Volume XLVIII Number 480

The

LifeboatJournal of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution Summer 1982 25p

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THELIFEBOAT

Summer 1982

ContentsLifeboat Services 77

Volume XL VIII The Naming of the 52ft Relief Lifeboat Dwctoso/Ken/ 85

Number 480Grim but Glorious: the days of oar and sail, by Ray Kipling, public relations

officer RNLI 86

Chairman • Annual General Meeting and Presentation of Awards 88

THE DUKE OE ATHOI.L

Letters 95Director and Secretary:REAR ADMIRAL W. J. GRAHAM, CB MNI

An Epilogue to the loss of Solomon Browne, from Dr D. W. L. Leslie,Chairman, Penlee Station Branch 96

Lifeboat People 97

Tulip Lifeboat: at Spalding Flower Parade, by Theo Stibbons, Chairman,Spalding and District Branch 98

Editor: nnJ O A N D A V . K S Sh0relme "

Some Ways of Raising Money 100Headquarters:Royal National Lifeboat Institution,West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 Lifeboat Services, December, 1981, January and February, 1982 1051HZ (Telephone Poole 671133).Telex: 41328. n , ,,„Books 107London Office:Royal National Lifeboat Institution,202 Lambeth Road. London SE1 7JW Index to Advertisers 108

(Telephone 01-928 4236).

COVER PICTURE

The crew of St Peter Port, Guernsey, 52ftArun class lifeboat Sir William Arnold who,on December 13, 1981, in winds gusting tohurricane force rescued 29 people from theEcuadorian motor vessel Bonita (see page77). It was a service for which a gold medalwas awarded to the coxswain and the bronzemedal to each of his crew. (Back row, I to r):Crew Member Richard Hamon, CoxswainMichael Scales, Second Coxswain PeterBougourd, Crew Member John Bougourdand Crew Member Peter Bisson. (Front row,I to r): Crew Member John Webster, AssistantMechanic Alan Martel and Motor MechanicRobert Vowles. The photograph was taken byMargaret Murray on South Bank, London,before the 1982 presentation of awards.

Editorial: All material submitted forconsideration with a view to publica-tion in the journal should be addressedto the editor, THE LIFEBOAT, RoyalNational Lifeboat Institution, WestQuay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ(Telephone Poole 671133). Photo-graphs intended for return should beaccompanied by a stamped and addres-sed envelope.

Next issue: the autumn issue of THELIFEBOAT will appear in October andnews items should be sent by the end ofJuly. News items for the winter issueshould be sent in by the end of October.

Advertisements: All advertisingenquiries should be addressed toDyson Advertising Services, PO Box9, Godalming, Surrey (TelephoneGodalming (04868) 23675).

Subscription: A year's subscription offour issues costs £1.40, including post-age, but those who are entitled toreceive THE LIFEBOAT free of chargewill continue to do so. Overseas sub-scriptions depend on the cost of postageto the country concerned. Write toRNLI, West Quay Road, Poole, DorsetBH15 1HZ.

Printers: The Friary Press, Grove Trad-ing Estate, Dorchester, Dorset.

73

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NOTES OFTHE QUARTER

THE DUKE OF ATHOLL, chairman of theRNLI, praised the courage of the Pen-lee lifeboat crew lost last December andof their families at the annual generalmeeting of the governors of the RNLIheld in London on Tuesday morningMay 11. The Duke described the crewof Solomon Browne as ...

'. . .fine, well-trained lifeboatmen'who, when the call came 'in the finesttraditions of the lifeboat service . . . didnot hesitate to set out to help otherseafarers in distress.'

Of the families, who attended theafternoon meeting to receive medals forgallantry awarded to the men, he said:

'They have been an example to thewhole country. In the midst of greatsorrow and harrowing publicity they haveremained dignified and calm. They haveearned our respect, admiration andsupport.'

The Duke announced that a publicenquiry into the disaster at Penlee had

been ordered by the Department ofTrade.

Speaking of the Institution's financialposition, the Duke of Atholl reportedthat the RNLI's income increased by17.4 per cent in 1981 to reach almost£14 million, the target figure for theyear. He praised the fund raisers andsaid:

'// shows that our voluntary system isstrong enough to weather economicstorms and to continue to provide themoney to build and maintain a first classfleet of lifeboats, giving the nation unrival-led value for money.'

At the afternoon meeting HRH Prin-cess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester, pre-sented the gold medal for gallantryawarded posthumously to CoxswainTrevelyan Richards to his mother, MrsMary Richards, and the bronze medalsawarded to the seven members of hiscrew to members of their families. ThePrincess also presented the gold medalto Coxswain Michael Scales of St PeterPort for the rescue of 29 people fromthe cargo vessel Bonita in hurricaneforce winds last December; the bronzemedal was presented to each of hisseven crew.

A full report of the annual meetingsbegins on page 88.

New Penlee lifeboatThe new lifeboat for Penlee will be a

52ft Arun which will lie afloat in New-lyn Harbour. The lifeboat is being paidfor by the Robinson Charitable Trustand will be named Mabel Alice after MrDavid Robinson's wife. The boat isunder construction at Fairey AlldayMarine in Cowes and is expected toarrive at Newlyn next spring. Mean-while Penlee lifeboat station is operat-ing the 46ft 9in Watson class lifeboatGuy and Clare Hunter which wasformerly stationed at St Mary's, Isles ofStilly.

First slipway launching and recovery trials for the prototype 47ft Tyne class fast slipway lifeboatCity of London were successfully completed at Selsey lifeboat station in the spring. Selsey's own48ft (tin Oaklev lifeboat Charles Henry is at moorings in background.

Princess of Wales lifeboatHer Majesty The Queen has given

permission for the new 37ft 6in Rotherlifeboat at Barmouth to be namedPrincess of Wales. The lifeboat waspartly funded by an appeal throughoutWales to celebrate the Royal Weddinglast year and more than £50,000 wasraised. A cheque for this amount waspresented by the Lord Mayor of Car-diff, Councillor Ronald F. Watkiss, tothe Duke of Atholl, chairman of theInstitution, who thanked the people ofWales for supporting the appeal sogenerously and described the cheque as'. . . a splendid result and a most wel-come boost to our funds'.

Royal luncheon partySuperintendent Coxswain Brian Bev-

an of Humber lifeboat station wasinvited by HM The Queen to a privateluncheon party at Buckingham Palaceon May 18. Coxswain Bevan, who holdsthe gold, silver and bronze medals forgallantry, received a bar to his bronzemedal at the recent annual presentationof awards.

US Navy League dinnerHRH Princess Anne was guest of

honour at the dinner organised by theUnited Kingdom Counil of the NavyLeague of the United States on April 2at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich.The dinner was in aid of the RNLI. Itwas one of the largest social eventsorganised by the US Navy League inLondon in recent years and one of themajor fund-raising items on the pro-gramme was a grand auction. Thedinner strengthened links between theRNLI and US citizens both in thiscountry and in the United States, whohave already provided the money fortwo Atlantic 21 class lifeboats.

Tyne class lifeboatsThe RNLFs 47ft fast slipway lifeboats

will be known as the Tyne class in linewith the Institution's policy of usingnames of rivers for lifeboat classes.Tyne was chosen to reflect the closeconnection of Mr P. Denham Christie,chairman of the Boat Committee, withthe fast slipway boat project; Mr Den-ham Christie comes from Newcastleand he served as coxswain of Tyne-mouth lifeboat from 1953 to 1963.

The first of the Tyne class lifeboats,City of London, has started trials whichwill include extensive sea passagesaround the coast. The second Tyne classlifeboat is building at Fairey AlldayMarine, Cowes, and is due to be laun-ched during the summer.

Design Council Awards 1982The RNLI has received a Design

Council Award for the Arun class life-boat. Certificates were presented byHRH The Duke of Edinburgh, to Mr P.Denham Christie, chairman of the BoatCommittee, and Lt-Cdr H. E. Over,chief technical officer, at a special

75

luncheon in the Barbican Centre onApril 28, In all, awards were made to34 different products, in six differentclasses, between them forming a crosssection of fine British design andcraftsmanship.

