Launch a Memory Whitby

James Rendall

My grandfather James Rendall was lost at sea on 26 October 1953 when the merchant ship Islandmagee took on water and sank, taking with her the entire crew – including my grandfather, gone at the age of only 52. In what the papers referred to as a “double tragedy”, the rescue lifeboat named the Arbroath, which was dispatched to the scene after being alerted by rocket flares and calls of mayday on the radio, also went down. All but one of her crew perished as well.