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Athina B

Anchor of Athina B, located east of Brighton Pier

From the private collection of Mike Stone

All they left was the anchor

By Mike Stone, Entertainer

"This anchor is all that's left of the Athina B, a boat which was washed up on Brighton seafront in 1980. I woke up one morning in Kemp Town, walked down on to the seafront, and there was this great big, rusty old boat on the beach. Apparently it was shipwrecked in the night. On the beach, instead of pebbles, there were all these little grey stones which apparently were the boat's cargo. The boat was towed out about two days later, and all they left was the anchor."

Image and text from the 'My Brighton' exhibit

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments about this page

Mr Stone is incorrect when he states that the vessel was only on the beach a couple of days before it was towed off. It actually stayed on the beach a few weeks before it was unloaded and towed off the beach. The reason that I know this was because I was the Coxswain of the Shoreham that rescued the crew from the Athine B and we later went down to Brighton with the Lifeboat to assist when the tug towed the vessel off during the dense fog that was prevailing on that day.

By Ken Voice (05/11/2003)

I also went along to see the ship stranded on the beach. It must have been in January or February 1980, as that was when I was working at a show in the Norfolk Hotel, and we all took time out to have a look. The load I was told was pumice stone.

By John Desborough (06/11/2003)

I'd like to thank you Ken and the rest of the Shoreham lifeboat crew for saving my family and the rest of the ship's crew in such dangerous circumstances. I am one of the captain's daughters whom you saved that day. My family have never forgotten how brave and selflessly you all acted. I remember jumping off the ship into the lifeboat and having to time it to coincide with a wave lifting the boat to the height of the ship and the arms of a crew member waiting to catch me. Thank you to all of you.

By Gillian Tsiknas (05/08/2008)

I was in Brighton only last week and, walking from the pier after a night out, pointed out the anchor of the ship to my girlfriend on the way back to our car. I asked her if she knew about the shipwreck as she had lived in the area for some time but it was way before her move to Brighton - so I told her the story. I remember seeing it when I was 7 years old, I came up from Croydon with my Mum, Dad and Sister to see the sight. I remember that it really scared me as I thought it might fall over and squash us. Only just looking on the net this evening - actually found this blog about the actual event, which was very interesting. Mjs

By Marc James (26/08/2009)