In presenting its entry, the RNLIgave as the essential principle of theArun that the hull, machinery andequipment is so arranged that a wholehost of operations can be carried out ina comparatively small but highly com-plex vehicle without overdue interfer-ence by one operation with another;

Mr P. Denham Christie, chairmanof the Boat Committee, on behalfof the Institution receives fromHRH The Duke of Edinburgh aDesign Council Award certificatefor the Arun class lifeboat. Fac-similes of the certificate have beensent to each of the 17 stations whichoperate Arun lifeboats. Arun hullsare moulded by Halmatic ofHavant and the lifeboats are fittedout by Halmatic, William Osborneof Littlehampton, Fairey Marine ofCowes or Souters of Cowes.

photograph by courtesy ofDerek Rowe (Photos) Ltd

and that all operations can be per-formed, when necessary, in extremeconditions of wind and sea.

At the time the entry was made, atthe end of the summer 1981, Arunlifeboats had been at sea on service formore than 3,000 hours, rescuing 455people and landing 256, all of whichfigures have, of course, since increased.Although rescues have been performedin winds up to hurricane force andtremendous seas, no Arun has capsizedand no crew member has been lost orseriously disabled. In the past few

years, three services for which goldmedals have been awarded have beencarried out in Arun class lifeboats.

The Design Council judges studied allaspects of the lifeboat's design andfitting out and visited the Arun atYarmouth, Isle of Wight, where theywere taken for a demonstration run,before making the award '. . . for theexcellence of the design'.

After the award ceremony, the Dukeof Edinburgh inspected the Arun life-boat Duchess of Kent which had beennamed in London by the Duchess theprevious day (see page 85).

Surf Life Saving anniversaryThe Surf Life Saving Association of

Australia celebrates its seventy-fifthanniversary this year and Rear AdmiralW. J. Graham, director RNLI, sent thefollowing telegram to Sydney:

'On behalf of the chairman and Com-mittee of Management of the RoyalNational Lifeboat Institution, our crews,staff and supporters, may I convey to all atSurf Life Saving Association of Australiaour heartiest congratulations on this yourseventy-fifth anniversary and our bestwishes for a prosperous and safe future.'

Arthur Lowe

It was with great sorrow that theInstitution heard the news of the deathon April 15 of Arthur Lowe.

Mr Lowe, who will always be affec-tionately remembered as 'CaptainMainwaring', had been a loyal andgreatly valued supporter of the lifeboatservice for many years. To members ofTwickenham and District branch, whichhe served as vice-president from 1970and then, from 1977, as president, hewas a personal friend upon whose un-stinted help reliance could always beplaced. There have been many lifeboat

functions both at Twickenham and else-where in the country to which ArthurLowe gave his support, either on hisown or, as Captain Mainwaring, at thehead of 'Dad's Army'; if his profes-sional life would allow, he would neverrefuse to use the little spare time he hadfor the good of the men he consideredto be second to none, the lifeboatcrews.

In 1977, at the London Boat Show,the RNLI public relations award waspresented to Arthur Lowe and othermembers of that staunch band of life-boat supporters, the cast of 'Dad'sArmy'.

Maundy MoneyErnest Pavey, who had worked for

the RNLI for 42 years, first on the coastand finally as machinery examiner,Boreham Wood depot, has presented tothe Institution the Maundy Moneywhich he received from HM The Queenin 1981.

RNLI AGM and presentation of awardsmeeting 1982: Tuesday May 17.

XIV International Lifeboat Conference:Gothenburg, Sweden, June 5 to 9,1983.

33ft Brede classA 33FT BREDE class lifeboat, 33-02, is nowat Oban undergoing station evaluationtrials.

The Brede is a new type of lifeboat

based on a commercial GRP hull. As aresult of initial development work herwheelhouse has been extended to pro-vide the buoyancy necessary to give heran inherent self-righting capability; italso allows good access to her engines as

virtually the whole of the wheelhousefloor, formed of hatches, can be liftedup. The coxswain's position is on thecentreline, with good all-round vision.Her twin Caterpillar 3208 NA dieselengines, developing 210 bhp at 2,800rpm, give the lifeboat a maximum speedof more than 19 knots and a range of125 nautical miles. On her early trialsshe has shown herself to be a seakindlyboat. She was built by Lochin Marine ofRye and normally carries a crew of four.

33-02 will be named Ann Ritchie andis the gift of Mrs J. B. Ritchie who hasalready donated the 37ft Oakley JamesBall Ritchie stationed at Ramsey andthe 54ft Arun The Gough Ritchiestationed at Port St Mary, Isle of Man.

The Brede class lifeboat was intro-duced to meet an operational require-ment for a boat between the rigidinflatable Atlantic 21 class and thelarger lifeboats. During her evaluationperiod at Oban she will operate witharbitrary limitations on launches insevere weather while her capabilitiesare being assessed.

76

South West Division

Twenty-nine rescuedA MAYDAY RELAY message from the Dan-ish motor vessel Charlottenburg washeard by St Peter Port Signal Station at1323 on Sunday December 13, 1981.Charlottenburg was going to the assist-ance of Bonita, an Ecuadorian motorvessel in distress in the English Channelin position 50°00'N, 02°54'w. Bonitahad developed a list of 40 degrees tostarboard. She had 36 people on boardincluding women and children.

St Peter Port crew had assembledaboard the 52ft Arun lifeboat Sir Wil-liam Arnold some time earlier becausea vessel was adrift in the harbour andwas in danger of fouling the lifeboat. Amessage was radioed to her by the sta-tion honorary secretary and, while shewas carefully checked for a prolongedservice in heavy weather, the honorarysecretary gathered further informationregarding the casualty. He could notcontact Brixham Coastguards, whowere suffering a temporary power fai-lure caused by the storm, but learnedfrom Portland Coastguard that helicop-ters were not available at Portland andthat Torbay lifeboat was already goingto the help of a yacht. The honorarysecretary immediately instructed St Pe-ter Port lifeboat to launch on service;Sir William Arnold slipped her moor-ings at 1400 under the command of Cox-swain Michael Scales and set out at fullspeed.

The wind from the south was blowinga storm force 10 and gusting to hurri-cane force 12. Driving snow and seaspray had reduced visibility to 200yards. The sea was extremely rough andconfused with overfalls. Low water,spring tide, coincided with the lifeboat'sdeparture.

Course was set north through LittleRussel Channel, but the radar wasblanked out by heavy snow showers andthe boat was navigated by Decca. NearBrehon Tower Sir William Arnoldbroached for the first time but full speedwas resumed immediately. On clearingLittle Russel Channel, abeam of PlatteFougere Lighthouse, a course of 310°Mwas set, allowing 20 degrees for leeway.Approaching the traffic separation zoneabout threequarters of an hour later,

the lifeboat broached again; she was tobroach six more times on passage to thecasualty but full speed was maintainedthroughout.

At about 1553 St Peter Port lifeboatpassed within two miles to the east ofChannel Lightvessel, adjusted hercourse to 305°M and confirmed her ex-pected time of arrival as 1620. From in-formation received by radio, it wasapparent to Coxswain Scales that Boni-ta was drifting 280°T at 2.5 knots. At1621 he had five targets on his radar andhad 3V2 miles to go.

At 1630 the lifeboat arrived on scene.It was dusk. The wind, from south southeast, was still blowing at force 11 andthis violent storm had created a sea of15 metres. Visibility had improved andCoxswain Scales was able to see twohelicopters and also four large vesselsround the casualty, all well lit by decklights. He knew that four people hadbeen lifted off by a Sea King helicopterfrom RNAS Culdrose in daylight andflown to RNAS Portland, but all subse-quent attempts at rescue had failed.

Bonita was lying on a heading of250°T, listing 45 degrees to starboard,presenting her high side to the wind androlling heavily. Her lee rails and stan-chions were well in the water, as was thestarboard wing of her bridge, and someseas were sweeping right over herdecks. Several mooring ropes, drumsand large pieces of timber were floating,trapped on her lee side.

St Peter Port lifeboat approached thestarboard midship area of the casualtyand saw a man at the wheelhouse win-dow. She then manoeuvred round thestern and found the crew of Bonitaassembled on the high side of the ship,beneath the bridge. A pilot ladder wasrigged near the crew. Coxswain Scalesrecognised that he could not effect arescue from either side of the vessel andso indicated to the crew that they mustmake their way to the stern.

