Bangor Bay Disaster

The Bangor Bay Disaster

Three Donaghadee men perished during World War II in what has become known as the “Bangor Bay Disaster”. The three were William White (29) single of 25 Mount Street; William George Nelson (28), married with two children of East Street and Harry Aicken (21) single of 4 Bow Street. Also lost in the incident was William Anderson of Crosby Street, Bangor. White’s father Andy was coxswain of Donaghadee lifeboat and Nelson’s father David was the mechanic. Both young men also served with their fathers on the lifeboat crew.

All four of the deceased men were engaged on pilot boats based in Bangor. These were in constant service not only for merchant shipping but also the many naval vessels using Belfast Lough. On the morning of Saturday 8th May 1943 the pilot vessel “Miss Betty” left Bangor at 9.55 am to assist a ship entering the Lough. The vessel, about 49 feet long, was owned by the Admiralty but crewed by civilians under naval direction. White was the pilot on board, Nelson the coxswain, Anderson the engineer and Aicken a deck hand..

  During the trip the weather deteriorated and on the way back they had to contend with a strong Northeasterly gale. At 11.30 am they were only about 60 to 70 yards from the safety of Bangor harbour when disaster struck. The vessel successfully negotiated a number of strong waves before finally being overwhelmed by a broadside hit and capsized. The vessel did not recover.

Harry Aicken’s body was washed ashore in Bangor on the day of the disaster. His funeral was held in Donaghadee Parish Church on the following Tuesday and was well attended. Naval ratings acted as pall bearers and senior naval officers were in attendance. He was buried in the churchyard. The chief mourners were his brothers Joe and Maxwell.

The bodies of the other two Donaghadee victims were also recovered in Bangor but the body of Bangor man Anderson was washed ashore in Portpatrick. Reports were that William Nelson’s body and that of William Anderson were not recovered until some four weeks after the incident.

William George Nelson was the only one of the four victims to have been married. His widow Isobel later went on to marry Richard McNarry and lived for many years in East Street. Gordon Nelson his son lives in East Street and his sister Audrey lives in Bangor.

The Donaghadee men are commemorated on a separate plaque on the town’s War Memorial. It was some years after the war before they were finally accepted as victims of the conflict.