Sussex historian releases two books on Eastbourne nautical history

The first is about the oil tanker, the Sitakund, in 1968, which caught fire and ran aground just off Eastbourne. An e-book is available from Amazon books: “The Sitakund Disaster. A Story of fire and explosions in the English Channel in 1968”. To find the book on Amazon, which retails at £1.99, visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C2JG3JMG

A printed booklet which retails at £5, is also available from the Eastbourne Local History Society website at https://www.eastbournehistory.org.uk/publications

Synopsis: On a quiet Autumn evening in October 1968, a large explosion at sea broke the peace. Two more explosions followed it. The residents of the seaside town of Eastbourne, East Sussex, and other nearby towns rushed into the streets to see what had caused this disturbance.A Norwegian oil tanker travelling down the English Channel caused all this excitement.Fishing boats, tugs, and a Royal Navy frigate all rushed to the aid of the vessel in distress.Our story recounts the events day by day of the crew’s rescue and the fight against the raging fire.Local firefighters with no experience fighting large fires at sea and two tugs with firefighting equipment managed to extinguish the blaze, but they could not save the tanker.

The second book, “Six ships, one name.” details the travels and adventures of six very different vessels bearing the name Eastbourne 1878-1984”; it is available from the Amazon website. To find the book on Amazon, which retails at £9.00, visit https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0993544169

Synopsis: This book relates the nautical history and stories of ships in the 19th and 20th centuries, whose only connection is that they all shared the name Eastbourne. Their stories reveal incidents covering many ports, cities, and oceans worldwide, encompassing 1878 through to 1984. We delve into these vessels’ everyday comings and goings across the oceans. We discovered fire, collisions, running aground, and one ship having her propellers removed but staying in service for many more years.

These were diverse vessels, including a fishing trawler, general cargo ships, and two Royal Navy warships. We follow them carrying on trade in peacetime, WW1 and WW2, with details about D-Day Normandy Landings preparations and shipping convoys. The book also covers a Royal Navy frigate’s involvement in the fishing dispute with Iceland, known as the Cod Wars of 1958-1973.

Stephen said, “My thanks to all the people who helped me and the various newspaper archives where I found valuable information that helped me with my research.”

Stephen LeVine has published books on the history of Sussex’s town halls and a Sussex army barracks, together with the history of Eastbourne’s Fire Brigade. Stephen was born in London and educated in Hove and London. Working for many years for a holiday tour company, in the 1970s, Stephen started his own business in retail in Swindon, Wiltshire. He moved in 1985 to Hailsham, Sussex, and became a resident of Eastbourne in 1987. As a long-term philatelist, Stephen opened a retail stamp business which turned out to be the last stamp shop in the town. Now retired, he has become an author of local history books.