Drifting in a raging storm in the middle of the Irish Sea, the crew of the stricken Greek freighter, Nafsiporos, feared they’d never see their families again. Who had the skill and courage to get to them in time? It’s only 3½ weeks until Christmas.
The crew onboard the Nafsiporos, a Greek cargo ship, are preparing to get underway after a week’s stay in Liverpool where the ship’s festive cargo of fruit and nuts was unloaded. Next stop is Belfast to pick up potatoes to take back to Piraeus in Greece. The end of the voyage is in sight and crew members’ thoughts are turning to Christmas with loved ones at home.
They set off on Thursday 1 December 1966. En route, a violent storm sets in and Captain Angelo Katsoufis decides to take shelter in Douglas Bay, Isle of Man. After 20 hours, the ship sets out to cross the Irish Sea, despite the continuing storm. ‘The ship – being unladen – was too small and light to cope,’ recalls Second Officer Anestis Rokopoulos. ‘There was an imbalance.’
At the mercy of the sea Within an hour, the Nafsiporos was totally out of control. Her engines couldn’t cope: at times her propellers and rudder were being lifted clear of the water. ‘We were at the mercy of the sea,' says Anestis, who remembers being on the bridge of the 1,287-ton ship with Able Seaman Haralambos Lemperos as she pitched and rolled furiously. She was listing to as much as 30 degrees. There was only one thing they could do: they sent sent out a mayday as the ship was blown by the violent northwesterly storm towards the coast of Anglesey. Finding the Nafsiporos Douglas lifeboat crew were the first to respond. Despite heading out at a full speed of 8.5 knots in their Watson class motor lifeboat, R.A. Colby Cubbin No.1, they never caught up with the Nafsiporos. The force 11 winds were too great and had reduced visibility to less than 457m. While the Douglas crew turned back, the Holyhead volunteers were on their way. Meanwhile back on the Nafsiporos, Haralambos (or Babis as he was fondly known) and a fellow crew member tried to hoist a flag to help the ship get spotted. They lashed themselves together and inched along the deck using rope around the guard rails for extra security. Conditions meant they could only hoist the flag up to 2m high.
But this still made all the difference. It meant the Shackleton aircraft flying overhead could guide Holyhead lifeboat crew to the ship through the 10m high waves. By this point, the lifeboat crew had been battling the extremely rough conditions for 3 hours after launching in their Barnett class lifeboat, St Cybi (Civil Service No. 9). A Russian timber ship, Kungurles, was also on the scene ready to help. Hazards ahead The Nafsiporos was now dangerously close to the Anglesey coast and less than half-a-mile from the buoy marking the submerged Ethel Rock. With Holyhead lifeboat standing by, two attempts were made by the Russian crew to secure a tow rope to the drifting ship, but each time the line broke due to the ship’s constant pitching and rolling. In the end, the Kungurles captain had no choice but to leave the area for his own crew’s safety, bidding the Nafsiporos crew ‘goodbye and good luck’. In a last-ditch attempt to secure the ship, the crew of the Nafsiporos let go their port anchor. It eventually took hold at just a quarter-of-a-mile from the turbulent shallows of the notorious rocky islet of West Mouse. But the conditions were getting worse. The wind speed had increased to 100mph. The Nafsiporos was rolling up to 35 degrees in the turbulent waters. And with the sun now setting, Holyhead lifeboat crew had to work quickly to evacuate the Greek seamen before darkness hampered the rescue mission. ‘You will see your ladies and babies at Christmas’ Once they understood the lifeboat crew’s plans to evacuate the Nafsiporos, the Greek crew dropped the pilot ladder down the starboard side. Anestis was put in charge of overseeing the evacuation. He chose the youngest first. They were to go down the ladder, one by one, in lifejackets, with Anestis being the last person. The captain and three others were to stay onboard. The Greek crew watched anxiously as Holyhead Coxswain Thomas Alcock brought the lifeboat round the stern of the Nafsiporos to the starboard side. At the same time, Moelfre lifeboat crew arrived on the scene. They’d just got back from a 6-hour shout in the appalling conditions when they received the call to assist Holyhead. Standing on the bridge of the Nafsiporos, Chief Engineer John Patsoulas remembers with great emotion the message he heard over the radio from the Holyhead lifeboat: ‘You will see your ladies and babies at Christmas.’ Suddenly, the Nafsiporos rolled to starboard. Holyhead Coxswain Alcock drove St Cybi full ahead with the wheel hard to starboard to get clear but the ship caught the port side of the lifeboat, causing considerable damage. Realising he needed to oversee the rescue from the foredeck, Coxswain Alcock asked RNLI Inspector Lieutenant Commander Harold Harvey to take the wheel. As one of the Nafsiporos crew members appeared on the ladder, Lt Cdr Harvey seized the moment. Displaying outstanding boathandling
skills, he manoeuvred the lifeboat alongside while the crew on the foredeck grabbed the man and pulled him aboard. Despite the lifeboat being tossed around by the heaving sea, Lt Cdr Harvey managed to hold her steady while the crew pulled another four sailors off the ladder. Meanwhile, Moelfre Coxswain Richard ‘Dic’ Evans was bringing the Moelfre Watson class motor lifeboat Watkin Williams alongside the Nafsiporos. It took all of Coxswain Evans’s might and skill to hold the lifeboat in position as 10 more sailors
were plucked from the ladder to the safety of the lifeboat. With Captain Katsoufis and his three remaining crew members refusing to abandon ship, the two lifeboats made way for Holyhead. The Holyhead crew only stopped long enough to have a cup of tea before launching once again into the storm and pitch black darkness to standby the Nafsiporos overnight. 

