The MV Prosperity was a merchant vessel built in 1943, a hardworking ship that served for decades before setting out on her final voyage. Under the steady command of Georgios Kastellorizios, she carried a cargo of timber—one last journey before she was due to be retired to a breaker’s yard.

But on the night of 16 January 1974, in fierce and unforgiving storm conditions, tragedy struck. The Prosperity’s engine failed, leaving her powerless against the sea. Driven onto La Conchée Reef, she sank in the darkness and turmoil of the storm. All 18 crew were lost—young and old, from 20‑year‑old Mess Boy Butt Tario to 48‑year‑old Chief Engineer Nicolaos Ciaooudakis. Sixteen of the crew were later found and laid to rest in the Foulon Cemetery, while the ship’s timber cargo washed up along Guernsey’s west coast, a quiet and sobering reminder of the disaster.

In the years that followed, a memorial was built on the Lihou headland, beside what is now known as the Prosperity Memorial Car Park. It stands as a place of stillness and remembrance—a marker of lives lost, families changed forever, and a community that continues to honour them.

Next Saturday, 05 September, the annual Prosperity Service will take place at the Prosperity Memorial on the L’Erée Headland at 10:30am. Though short, it is a deeply moving gathering. Each year, people come together to remember the crew of the MV Prosperity, who faced the appalling weather of that January night, and to honour all those who have been lost at sea. It is a moment of shared grief, gratitude, and quiet reflection—an act of keeping their memory alive.