Five fishermen have told how they feared for their lives as their sinking trawler began "filling up" with water in heavy seas during the pitch black of night.
The crew of the Newlyn boat Ben My Chree were 17 miles north east of the Scilly Isles when they were plucked to safety in a dramatic rescue operation shortly after midnight yesterday.
Ross Vickars, the youngest member of the crew at 19, said he was still shaken.
"I was scared, I think we all were.
"The boat was filling up with water. I looked down and the engine room was filling up and the accommodation was filling up.
"There was a good foot of water on the decks."
Skipper Stephen Hicks said at first he thought the boat could be saved, but quickly realised they had to abandon it.
"All the time she was taking on water I was thinking I wonder if I could get her home.
"But she was taking on more water and somewhere along the line you have to make the decision to go.
"Lives are more important."
The rescue operation at 12.30am yesterday, was co-ordinated by Falmouth Coastguard and is certain to spark fresh anger over proposals to scale back services at the station to just daylight hours.
Mr Hicks, 56, who co-owns the boat with his brother, John, said they were about 12 hours into their trip when he noticed puddles of water below decks.
"Before we got to the grounds she started to take on water, it was just a little bit and nothing to worry about and we carried on going.
"Then I noticed there was a little bit more water.
"She just wouldn't pump out properly.
"It came above the engine room and the water was on the floorboards."
Crewman Jamie Vickars said he realised they were in a perilous situation.
"I looked down and I could see we were taking on water so I went down to the engine room and the pumps had just stopped.
"By this point we had started steaming for home, but we had a lot of water on board. I would say it was about a foot above the decks."
The 32-year-old said he tried to stay calm for the sake of his nephew Ross, who was not as experienced a sailor as the rest of the crew.
"I didn't panic because I didn't want to panic Ross. I knew things would be in place to help us and I just tried to keep a level head."
He even found time to text his partner, Lindsey, who was back at home in Newlyn.
"I said we were taking on water. She was worried and said 'turn the boat around now.'
"I said we had done that already." Mr Hicks was already in communication with a nearby fishing vessel, the Newlyn registered CKS, and a helicopter from RNAS Culdrose was quickly on the scene, followed by a lifeboat from St Marys on the Scilly Isles.
At first, the Royal Navy crew attempted to lower a spare pump to the Ben My Chree, but in heavy seas and pitch darkness it proved too dangerous and the decision was made to just get the men off the listing boat.
The teenager was first to be winched free, followed by crewmen Finbar Jones, 28, Rod Jones 44, and finally Mr Hicks. However, the boat was veering off course and the rescue helicopter was unable to winch Mr Vickars free, who then transferred to the St Mary lifeboat and was lifted to the cabin of the Sea King helicopter from there.
The pilot, Lt Cdr Jerry Barnbrook, said they had arrived on the scene to find the 18 metre gill netter struggling in dangerous sea conditions.
"The boat was quickly going under, so a quick decision had to be made to evacuate the crew onboard.
"It was quite a challenging rescue because the boat was moving around a lot, although it was good weather, the swell was causing dangerous sea conditions."
Falmouth Coastguard spokesman Terry Collins praised the rescued crew.
"It was a very frightening situation. They had no idea if the vessel was going to stay afloat or just sink underneath them.
"They were very calm, very collected.
" The skipper gave every bit of information we required to help with a very prompt rescue."
As the night progressed, the Ben My Chree sank lower in the water, its engine stopped, its locator device ceased to transmit and its navigation lights went out.
As she started to drift across the shipping lanes around Land's End, Falmouth Coastguard issued a warning to all vessel in the area to be aware and give it a wide berth.
The top part of the ship was last night believed to be still above water.
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN