MV Prosperity

Construction

The vessel was built in 1940 with the name MV Falkenhorst by N.V. Industrieele Maatschappij De Noord shipyard in Alblasserdam, Netherlands, as a cargo ship of the Kriegsmarine.^[1] She measured 108 metres in length and was powered by a seven-cylinder diesel engine, with a top speed of 14.5 knots.^[2][1]

Career

In 1944, the vessel was renamed Stentor and remained under the name until 1969, though in 1947 she was sold to Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij based in Amsterdam and served under the Dutch flag. In 1969, she was renamed MV Marianna and was sold to the Primavera Shipping Company based in Famagusta and began operations under the Cypriot flag. She operated under this name for two years, and in 1971, was sold to the Bahi Shipping Company and renamed Prosperity, a name she kept for the rest of her career.^[1]

Final voyage

Before her final voyage Prosperity spent three weeks, from 14 December 1973 to 4 January 1974, docked at Pateniemi in Oulu, Finland, where she was loaded with a cargo of timber. On 4 January the ship departed Finland, bound for Greece. Finnish icebreaker Varma had to smash through sea ice to clear a path so Prosperity could leave.^[1] This voyage was intended to be the ship's final voyage, and Captain Georgios Kastellorizios was instructed to unload the timber and take the vessel to a commercial breaker's yard for scrapping.^[3]

Sinking

On the night of 16 January 1974, Prosperity was navigating the English Channel during a storm.^[4] The ship suffered an engine failure as it passed Guernsey, leaving it powerless in hurricane-force winds, which swept it into La Conchée Reef, near Les Hanois.^[2] The impact tore open the hull, causing the vessel to flood and break apart, at which point the crew abandoned ship.^[5] The crew broadcast a distress signal over the radio which, abnormally, was bounced all the way back to Finland to the crew of the icebreaker Varma, whom had guided the ship out of the ice just two weeks prior.^[1]

As Prosperity sank overnight, Keith Fothergill and John Marshall were winched onto the actively sinking vessel by helicopter to search for survivors, and found none.^[6][7] All eighteen people aboard, seventeen men and one woman, were lost.^[6]

Aftermath

The bodies of 16 crewmen were recovered from the sea following the sinking of the vessel;^[3] The body of Captain Georgios Kastellorizios was never recovered.^[1] A public funeral was held, and six crew members from Pakistan were buried at Le Foulon Cemetery with full Muslim rites.^[8]

A stone memorial plaque dedicated to the crew of the vessel was erected on Lihou.^[9][10] Additionally, the car park adjacent to the site was officially named the Prosperity Memorial Car Park.^[11][12]

The remains of the ship lie scattered on the seabed at La Conchée Reef. The wreck site has become a popular destination for scuba divers.^[2][7] Furthermore, the ship's seven-cylinder diesel engine remains largely intact on the seafloor. Some pieces of the vessel are on display at Fort Grey Shipwreck Museum.^[2]