One man attempted to move aft in-board of the rails. He fell, breaking hisleg. His companions could do no morethan lash him to the hatch to prevent hisbeing swept overboard. The remaindermoved aft clambering along the out-board, high side of the rails.

At the stern Coxswain Scales foundthat his lifeboat was rising level withBonita's after deck on each crest andfalling below the bottom edge of herrudder in the troughs, a distance of 50feet. He could not lie alongside thetransom because the rudder projectedbeyond it and so he ran in, presentinghis port side to the transom. Three menjumped to the lifeboat but their timingwas poor and they fell some 25 feet tothe deck. One man struck the lifeboat'sstanchions and deckhouse and was bad-ly injured. The lifeboat was sweptround the stern into the debris but, byusing his outboard, starboard, engineonly, Coxswain Scales was able to comeclear without fouling his propellers andlie off down wind of the casualty.

Coxswain Scales now approached

head-on to the transom. Second Cox-swain Peter Bougourd was stationedforward and the crew were stationeddown the port side, all secured by theirlifelines. While the lifeboat was heldunder helm and engines, some four tosix feet from the transom, Second Cox-swain Bougourd threw the heaving lineaboard Bonita; the wind prevented theline being passed from a greater dis-tance. The run of the swell was trying tocarry the stern of the lifeboat round thestern of the ship into the debris and thesurge was trying to sweep her on to thedeck of the casualty. Two womenattached the heaving line around them-selves. As they jumped into the sea, thelifeboat came gently astern on her en-gines until she was two boat lengthsfrom Bonita. The survivors were thenpulled to the lifeboat and recoveredfrom the lower side deck aft. They weretaken to the deckhouse where MotorMechanic Robert Vowles attended tothem. From a distance of five boatlengths the next approach was made.

Five people were rescued in this way.Twice survivors let go of the line whenthey were in the water and then swamclear of the casualty. The lifeboat crewpicked them up from the water whenthey came clear of the debris.

At this time, about 1715, the windshifted to the north west and increasedslightly. This further confused the sea atthe stern of the casualty. One man,without a lifejacket, fell from the sternof Bonita while the lifeboat was re-covering the next survivor. He wasswept into the debris and down the star-board side of the motor vessel. Havingrecovered the survivor in hand, the life-boat made off to search for the manwho had fallen but Charlottenburg re-ported that she could see him and heappeared to be dead. Coxswain Scalesreturned to the casualty to take offmore survivors.

In the confused sea at the stern of thecasualty the lifeboat continued to rescuesurvivors using the heaving linemethod. It was now imperative that thelifeboat was held with her bow at rightangles to the centre of the transom,otherwise the wind or swell would havecarried her round on to Bonita's quar-ters. Some runs in had to be abandonedin order to avoid severe damage to thelifeboat and during one violent asternmanoeuvre first one engine, then theother, failed. Although both were re-started quickly, the bow of the lifeboatwas trapped under the chine of Bonita'stransom until the lifeboat's engines pul-led her astern. Second CoxswainBougourd remained in his very danger-ous position forward.

From an estimated total of 50 runs into the transom, ten runs had to be madeto take off one man. He sat without alifejacket and with his legs over theside. Each time he caught the heavingline, but could not hold on to it. Thesecond coxswain finally persuaded himto wrap the line around his hands andthen pulled him into the sea.

77

Having recovered 16 survivors, Cox-swain Scales took his lifeboat upwind ofBonita while he gave his crew a respitefor a few minutes, in good view of thecasualty. In the freezing temperatureand constant heavy spray, circulationwas restored, aching muscles wereeased and lifelines were adjusted. Thenthe lifeboat once again approachedBonita's transom. During the respite, ahelicopter made several attempted res-cues and succeeded in lifting off oneman.

Using the heaving line method, thelifeboat crew continued to recover sur-vivors, although frequently engulfed byseas coming aboard. One man was notbreathing when he was lifted aboard.Crew Member John Webster took in-stant action to expel water from hismouth before passing him into thewheelhouse. In the wheelhouse MotorMechanic Vowles was helping the survi-vors out of wet clothes and then helpingthem down into the forward and aftercabins, where the heaters were full on.

The captain of Bonita was the lastman to be recovered by the lifeboat. Heconfirmed that only one man remainedon board. As he had a broken leg, hecould not be moved to the transom.Royal Fleet Auxiliary Olna, which hadaccepted the duties of on scene com-mander on her arrival at 1706, told Cox-swain Scales that a helicopter was re-turning, having refuelled, and would tryto lift off the one remaining man. Cox-swain Scales asked Brixham Coastguardthat Torbay lifeboat, already nearingthe scene, should continue coming togive the helicopter help. In view of theserious condition of his severely-injuredsurvivor, Coxswain Scales then setcourse for Brixham.

Torbay lifeboat, the 54ft Arun Ed-ward Bridges (Civil Service No. 37) had,in the meantime, launched on service togo to the help of the yacht Talvez andher crew of five. The first call came at1347 when Coxswain Arthur Curnowheard the yacht calling Brixham Coast-guard but getting no response. Dis-covering that this was due to the powerfailure, Coxswain Curnow went to theharbour and called Talvez on a localtrawler's radio. Talvez was unsure ofher position east of Berry Head in theterrible weather and needed help. Cox-swain Curnow informed the Coastguardand Torbay station honorary secretary,who authorised an immediate launch,and Edward Bridges slipped her moor-ings at 1414. She headed for the area sixmiles east of Berry Head given by Tal-vez, but while on passage heard fromBrixham Coastguard, whose power hadbeen restored. The Coastguard werenow able to give the yacht's bearing, sothe lifeboat altered course to search anew area south south east of BerryHead. She eventually came up with Tal-vez at 1545. The yacht, which had lo-wered her sails, was motoring but run-ning out of fuel; there were rock shoalsl'/2 miles to leeward. A heaving line wasused to pass a tow, the towline was se-78

cured to the yacht's mast and coursewas set for Brixham. Both vessels weresurfing in the huge following swell andseas which made progress difficult anderratic and at one stage the tow had tobe slipped, cleared and passed again.

When, at 1700, Torbay honorarysecretary was informed of the plight ofBonita, and the help of Torbay lifeboatwas requested, Edward Bridges and hertow still had some way to go to harbour.No other vessel was available to takeover the tow, so Edward Bridges con-tinued to Brixham with Talvez. Theyacht was safely moored at 1745 and hercrew landed. Torbay lifeboat then tookon three additional crew, dry oilskinsand provisions and at 1800 set out tohelp St Peter Port lifeboat.

It was 1954 when St Peter Port life-boat set course for Brixham. Only min-utes after leaving Bonita, the lifeboatfell into a deep trough while steaminginto a force 10 to 11 head wind and headseas. Speed was reduced to make thebest possible progress while preventingfurther injury to the survivors.

Torbay lifeboat continued on herway, but when about a mile from Bonitashe heard that the one injured man re-maining on board had been rescued bythe French tug Abeille Languedoc,which had been standing by. At 2010,the injured man was seen to slip fromhis position on the stern hatch cover,regain a handhold, and finally fall intothe sea. Captain Claude Jouin, masterof Abeille Languedoc, waited until theman was clear of Bonita's masts andthen moved in and rescued him fromthe water. As she was, therefore, nolonger needed, Torbay lifeboat was re-leased and started her return passage toher station.

St Peter Port lifeboat arrived at Brix-ham at 2313, where she was met bymembers of Torbay station; CoxswainScales kept the survivors on board untilblankets had been provided to ease theshock of emerging into the bitterly coldnight air. The crew of St Peter Port life-boat, by now exhausted, spent the nightat Brixham; they sailed for their homeport at 1030 the following day, with onlyminimal damage to their lifeboat. At1430 that day, Monday December 14,Sir William Arnold was again on stationand at 1500 she was ready for service.

Meanwhile, Torbay lifeboat had ar-rived back at Brixham at 0400 on De-cember 14.

The injured survivor died two dayslater. Bonita was last seen at 0500 onDecember 14 and it was later confirmedthat she had sunk in position 50°04.4N,02°30.2'w.

