The Maltese-owned 180 foot crane barge Sampson was driven ashore at Ram Head, during a south-easterly gale on 12th December 1987, while being towed from Liverpool to Malta. The tow parted and could not be connected, owing to the gale. The crew of two were rescued by R.A.F. helicopter from Brawdy. The tug Zam Tug 2 arrived from Cork the next day and remained on stand-by for several hours, before giving up the idea of re-floating the crane ship.

There were initial fears that diesel oil from the badly holed vessel would have polluted the neighbouring beaches but such a disaster was averted by the prevailing winds. Jim Rooney (formerly of Strand Bar) got to the crane by using a rope and in order to claim salvage, stayed on board in horrendous conditions for forty days. Food and changes of clothing were lowered to him regularly during the period. The incident occasioned great publicity; Jim gave several newspaper interviews and was much photographed, but it is highly doubtful if he benefited anything from salvage money after all.

A large propeller from the Sampson was mounted outside the Commodore Hotel in Cobh in 1991. We still have the wreck at Ram Head.

(waterfordmuseum.ie/exhibit/web/Display/article/369/8/Ardmore_Memory_and_Story__The_Sea_Shipwrecks.html)

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November 4, 2022

Wikipedia (Samson (crane barge), 2022-11-04):
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samson_(crane_barge)

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Location: Waterford, Munster, Ireland

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