Lady Daphne - the lucky ship

LADY DAPHNE - the LUCKY ship!

The lifeboat was launched and in the early hours of Boxing Day, they managed to get alongside to rescue the exhausted survivors. The barge careered off into the blackness, none but the pet canary left on board.
A day later she was sighted off the Scillies, heading for rock shoals. However, although only the canary was aboard, Lady Daphne managed to steer herself clear of the rocks, and a sand bar, before coming to rest in two feet of water on safe, shelving sand.

Lady Daphne was renowned for her sailing speed, being reckoned by bargemen to be "the fastest barge in the Three Channels". She was also known as a "lucky ship" following a bizarre escape in 1928,
The barge was on passage from Weymouth to Fowey in December when, in thick snow driven by a north easterly gale, the skipper was washed overboard and lost. As they drove down channel with tattered sails, out of control, the mate and third hand desperately burnt improvised flares. This forlorn gesture paid off as they were at last spotted by the Lizard signal station, their final hope, late on Christmas Day.

After a full refit, she was up and running within the year and continued trading for another forty five years, despite also being run down by a tramp steamer on the Thames at the end of the war. In short, Lady Daphne is a `lucky' ship and continues to delight all who come into contact with her.