For this service the gold medal forconspicuous gallantry was awarded toCoxswain Michael J. Scales of St PeterPort lifeboat and the bronze medal wasawarded to each of his crew: SecondCoxswain Peter N. Bougourd, MotorMechanic Robert L. Vowles, AssistantMechanic Alan F. Martel and CrewMembers John Webster, John P.Bougourd, Peter J. Bisson and Richard

J. Hamon. A framed letter of thankssigned by the Duke of Atholl, chairmanof the Institution, was sent to CaptainClaude Jouin, master of the French tugAbeille Languedoc and letters of appre-ciation signed by Rear Admiral W. J.Graham, director of the Institution,were sent to the commanding officers ofRoyal Naval Air Stations Portland andCuldrose and to the masters of RFA Olnaand MV Charlottenburg. Letters signedby Rear Admiral Graham were also sentto Captain B. J. Anderson, Torbay sta-tion honorary secretary, expressing theInstitution's appreciation to CoxswainArthur Curnow and his crew for the ser-vice to Talvez and for the help given bymembers of the station to the crew of StPeter Port lifeboat and the survivors ofBonita, and to Inspector R. Willcox ofPaignton, expressing appreciation forthe support of the Police.

East Division

Listing coasterHUMBER COASTGUARD informed Superin-tendent Coxswain Brian Bevan of Hum-ber lifeboat station at 2256 on SundayDecember 13, 1981, that the coasterHarry Mitchell was north of HumberLightvessel with her cargo shifted and alist of 30 degrees. By 2304 the crewwere mustered and at the same time theCoastguard told Coxswain Bevan thatthe coaster had five crew on board, herradar was not working and communica-tions had been lost.

Humber lifeboat, the 54ft Arun Cityof Bradford IV, slipped her moorings atSpurn Point at 2318 and set out onservice. It was a heavily overcast nightwith continuous snow; visibility was l'/2miles. A storm, force 10, was blowingfrom south east. It was 4V2 hours afterhigh water.

Within five minutes of leaving hermoorings the lifeboat felt the full forceof the south-easterly storm against thespring ebb. Speed had to be reduced toavoid excessive pounding in rollinghead seas. Communications had beenre-established between Harry Mitchelland the Coastguard, who reported herposition as 4.4 miles north north east ofHumber Lightvessel. A north-north-easterly course was set for this position,and now the weather was on the life-boat's beam. Heavy breaking seas con-stantly knocked her down the swellside, but a speed of 14 knots wasmaintained.

Information came from the Coast-guard that an RAF Wessex helicopterhad been requested from Leconfieldand an RAF Sea King helicopter fromBoulmer. At 0020 the lifeboat maderadio contact with Harry Mitchell and at0039 she sighted the casualty.

The south-easterly storm was nowgusting to violent storm, force 11, withheavy breaking seas and a 20ft swell,Harry Mitchell was trying to hold herhead up into wind and sea but she washaving great difficulty as her rudder and

Newhaven, Sunday December 13: Soon aftermidday two calls were received in quicksuccession. A gale, gusting above force 10,was blowing from south south east; the springtide was in the first hour of the ebb and seas inthe harbour and at the harbour entrance weremountainous when the 44ft Wavenev relieflifeboat 44-001, on temporary duty at New-haven, set out under the command of Cox-swain/Mechanic Len Patten to go to the helpof a yacht in trouble. When about two mileswest of Newhaven a message came that the25ft trawler Orlando had capsized 50 yardseast of the harbour breakwater. The yachtreported that she was now safely under way,so the Waveney headed back for the trawlerwreckage. Meanwhile, the 46ft 9in Watsonrelief lifeboat Tynesider, whose home portwhen not on relief station dutv is Newhaven,was launched under the command of formerCoxswain Edgar Moore. The Waveney pick-ed up one fisherman from the wreckage ofOrlando, but although the two lifeboats andan RN helicopter searched for some timenothing could be found of the other memberof the trawler's crew. (Right) conditionsinside the bight of Newhaven breakwater arm.(Below) Waveney lifeboat 44-001 entering

harbour with one survivor from Orlando onboard, photographs by courtesy of G. Jones

propeller were often clear of the water.She was listing 30 degrees to port withbaulks of timber hanging over her portside and, as she rolled, her port side upto the middle of her deck hatches was attimes submerged. Her captain asked forhis crew to be taken off and, to makethis possible, Coxswain Bevan askedhim to turn to port and take up anorth-westerly heading.

The Wessex helicopter, which hadhad to put down at Easington to clearsnow from her engine intakes, arrivedoverhead at 0102. However, because ofthe ferocity of the weather and theviolent movement of the cargo vessel,winching would have been hazardous.

In preparation for going alongsideHarry Mitchell's starboard quarter, thelifeboat's port bow was fendered andthree crew members took up positionson the starboard bow ready to grabsurvivors. Assistant Mechanic PeterThorpe operated the searchlight.

The first approach was made at 0105,but it had to be broken off and thelifeboat's engines put full astern as aheavy breaking sea hit the casualtyexposing her propeller and rudder

Three men could be seen in the sternsheltering from the breaking seas. Asecond approach also had to be aban-doned as a heavy sea pushed the life-boat towards Harry Mitchell's stern.Then, as both vessels bottomed in atrough, the lifeboat was edged along-side and one survivor jumped; he land-ed on the lifeboat's stem and hung on tothe stem fairlead, where he was grabbedby the lifeboatmen and dragged in-board. The lifeboat cleared astern.

On the next approach, as the twovessels came close together, a large sealifted the lifeboat stern and HarryMitchell started to fall down on to her;the lifeboat engines were put full asternand such was the angle of the two boatsthat the side of the casualty scrapedpaint off and slightly damaged the topof the lifeboat pulpit rail.

A second survivor was taken offsuccessfully at the next attempt, butthree more approaches had to be madebefore the third survivor was taken off,at 0114. Harry Mitchell's captain nowsaid he and the mate would remain onboard and try to take his vessel to theHumber. The Wessex helicopter pilot

congratulated the lifeboat and said hewould return to base. The Sea Kinghelicopter had by this time reachedFlamborough Head, flying at 140 knotsbut only making 50 knots over theground in the prevailing conditions; shealso was released.

Harry Mitchell was now six milesnorth north east of Humber Lightvesseland her captain managed to turn herhead to sea. Then, with the lifeboat asescort, she started to creep towards theHumber. At 0542, in moderating condi-tions in the River Humber, a pilotboarded and the lifeboat put the threemen they had taken off back on thecargo vessel. The lifeboat returned tostation at 0600 and by 0623 was re-moored and ready for service.

For this service a bar to his bronzemedal was awarded to SuperintendentCoxswain Brian W. Bevan, and medalservice certificates were presented toSecond Coxswain Dennis Bailey, MotorMechanic Robert S. White, AssistantMechanic Peter Thorpe and Crew Mem-bers Sydney Rollinson and Jack Essex.

West Division

Angling launchTHE HONORARY SECRETARY of Beaumarislifeboat station was informed by Pen-mon Coastguard at 1220 on SundayDecember 13, 1981, that the 35ftangling launch Wygyr was in difficultiesand needed urgent assistance off PuffinIsland in the approaches to the MenaiStraits.

A strong gale, force 9, was blowingfrom south south east, there was drivingsnow and it was freezing. Conditions onland were severe. An exceptionally hightide combined with the gales hadflooded a large proportion of the town.Seas were breaking freely over the seawall.

Maroons were fired at 1230 andbecause the honorary secretary was cutoff, the deputy launching authority

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went to the Atlantic 21 lifeboathouseand acted as launching authoritythroughout the service. A Land Roverbelonging to one of the lifeboatmentook most of the crew to the station,sometimes ploughing through two feetof water. Motor Mechanic Eric Joneswas helped by a Police patrol but theirvehicle stalled in deep water and hefinished the journey to the boathouse ina fire engine which had been engaged inpumping out flooded buildings.

Gaining access to the boathouseposed a further problem. The seas werebreaking over the catwalk and spendingthemselves on the beach. Having passedthis hazard and gained the comparativesafety of the catwalk the crew foundthemselves facing the crests of seaswhich were rolling along the catwalk toa depth of some two to three feet on thelower section. By the time the crewgained the shelter of the boathouse theywere all thoroughly drenched and bit-terly cold.

