The grave of the only person killed in a fire aboard the cruise ship Bermuda more than 60 years ago has been discovered by the victim's son.

Assistant barber Percy Helme was 38 when he died in a fire aboard the Bermuda in the early hours of June 17, 1931.

He left behind his wife, two young children and 16-year-old son Cyril who worked alongside his father aboard the Furness Bermuda Line vessel as a steward.

Percy was buried in Bermuda at St. John's Church and Cyril, now 84, returned to Bermuda from his home near Liverpool with his brother Jack recently to see if he could find where his father was buried.

"I have come back on a pilgrimage of sorts,'' said Mr. Helme.

"I was working on the ship after my father, who was a barber, persuaded me to. I stayed on the Bermuda and did 12 months before it caught fire.

"My father was the only person killed on the ship in the fire.'' The search was made all the harder due to records at the Pembroke church being destroyed by vandals.

But thanks to the assistance of local shipping enthusiast Allen Soares, Cyril and Jack were able to find their father's grave.

The 19,800 ton Bermuda operated between New York and the Island from 1928 until the fire broke out on the vessel while it was tied up alongside Front Street.

After the fire wrecked the Bermuda , Mr. Helme signed on with a new vessel.

The day he boarded the Monarch of Bermuda saw a second fire destroy the Bermuda which was undergoing repairs in Belfast.

The once majestic vessel, which was purpose-built for operations in Bermuda's shallow waters and narrow channels, ended up in a scrap yard.

While in Bermuda, Mr. Helme was also trying to track down a fellow crew member who was on board the Bermuda at the same time that he was. The man, whose name Mr. Helme can no longer remember, was a bellboy on the vessel.

UP IN FLAMES -- Smoke pours from the cruise ship Bermuda as it lays alongside Front Street on June 17, 1931.