Ww1 Admiralty Class Destroyer HMS Sylph

A Memory of Pontrhydyfen.

H.M.S. Sylph went hard aground on Aberavon Beach after breaking her towing hawsers
during a storm while being towed across Swansea Bay to be scrapped in Newport. This was in April 1927.
Attempts to haul her off with tugs were made but their efforts only rocked her back
and forth sinking her deeper into the sand. There she remained, and at low tide people walked around her gathering mussels which had encrusted her hull during her lay-up at Milford Haven since WW1. She had seen service in the Battle of Jutland .
At low tide people were allowed to go aboard and I was one of them. As a young lad, seven years of age, I can recall climbing up a ladder with my uncle and walking her deck. I found this a bit difficult because she had quite a list to her port side.
Refloating her from the beach was now impossible and she was finally scrapped on site.
My name is Gwyn Morgan - born on Arthur Street in Aberavon . I emigrated to Canada in August 1927 with my parents. Now living (92yrs. old) in Welland, Ontario, Canada. My last visit to Aberavon was in 1987, and, needless to say, saw quite a change.

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