Nevertheless, at 1245, the 46ft 9inWatson lifeboat Greater London II(Civil Service No 30) launched into theblizzard on service under the commandof Coxswain David Gallichan. It wasjust after high water and the sea wasvery rough with breaking crests somethree metres high. Because of the seasand the height of the tide it had beennecessary to launch from the top of theslipway inside the boathouse, so thatmasts and aerials could not be raiseduntil the lifeboat was afloat. With greatdifficulty the crew raised the mast but itproved too hazardous to attempt toraise the radar scanner or radio aerials.Shortly after launching the windscreenwiper failed, causing severe visibilityproblems for Coxswain Gallichan.

A course was set down the straitstowards Puffin Sound, with lookoutsposted not only to look for the casualtybut to act as 'eyes' for the coxswain.Throughout this passage the lifeboatwas pitching and rolling violently in acorkscrew motion. Eyewitnesses onshore soon lost sight of the lifeboat inthe atrocious conditions, and althoughdistress flares were fired from thecasualty, they could not be seen by thelifeboat.

The VHP radio has a low profileemergency aerial, but a fault developedin the radio itself so that, until PuffinSound was negotiated and CoxswainGallichan could heave to in the compa-rative calm of the lee of the island toenable the crew to erect the aerials,communications were nil. Then, at1320, once again in touch with AngleseyRadio on MF 2182 kHz, Coxswain Gal-lichan continued to search round theend of Puffin Island and to the south.Nothing was seen. The lifeboat wascontinually being swept by breakingseas and she was rolling heavily. Theradar operator only had one fleetingecho from Puffin Island because of thesea clutter and snow.

From information relayed from Pen-mon Coastguard through Anglesey

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Radio it was clear that Wygyr was beingcarried out through the Sound. Thelifeboat returned back round the islandand approached the sound from thenorth and, at 1353, the casualty wassighted near Perch Rock. At this timeVHP communications were establishedwith Penmon Coastguard.

The rising wind, now from the southeast, was in excess of storm force andvisibility remained poor. With the seavery rough and both boats pitching androlling very heavily, Coxswain Gal-lichan considered it too dangerous to tryto go alongside and take off Wygyr'screw. He therefore decided to try to towthe fishing boat to safety.

The lifeboat's windscreen was com-pletely covered by a thick build up ofsnow and ice. Coxswain and crew,soaked before launching, were nowfeeling the effects of extreme cold.

Coxswain Gallichan took the lifeboatclose alongside Wygyr, a heaving linewas thrown and a tow line passed. Thetwo anglers made fast the tow, but suchwas the rate of drift that both boatswere by this time clear of Dinmor Buoy.

The tow began to the south, passingto the west of Dinmor Buoy and theneast south east into the Sound. Wygyrwas ranging heavily, placing consider-ably strain on the towing warp. It wasdecided to pass a second line and, afterseveral attempts, this was finallyachieved by floating the line down tothe casualty. The tow was resumed andthe lifeboat reported approaching theSound at 1427. Very slow progress wasbeing made as the effects of wind, seaand tide became more severe in theshallow water and constricted channel.

At 1517, when just past B2 Buoy, oneof the tow lines chafed through andparted. Realising the serious risk oflosing the tow altogether in the re-stricted sea room and very rough wa-ters, Coxswain Gallichan decided thatthe two men must be taken off thecasualty and that the only chance ofachieving this end safely would be tohead up into wind and sea and, withastern movements, gradually shorten inthe tow bringing the boat up to thelifeboat's stern. This was an arduousmanoeuvre calling for great skill andcontrol from the coxswain and consider-able efforts from the crew. Wygyrranged alarmingly as the tow was takenin. At one time she ranged up alongsidethe lifeboat to starboard, rolling heavilyso that the turn of her bilge crashedagainst the lifeboat damaging guardrailand fender. Then she came clear asternand took a sheer, coming up on thelifeboat's port side, stern to. As shecame close both anglers took the oppor-tunity to jump aboard the lifeboat. Itwas now 1535.

Although Coxswain Gallichan triedto resume the tow up the straits, it wasonly two minutes before the remainingwarp parted and the casualty was quick-ly blown ashore at Trwyn Du, whereshe started to break up.

The lifeboat continued up the straits

to Menai Bridge. Visibility was so poorthat the manager of the Gazelle Hotelwas asked to put the hotel's lights on toassist navigation. The lifeboat berthedat Menai to land the two men at 1640and returned to her mooring at 1730.Because of the weather she was unableto rehouse until 1400 on Tuesday De-cember 15.

For this service the bronze medal wasawarded to Coxswain David W. Gal-lichan and medal service certificateswere presented to Second CoxswainDavid Wynne Jones, Motor MechanicEric F. Jones, Emergency MechanicsDavid A. Cooke and John G. L. Parryand Crew Members Michael Witkows-ki, John Latchem, Brian J. Roberts andJoseph P. Kopyto. Letters of apprecia-tion signed by Rear Admiral W. J.Graham, director of the Institution,were sent to Shore Helpers StanleyZalot, John M. Stone, David E. Jonesand Peter Dickie.

West Division

On a lee shoreINFORMATION from Ministry of DefencePolice that a catamaran, Helen M, wasanchored in a dangerous position offPendine was received by Tenby Coast-guard at 2110 on Wednesday October 7,1981. Two of the catamaran's crewmembers had rowed ashore to obtainfuel, leaving the owner on board, andthen conditions had become such thatthey were unable to return to the boat.

A message was passed to the honor-ary secretary of Tenby lifeboat stationat 2128, maroons were fired and withinminutes the 46ft 9in Watson lifeboatHenry Comber Brown was launched onservice under the command of Cox-swain Joshua Richards.

The south-westerly wind was gustingto strong gale, force 9, and the sea wasvery rough with a heavy swell. It wastwo hours after low water.

The lifeboat headed at full speedtowards the position of Helen M, aquarter of a mile off the beach justinside Oilman Point, about half a milefrom Pendine. Good time was made,running before the swells, and HenryComber Brown arrived in the vicinity ofHelen M at 2218.

The catamaran was seen to be atanchor in about seven feet of water. Shewas being swept by heavy breaking seasand she was pitching and shearing in analarming manner. Conditions were de-teriorating and it was clear that herposition was critical. There was no signof life on deck and it was assumed thatthe owner had sensibly stayed below toavoid the risk of being swept overboard.

Realising that any attempt to goalongside would incur the risk of dam-age to the casualty, perhaps resulting inher foundering and the loss of herskipper, and that to try to put a crewmember on board would also be haz-ardous, Coxswain Richards anchored

ahead of Helen M and slightly to theeast. Then, with skilful use of theengines, he veered the lifeboat downtowards her in an attempt to pick up heranchor cable and then tow her clear ofthe shoal water. Great care was neededto make sure that the anchor cable didnot foul the lifeboat's propellers.

While some of the lifeboatmen tookhold of the anchor cable, Crew Mem-bers John John and Michael Wilsonmanaged to scramble aboard Helen M.The crew aboard the lifeboat were juststarting to recover the cable, beforetowing the catamaran clear, when thecable parted and the catamaran beganto be driven towards the shore.

Coxswain Richards, knowing how lit-tle time there was, immediately orderedthe lifeboat's own anchor cable to beslipped; to recover the anchor wouldhave taken too long. Meanwhile, onboard Helen M, Crew Members Johnand Wilson found a spare anchor, sec-ured it to a nylon rope and threw it overthe side, hoping to check the drifttowards the beach. Fortunately, thisanchor took hold and CoxswainRichards was able to take the lifeboat ina wide sweep round and close enough tothe catamaran's port beam to pass a lineto the crew on board. The line wassecured and Coxswain Richards took upthe strain with the lifeboat and began totow the boat into deeper water.

Throughout these manoeuvres bothboats, pitching and rolling heavily, hadbeen continually swept by the seaswhich were estimated by eye witnessesto be 12 to 15 feet high.

The passage back to Tenby meantsteaming into wind and sea and greatcare had to be taken to maintain thetow; despite the efforts of the two crewmembers on board, the casualty wasyawing badly. Nevertheless, by 2330 thelifeboat and her tow had arrived back atTenby. Helen M was safely secured to amooring and her owner chose to remainon board.

