On 19th December 1981, in average winds of 80 miles per hour, the Union Star, a Dublin-registered coaster, making its maiden voyage to Holland with a cargo of fertiliser, and an RNLI Lifeboat, Solomon Browne, were lost at Penleee Point (near Mousehole) with all hands. 8 Mousehole men were lost, which had a huge impact on a population which is still, to this day, only around 500.

The disaster is commemerated in two different ways today. The old lifeboat house at Penlee Point, in which the Solomon Browne was housed, stands empty as a permanent memorial to the men who were lost. As well as this, on the 19th December every year at 8 PM, Mousehole's christmas lights are turned off for 1 hour. It is well worth witnessing either of these two to pay your respects to arguably the worst maritime disaster of our time.