Brave Rescuers

A man wearing a uniform and cap stands on the deck of a ship. He holds a pipe in his left hand. There are hills in the background.

Chief Engineer James McKinlay

MEDAL FOR BRAVERY
The British Navy awarded this medal to James McKinlay, Chief Engineer on the SS Prospero during its efforts to rescue survivors of the Florizel disaster.

Black and white modern photograph of a metal on a ribbon.

Medal for Bravery, 1919

Some of the brave men on board the rescue ships include:

SS Terra Nova SS Prospero
Seaman Harold Clouter Captain Eugene Burden
Seaman Patrick Gallagher Captain William Windsor
Seaman Loil Hann Chief Officer James McKinlay
Seaman George Mercer Second Officer Joshua Warford
Seaman John R. Moores Boatswain William L. Crocker
Seaman Aldolphus Morey Steward Albert Starkes
Seaman Timothy Murphy Seaman Sidney Giles
Seaman Charles W. Penney Seaman Frank Walsh
Seaman Matthew Shanahan Seaman M. Walsh
Seaman George Westcott Fireman W. Ashman
Donkeyman W. O’Toole

SS Gordon C. SS Hawk
Captain E. C. Perry Captain Martin Dalton
Chief Engineer Robert Pierson Seaman Daniel Ralph
Seaman Joseph Budden Seaman Michael Whelan

SS Home
Captain M. Day
Seaman Edgar Button
Seaman Samuel Cooper
Seaman Stephen Nash
Seaman Walter J. Nash
Seaman Walter S. Reid
Seaman Michael Woodford

Gold watch.

GOLD WATCH
Captain Martin Dalton, commander of the SS Hawk, helped many survivors leave the Florizel. But on one trip, the dory he was in capsized and landed on him-it sent him to hospital once St. John’s was reached. This watch was presented to him for his rescue deeds.

Black and white archival photograph of a man with a moustache wearing a suit and tie.

Captain Nicholas Kennedy

CAPTAIN NICHOLAS KENNEDY, RESCUER
Captain Nicholas Kennedy plays an important role in rescuing the survivors of the ill-fated Florizel. He is the Captain of the SS Terra Nova and assists in taking the survivors off of the wrecked Florizel.

Captain Nicholas Kennedy describes his rescue attempts in the New York Sunday World edition on March 24, 1918 by saying “We were capsized five times but the dory was unsinkable and we righted her each time and kept on for the stranded steamer.”

He suffers from mobility issues and “creeping paralysis” for many years after the wreck. He is forced to retire early from his career at sea and spends the last twenty years of his life paralysed and bed-ridden. He dies in 1942 at the age of 65.

What Next? Consequences and Memorials