After recovering his two crew mem-bers, Coxswain Richards returned tostation, the lifeboat being rehoused andready for service at 0130 on ThursdayOctober 8.

For this service a bar to his bronzemedal was awarded to Coxswain JoshuaW. Richards and the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Crew Members John Johnand Michael Wilson. Medal servicecertificates were presented to SecondCoxswain William A. Thomas, Assis-tant Mechanic Roy Young, EmergencyMechanic Denny R. Young and CrewMembers Michael Crockford and RogerCrockford.

West Division

Tugs agroundST ANNE'S COASTGUARD informed thehonorary secretary of St David's life-boat station at 2020 on Sunday October18, 1981, that the tug Vernicos Giorgos,with two other tugs in tow, had a roperound her propeller and was draggingher anchors in the northern part of StBrides Bay. By 2134 the tugs were closeto the rocks and the Coastguard re-quested the launch of St David's life-boat. Maroons were fired and the 46ft9in Watson relief lifeboat Charles Hen-ry Ashley, on temporary service at StDavid's, launched at 2156 under thecommand of Coxswain/MechanicFrederick John.

A south-westerly gale force 8 wasblowing and the combined sea and swellwas about seven feet high. It was slackwater, 45 minutes before high water.Visibility was five miles.

After launching, Coxswain John set asoutherly course through RamsaySound and then turned east into StBrides Bay. By 2254 the lifeboat was4Vs. miles south west of Green Scar. Thetug master was instructed by the Coast-

Si David's, October 18, 1981: The lug Vernicos Giorgos, partially submerged, with one of thetwo tugs she had been towing. The photograph was taken the day after the eight crew of the threetugs had been taken off by lifeboat and helicopter (see above).

guard to fire a red flare and the exactposition of the tugs was fixed as51°52'N, 05°13'w.

The lifeboat arrived at this position at2316. The two tugs being towed werealready on the rocks, but the towingtug, Vernicos Giorgos, was still afloat.She was riding to two anchors whichwere slowly dragging, taking the tugremorselessly on to the rocks. Thecrews of all three tugs, eight men, wereaboard Vernicos Giorgos. Waves werebreaking over all three tugs and Verni-cos Giorgos, at anchor, was entirely atthe mercy of the sea.

The south-westerly gale was gustingup to force 9 and the seas were esti-mated from on shore to be 15 to 20 feethigh. The water was so shallow thatVernicos Giorgos was hitting the bot-tom in every trough and every wave wasbreaking over her. The tide was nowebbing to the west at about 2 knots,making the confused seas worse, withwind against tide.

By 2316 the lifeboat had approachedVernicos Giorgos. To avoid the anchorslying out over the port bow of the tug,Coxswain John decided to come along-side her starboard bow, thus puttinghimself between the weather and thecasualty. The position was further com-plicated by the tow rope from the tug; itwas difficult in the darkness to see howit lay. The whole rescue took placeusing the searchlight to illuminate thescene.

Coxswain John made five approachesto the tug, on each occasion clearing heragain by going astern into the sea, withwaves breaking over the lifeboat. Thefirst two and the fourth approaches hadto be abandoned, but two men weretaken off at the third approach and onemore man was taken off at the fifthapproach. Throughout this manoeuvrethe lifeboat was pitching almost uncon-trollably and great skill was needed tohold her in position.

The tug master had decided to remainon board with the four remaining mem-bers of the crew, hoping that a salvagetug he had ordered from Milford Havenmight still arrive in time to pull himclear. Coxswain John warned him byVHP that, as the tide was falling, beforelong the lifeboat would be unable toreach him. Just after midnight VernicosGiorgos grounded and the tug masterthen requested that he and his crew betaken off. St David's lifeboat could notnow approach because there was notenough water, so, while the lifeboat andthe local cliff rescue company illumin-ated the scene a helicopter from RAFBrawdy carried out an extremely skilfulrescue of the remaining five men. Thelifeboat then returned to station; shewas rehoused and ready for service at0200 on Monday October 19.

For this service the bronze medalwas awarded to Coxswain/MechanicFrederick G. John and medal servicecertificates were presented to ActingSecond Coxswain John H. Phillips,Acting Assistant Mechanic David J.

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Bateman and Crew Members MichaelJ. Morris, Norman Rowley, Keith Jonesand David J. O. Chant.

East Division

Engine room floodedTHE COXSWAIN of Wells lifeboat wasinformed by HM Coastguard at 1412 onFriday November 20, 1981, that therewas a possible casualty 2Vi miles northof Brancaster, and the coxswain im-mediately passed on to the stationhonorary secretary a request to antici-pate a call. At 1425 the Coastguardconfirmed that there was a definitesighting and asked that the lifeboatshould launch. Maroons were fired andat 1439 Wells lifeboat, the 37ft OakleyErnest Tom Neathercoat, launched fromher carriage into the harbour under thecommand of Coxswain David Cox.

The afternoon was overcast and, inthe rain, visibility was only moderate, Agale, force 8, was blowing from thenorth west. It was high water.

Ten minutes later the lifeboat clearedthe bar and turned west, leaving therough seas and heavy swell on herstarboard bow as she set out at fullspeed, keeping inshore to reduce theeffects of the adverse tide.

At 1510 an RAF Sea King helicopterreported that she was with the casualty,the motor fishing vessel Sarah K, whoseengine room was flooded. The lifeboatcontinued on her course until she wasoff Scolt Head, at 1530, when sheheaded west north west for the fishingvessel's position off Woolpack Buoy.Sarah K was sighted at 1542 andreached at 1613.

The wind was now north west, gale tostrong gale, force 8 to 9, with roughshort seas over the shoals. It was stillraining with moderate visibility. SarahK was lying bows south with her star-board quarter to the seas.

The lifeboat stood off as a secondRAF Sea King helicopter lowered apump on to Sarah K. At 1630, in thefailing light, Coxswain Cox approachedthe fishing vessel to discuss the positionwith her skipper, who asked to betowed to King's Lynn. In the very roughweather, Coxswain Cox considered thecasualty to be too large for the lifeboatto tow.

At 1724 Sarah K's large foremastbroke and fell to starboard. As thehelicopters had withdrawn, CoxswainCox decided to go in and take off thecrew. An attempt was made to goalongside the fishing vessel's port bowbut, close to, the bow sheer was seen tobe too great and the lifeboat stood off.The next approach was made starboardside to the casualty's port midships, andit was made at a steep angle to avoid thetrawl doors on the after port quarter. Inthe now total darkness two fishermenwere snatched off as the boats rolledtogether and then the lifeboat clearedthe casualty going full astern. Another

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approach was made and a third mantaken aboard. Again the lifeboat pulledastern and waited for the skipper tocheck the pumps. At 1737 the skippersignalled that he was ready and thelifeboat again went alongside and tookhim off.

As soon as the skipper was on board,Coxswain Cox informed the Coastguardthat Sarah K was adrift, so that she wasa possible danger to navigation.

At 1815, with the wind moderating toforce 6, the skipper was put backaboard Sarah K to try to put down theanchor. By 1838 the crippled fishingvessel was anchored !3/4 miles west ofBridgirdle and her skipper back onboard the lifeboat. About a quarter ofan hour later Sarah K's after mast splitand the lifeboat decided to return tostation.

Passage was made back to HolkhamBay but, on arrival at 1931, the launch-ing tractor broke down. The lifeboat layoff until repairs had been made at 2113.By 2204 she was recarriaged and by2305 she was rehoused and once againready for service.

For this service the bronze medal wasawarded to Coxswain David J. Cox,BEM. Medal service certificates werepresented to Second Coxswain AnthonyT. Jordan, Motor Mechanic AlbertCourt, Assistant Mechanic Alan M.Cox and Crew Members Albert War-ner, Graham B. Walker, John R.Nudds and John Belts.

