M.V. WALTER RICHTER

Dramatic pictures of this incident which speak for themselves, a lot of the ships cargo was beech timber which was shed overboard during this incident and then to lighten the ship prior to refloating, this timber presumably was to be used in local furniture production. The ship was eventually refloated and inspected / surveyed for damage sustained etc .

There is a technical difference between the jetsam which has been voluntarily cast into the sea by the crew of a ship, usually in order to lighten it in an emergency and flotsam which describes goods that are floating on the water often after a shipwreck without having been thrown in deliberately. Generally speaking, jetsam is the property of the finder, while flotsam remains the property of its original owner. Many local people were collecting the timber from the beach around the bay until the Customs stepped in to state that it was illegal to do so. I know of one local Customs Official who soon after the incident, was walking in Seaford town where someone had collected some of the timber and stacked it in their back garden. Unfortunately they stood it "on end" to dry out, thus leaving the tops visible over the garden wall, much to the delight of the Customs Officer who promptly stepped in to "Recover the property for the Crown".

Further to the flotsam/jetsam issue, I remember it as flotsam floating off and jetsam being jettisoned. In the late 70's or early 80's a freighter - the Arrosette - was forced to jettison it's deck cargo of timber to correct a list whilst in serious trouble off of Beachy Head (photos on the Newhaven lifeboat website). Everyone was waiting for this timber bounty to wash up on the shore but all but one piece travelled all the way across channel and ended up in France. The sole piece that came ashore here ended up above the bar of the Beachy Head hotel following a renovation.

I was involved in the Walter Richter original rescue as I turned up to watch, she came ashore and I got handed the 'wrong' end of the breeches buoy rope i.e. as the Coastguards and Police hauled in the 'right' end and brought the crew ashore, Roy Bellingham and I (and others) got pulled into the surf!! Luckily we had some central heating with us (a bottle of Scotch) so no harm was done. Very exciting!

What brilliant photos! It should be recorded that one of the major Dutch salvage companies had tried and failed to get the ship off the beach. Success was achieved, after careful preparation, by Newhaven Pilot Aubrey Durham with Metrec tug "Mallard". Walter Richter was of rivetted construction and despite the grounding and battering, all of the hull plates remained intact.

I remember Aubrey Durham very well, he was a great man and set me straight a fair few times. I was allowed to run his pilot cutter when they were short handed. I recall there were 3 pilots in all, one named Gerry and cant recall the name of the third one.

The other pilot was Brian.  Does anyone remember the earlier generation of pilots? Two that I recall were Mr. Cross and Mr. McHugh; Mr. Cross had first gone to sea under sail.  The pilot boats were berthed at the northern end of what became the Ballast Wharf, just down from the Ark Inn; they were clinker-built motorboats, completely open apart from a narrow coaming.

After the ship was finally refloated & docked, it was sold on and I then imagined it would go for scrap. But no, some years later it returned to Newhaven with new owners & renamed Waterdale. Clearly it had survived its ordeal better than I thought it would.

Mr Cross, the pilot mentioned by Bruce Macphee, was my great uncle, Captain William Cross, he lived with my great aunt, Dorothy E Cross at 62 Hillcrest Road.  They were originally from Hull and moved to Newhaven for uncle to 'take a shore job'. 

I came across Aubrey Durham last week in the acute ward @ Brighton Hospital. I was there with my disabled and special needs lad, in fact we're still here but Aubrey was busted out by his two sons.

I get bits of respite that I use to sail the Solent.  Aubrey regaled me with tales from his service as a Newhaven pilot. Berthing ships up a shallow river ASTERN the whole way with just one tug and one pilot craft. Identifying details and hazards on my Navionics+ charts.  Helped me with lights shapes and flags...

He came across as a great character and hugely knowledgable. It was nice to know him for a few days. That's why I took the trouble to look him up.

Yes, there aren't many places where you'd bring in large ships through a narrow entrance without two tugs. All credit to the pilots and the skippers of the Meeching, including my Dad, of course. Dad had a lot of respect for the pilots, including Aubrey.