The RNLI and people from across Cornwall and the country are remembering the lives lost 34 years ago during what became known as the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster.
Lifeboat volunteers and members of the public paid tribute on social media to the eight lifeboatmen who lost their lives while attempting to rescue the crew of the Union Star on December 19, 1981.
On Twitter, volunteers from RNLI stations across Cornwall, such as Newquay, Falmouth and St Ives, paid tribute to the crew that lost their lives in heavy seas trying to rescue the crew of the Union Star. The ship had lost both her engines in the heavy seas, eventually calling in the lifeboat Solomon Browne from Penlee for assistance.
Despite being able to rescue four of the eight members of the crew of the Union Star, both ships were lost in the storm, a total of 16 dead. The crew of the Solomon Browne were all given posthumous medals for their actions.
The people of Mousehole turned off their Christmas lights at 8pm in remembrance of the 16 people who died 34 years ago.