South East Division

Four people landedA SUDDEN DETERIORATION in the weatheron the afternoon of Saturday Septem-ber 19, 1981, caught out a fleet ofFireball sailing dinghies at a meeting offFelpharn, and at 1730 HM Coastguardinformed the honorary secretary of Lit-tlehampton lifeboat station that thesailing club's safety boats needed help.Maroons were fired and at 1740 thestation's Atlantic 21 rigid inflatablelifeboat launched on service. Mannedby Helmsman David Woollven andCrew Members Geoffrey Warmingerand Michael McCartain, she set out atfull speed for the harbour mouth.

The south-south-easterly wind, whichhad been force 4 to 5, had increased togale force 8, with heavy rain restrictingvisibility. It was about two hours afterhigh water.

Speed was reduced as heavy seaswere met on the harbour bar and, oncethe bar was crossed, a variable coursewas steered to ease the effect of thebeam sea. When the Atlantic 21 arrivedin the search area, 21/2 miles to the westof the harbour mouth and ll/2 milessouth of Middleton, her crew were toldby the Coastguard mobile that,although all the sailing dinghies wereaccounted for, a safety boat was mis-sing. Then, at 1805, it was reported thatthis boat also was safely ashore.

The Atlantic approached the commit-tee boat, the 40ft trimaran Lara ofBosham, to check the situation andfound that she had a Fireball dinghy intow but was making little headway. Ingoing alongside, a heavy sea drove thelifeboat against Lara of Bosham, holingher and damaging the lifeboat's bowsponson. Despite heavy seas, the ding-hy's crew of two, who were sufferingfrom exposure, were transferred to thelifeboat and placed in survivor bags.The dinghy was then cast adrift and thelifeboat set out for Littlehampton. Shewas 'driven' eastward, each heavy seacalling for special care with helm andengines because Crew Member McCar-tain was lying on the foredeck cradlingthe heads of the dinghy sailors to avoidinjury in the pounding, particularly overthe harbour bar.

After landing the dinghy sailors to awaiting ambulance, the Atlantic re-turned to the harbour entrance ready,at her skipper's request, to escort Laraof Bosham in over the bar. However, at1850 the trimaran asked for immediatehelp as she was being driven on to a leeshore by the increasing gale force wind.

Helmsman Woollven took the Atlan-tic 21 over the bar, now covered by veryheavy confused seas up to 12 feet high,and the trimaran was reached at 1900just west of the harbour entrance. Twoof her women crew, suffering severeseasickness, were safely taken off andplaced in survivor bags; by 1915 thelifeboat had again returned in over thebar to land them.

In almost total darkness, HelmsmanWoollven immediately took the Atlan-tic back to sea for a third time to standby the trimaran. The wind had veeredto south west, gusting up to storm force10, and Lara of Bosham was able tomake better headway. The falling tidemade the passage over the bar extreme-ly hazardous, but by 1940 the trimaranhad been safely escorted into harbourand had been moored. The Atlantic 21returned to her station and by 2015 shewas refuelled and ready for service.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Helmsman David W.Woollven. Framed letters of thankssigned by the Duke of Atholl, chairmanof the Institution, were presented toCrew Members Geoffrey J. Warmingerand Michael B. W. McCartain.

South East Division

Injured crewDURING THE AFTERNOON of Friday OctO-ber 9, 1981, the 38,000 ton Danishcontainer vessel Drag0r Maersk, onpassage from Hamburg to Port Said,told east coast radio stations that a crewmember with a fractured hip needed tobe taken ashore. South-westerly gales,force 8 to 9, and high seas ruled out ahelicopter service in daylight and, whileDrag0r Maersk gave her expected time

of arrival off Dover as midnight, herexact position was not known. At 2102Dover Coastguard telephoned Doverstation honorary secretary, explainingearlier events and amending the con-tainer vessel's ETA off Dover to 0100 onSaturday October 10. After discussionwith Coxswain Anthony Hawkins it wasagreed that the injured man should betaken off by lifeboat and that thelifeboatmen, together with Dr PeterWelch, the honorary medical adviser,should muster to consider a plan ofaction for an evacuation from such alarge vessel.

The crew assembled at 2300 and a full'dry' exercise was carried out with apatient in the Neil Robertson stretcher,lashed into the rigid cot stretcher, tofind the correct point of balance forlifting the combined unit.

At 0014 on Saturday October 10Dover's 50ft Thames class lifeboat Rot-ary Service slipped her moorings and setout at full speed carrying a complementof ten; she was under the command ofCoxswain Hawkins. The east pierheadwas cleared and as course was seteastward to the agreed rendezvous l!/2miles south west of South GoodwinLightship very heavy seas and a quarter-ing swell were encountered.

Arriving at the rendezvous at 0200,the lifeboat was taken to Drag0rMaersk's port side as she lay headingsouth east to provide a lee. Dr Welch,Second Coxswain/Mechanic RoyCouzens and Crew Member/First AiderGarth James, activated their lifejacketlights before preparing to go aboard thecontainer vessel. Coxswain Hawkinsplaced the lifeboat's starboard bowalongside Drag0r Maersk and SecondCoxswain Couzens stepped on to herpower assisted pilot ladder; after climb-ing the first six feet, the mechanicalhoist lifted him the remaining 30 feet todeck level. Dr Welch and Crew Mem-ber James boarded separately in thesame way. Despite the lee offered bythe container vessel, Coxswain Hawkinshad difficulty holding the lifeboat inposition alongside in the heavy seas.

On reaching the deck the medicalparty were met by the chief engineerand, while Dr Welch and Crew MemberJames were taken by lift through theaccommodation to the injured man.Second Coxswain Couzens supervisedthe lifting aboard of the first aid bags,stretchers and portable VHP radio by astores derrick two decks above on theafter deck; he decided that the derrickwire and hook were too heavy anduncontrollable for the lowering of thestretcher and arranged for a hand line tobe rigged through the derrick head lead.

The lifeboat meanwhile was lying offand Coxswain Hawkins noticed that thecontainer vessel was being driven uptide by the gale. He advised the masterto re-position as Drag0r Maersk wasonly one mile from South GoodwinLightvessel.

By 0230 Dr Welch had examined thepatient and had diagnosed a fractured

pelvis. The man was placed in a survi-vor's lifejacket and bump hat beforebeing secured in the Neil Robertsonstretcher, which in turn was thensecurely lashed within the cot stretcher.The medical party had great difficulty inmoving the patient through the vessel'salleyways to the after deck, but at 0240all was ready.

Dr Welch wished to be taken off first,to receive the patient on board thelifeboat. He was lowered on the pilothoist and climbed down the fixed part ofthe ladder, waiting there, holding on,until Coxswain Hawkins could bring thelifeboat's foredeck under the hoist andhe was told to jump. A crew membergrabbed the doctor's lifejacket strapsand held him safely on board.

After this transfer and one unsuccess-ful attempt to close the vessel again,Coxswain Hawkins asked the master tosteam slowly ahead because Drag0rMaersk's drift against the ebb tide wascausing six foot seas, even on her leeside. At the second attempt the lifeboatwas held firmly alongside, starboardbow to, and, with the lifeboat search-light and the ship's deck lights illuminat-ing the area well, the transfer of thestretcher began.

Five crew members stood by on theforedeck while Second CoxswainCouzens and Crew Member James low-ered the stretcher the 45 feet by hand,with turns on the container vessel's rail.The derrick held the stretcher aboutfive feet outboard and Drag0r Maersk'screw tended two heaving lines to steadythe load. As the stretcher reached theforedeck, the lifeboat crew held it andimmediately cut all lines before the riseand fall of the two vessels could causetrouble. Second Coxswain Couzens andCrew Member James were then takenoff by way of the pilot hoist.

At 0315 the lifeboat began her pas-sage to Dover across very heavy seas.Many times Coxswain Hawkins had touse his throttles to reduce as far aspossible the violent motion of the boat,and one crew member, thrown againstthe midships anchor stowage, injuredhis ankle. By 0345 the lifeboat hadlanded the patient to a waiting ambu-lance at the harbour steps, and by 0415she was refuelled and once again readyfor service.

A telegram was later received by thecrew of Dover lifeboat from the masterof Drag0r Maersk which need:

'Please receive my heartfelt thanks foryour brilliant assistance rendered my in-jured crew member. We/I done folks. Bestregards.'