Thursday 1 December 1966
Greek cargo ship Nafsiporos leaves Liverpool for Belfast across the Irish Sea Extreme storm conditions force the freighter to seek shelter in Douglas Bay on

the Isle of Man
Friday 2 December 1966
The Nafsiporos continues her journey to Belfast in the storm but sends out a mayday within the hour 8.10am Douglas lifeboat crew launch their lifeboat but are outpaced by the force 11 winds 

10.30am

Holyhead lifeboat crew launch St Cybi (Civil Service No. 9) 1.38pm Holyhead crew find the Nafsiporos, guided by a Shackleton aircraft 

2.22pm
Moelfre crew launch Watkin Williams to assist the Holyhead crew

3pm
Crew onboard the Kungurles attempt to secure a tow rope to the freighter but it fails

4pm
Moelfre crew arrive on scene, just as the Nafsiporos rolls and crashes down onto the Holyhead lifeboat

4.30pm
Holyhead crew persevere and rescue 5 of the 19 Nafsiporos crew members. Moelfre crew take over and  rescue 10 more sailors.
The Greek captain and three remaining crew members refuse to abandon ship

6.30pm
Both lifeboats reach the safety of Holyhead. Holyhead launch again soon after to standby the Nafsiporos during the night

Saturday 3 December
7am
Dutch tug Utrecht takes the Nafsiporos in tow and makes for Liverpool

8am
Holyhead crew finally return to their lifeboat station

24 hours later
By 7am the next day, the Dutch tug Utrecht arrived to tow the Nafsiporos back to Liverpool. The exhausted Holyhead lifeboat crew finally returned to station an hour later, 24 hours after the whole rescue mission had begun. Fifty years on and the Nafsiporos rescue remains one of the most outstandingRNLI rescues ever performed.

Given the challenging conditions that day, it is testament to the courage and exceptional seamanship of the Holyhead and Moelfre lifeboat crews that no lives were lost. All lifeboat volunteers were were reunited with their families, including 17-year-old Graham Drinkwater. It has been his first experience of a rescue. And, true to the Holyhead crew’s words, the Greek
seamen were reunited with their ‘ladies and babies’, although not in time for Christmas – which they had to spend in Liverpool. After disembarking the Nafsiporos in Piraeus, Anestis, Babis and John never saw each other again until they were reunited in October 2014 (left). The emotional reunion saw the men sharing precious photos of their families and grandchildren; and for that they will always be indebted to the RNLI.
Words: Vicki Lovegrove-Fray
Photos: Liverpool Daily Post and Echo, RNLI/Eleanor
Driscoll 

Awards for bravery

For their outstanding seamanship, tremendous courage and great leadership,

RNLI Inspector Lieutenant Commander Harold Harvey, Acting Coxswain of the Holyhead lifeboat, and Moelfre Coxswain Richard (Dic) Evans were each awarded an RNLI Gold Medal for Gallantry.
Holyhead Coxswain Thomas Alcock, Holyhead Motor Mechanic Eric Jones and Moelfre Mechanic Evan Owens each received a Silver Medal for Gallantry.
All other lifeboat crew members each received a Bronze Medal for Gallantry:
HOLYHEAD
Second Coxswain William Jones
Acting Bowman Francis Ward
Acting Assistant Mechanic
Jack Sharpe
Crew Member John Hughes
Crew Member Graham
Drinkwater
Crew Member Brian Stewart
MOELFRE
Second Coxswain Donald Francis
Bowman Hugh Owen Assistant Mechanic
William Davies
Crew Member David Evans
(son of Coxswain Evans)
Crew Member Hugh Jones
Crew Member Captain
David Jeavons