly saved many lives " from the " ferocious seas sweeping across the vessel ' s decks " . LOF presented " London Valour " s wheel to Genoa ' s " Ospedale San Martino " ( " St Martin ' s Hospital " ) in gratitude for its treatment of the injured . The company presented her Red Ensign and small bell to the harbour master of the Port of Genoa . LOF presented her main bell to the Church of England Church of the Holy Ghost in Genoa , where it is now the Sanctus bell . In popular culture . The Italian singer and songwriter Fabrizio De André wrote and sang a song " Parlando del naufragio della London Valour " ( " Speaking of the sinking of London Valour " ) . His studio recording of the song is included on his album " Rimini " released in 1978 .