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Coxswain/Assistant Mech-anic Anthony G. Hawkins and a specialdoctor's vellum to Dr Peter S. Welch.Vellum service certificates were pre-sented to Second Coxswain/MechanicRoy W. Couzens, Second AssistantMechanic Michael F. Abbot and CrewMembers Geoffrey I. Buckland, RobertJ. Bruce, Alan G. Barker, Alan K.

Perkins, Garth V. James and KennethW. Miles.

South East Division

Rising windsRYE AUXILIARY COASTGUARD requestedthe launch of Rye Harbour lifeboat at1350 on Saturday October 3 followingreports that the 24ft ketch Midley Bellewas heading out to sea. It was a squallyafternoon with moderate confused seasover Rye Bar. At 1354 Rye Harbour'sD class inflatable lifeboat was launchedmanned by Helmsman Richard Tollettand Crew Members Colin James andJeffrey Robus. While the lifeboat wasstill within the river, however, she wasrecalled because the yacht cleared thebar safely.

The lifeboat was rehoused at 1420but the deputy launching authority andauxiliary coastguard remained at theharbour mouth keeping watch. When,at 1516 as Midley Belle was trying toreturn to harbour, she was seen to loseher main sheet, the lifeboat was askedto launch again; the yacht had alsosuffered engine failure and was now in adangerous position in the bar surf.The lifeboat launched on service at 1519manned by Helmsman Keith Downeyand Crew Members Richard Tollett andPhilip Jones.

The wind, which had been westerlymoderate to fresh, was rising and theseas over the bar were eight feet high; itwas almost one hour after high water.

With great skill Helmsman Downeytook the inflatable lifeboat safelythrough the 50 yard passage over thebar. The yacht had by now been carrieda mile eastward towards Camber Sandsand as the lifeboat reached her at 1525her skipper indicated that three of theseven people on board needed to betaken off.

Three approaches were made, eachrun being timed to coincide with a wavetrough. Each time the lifeboat drewalongside, one of the three peoplewaiting, two women and a boy, jumpedinto the boat on the helmsman's order.

Up to this point Midlev Belle hadbeen in extremely shallow water butwhen, at 1530, Rye lifeboat cleared theyacht her skipper thought he could gethis boat under command and steer offthe land. The help of Dungeness life-boat, the 37ft 6in Rother Alice Upjohn,was now requested by the Coastguard;she launched on service at 1538 underthe command of Coxswain WilliamRichardson and set out at full speed.

Helmsman Downey landed the twowomen and the boy immediately insidethe harbour mouth, from where theywere driven to an ambulance.

By 1550 Rye D class inflatable life-boat was once again on her way outover the bar. The wind was still risingand twelve feet seas covered the area.Helmsman Downey cleared the bar andafter some ten minutes in the open sea

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sighted Midley Belle sailing on a safecourse to the south south east, whereDungeness Rother lifeboat would meether in some 40 minutes.

After two very heavy seas had filledthe Rye inflatable lifeboat, HelmsmanDowney decided it would be prudent toreturn to station. The wind was nowgale force 8 gusting to strong gale force9 against a full ebb tide and, with onlythree feet of water on the bar, thehomeward passage was extremelyhazardous; continual changes of courseand speed had to be made to counterthe seas. Rye Harbour lifeboat returnedto station at 1605 and was once againready for service at 1630.

Dungeness lifeboat came up withMidley Belle at 1705 and as the wind,now south westerly, was gusting tostorm force 10 with heavy rain it wasdecided that it would be safer to take offher crew in the shelter of Dungeness.The yacht was therefore taken in tow toa safe anchorage 2'/2 miles north east bynorth of Dungeness Lighthouse. Herfour remaining crew were transferred tothe lifeboat and brought ashore.Dungeness lifeboat returned to stationat 1845 and she was rehoused and onceagain ready for service at 1910.

For this service a framed letter ofthanks signed by the Duke of Atholl,chairman of the Institution, was pre-sented to Helmsman Keith W. Downey.Letters of appreciation signed by RearAdmiral W. J. Graham, director, weresent to Crew Members Richard Tollettand Philip A. Jones of Rye Harbourlifeboat station. A letter signed byAdmiral Graham expressing the Institu- •lion's appreciation to Coxswain WilliamRichardson and his crew was sent toMr W. J. Oilier, Dungeness stationhonorary secretary.

East Division

Pounding on bankGREAT YARMOUTH Coastguard informedthe honorary secretary of Lowestoftlifeboat station at 0215 on ThursdayApril 16, 1981, that the Panamaniancoaster Avenir was aground l'/2 milesnorth east of Lowestoft and bouncingon the banks. Lowestoft lifeboat, the47ft Watson Frederick Edward Crick,slipped her mooring at 0237 and, underthe command of Second Coxswain JohnCatchpole, set out on service.

It was an overcast night with moder-ate visibility. A strong breeze, force 6,was blowing from the north east and thesea was very rough. It was half an hourafter low water.

On clearing harbour full speed wasmade towards the casualty, which couldbe seen stranded on Holm Sand. As thelifeboat approached, Avenir could beseen pounding on the bottom in theheavy breaking seas being driven overthe bank. The master asked that he andhis four crew should be taken off.

Acting Coxswain Catchpole decided

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to go straight in to the coaster's star-board side. A first attempt to getalongside was made at 0300 but therewas not enough water; the lifeboatherself was pounding on the bank andshe could not get close to the casualty.Pulling off astern, she tried two moreapproaches from other angles, hopingto find enough water, but each time shehad to clear astern. On a fourthattempt, however, although still hittingbottom, the lifeboat was driven along-side and all five men were taken offbefore, at 0320, she pulled off againstern first.

Passage was made back to Lowestoftand the five men were landed at 0355.The lifeboat was refuelled, back on hermooring and ready for service at 0410.

For this service a framed letter ofthanks signed by the Duke of Atholl,chairman of the Institution, was pre-sented to Second Coxswain John W.Catchpole.

Ireland Division

Two medical callsBELFAST COASTGUARD informed the hon-orary secretary of Portrush lifeboatstation at 1505 on Sunday November15, 1981, that a seaman was critically illaboard the fishing trawler Junella, ninemiles north east of Portrush; he neededurgent medical attention. Ten minuteslater Portrush lifeboat, the 52ft ArunRichard Evans (Civil Service No 39),slipped her mooring and set out onservice under the command of Cox-swain James Stewart and with Dr Wil-liam Hill, the honorary medical adviser,on board.

The south-easterly winds were up togale force 8 and a moderate sea wasrunning. Visibility was poor in almostcontinuous rain and the tide was in thefirst hour of flood.

On clearing harbour Coxswain Stew-art headed north of the Skerries torendezvous with Junella, which wassteaming south west. At 1537 coursewas adjusted for an amended positionfive miles north of the Skerries. Junellawas identified on radar shortly before1600 and her skipper was asked to makea lee on his starboard side. At 1610 thelifeboat was made fast port side to thetrawler and both boats steamed slowlysouth west to maintain steerage.

Dr Hill boarded Junella together withCrew Member Albert McQuilken, whois a first aider, and diagnosed a brainhaemorrhage. At 1612 a Wessex heli-copter arrived overhead and stood by,but the HMA decided that the patientshould be taken ashore by lifeboat tosave undue stress. At 1626 the helicop-ter was diverted to a second medicalcasualty.

Dr Hill and Crew Member McQuil-ken secured the unconscious patientinto a Neil Robertson stretcher and at1640 he was transferred to the medicalcot aboard the lifeboat. Ten minutes

later the trawler was cleared and Cox-swain Stewart headed for Portrush athalf speed until, with moderating condi-tions approaching land, he was able toincrease speed once more.

During the passage back to stationanother message came from BelfastCoastguard to say that a seaman aboardthe fishing trawler St Jasper neededurgent medical attention. A Wessexhelicopter was standing by but would bewithdrawn at dusk.

Richard Evans was alongside at Port-rush at 1727 and the first patient wastaken to hospital by ambulance. Tenminutes later the lifeboat set out again,once more with the honorary medicaladviser, Dr Hill, aboard.

By this time the wind had backed tonorth west and moderated to a fresh tostrong breeze, force 5 to 6. A moderatesea continued to run and the eveningwas overcast with occasional rain.

On clearing harbour the lifeboatheaded for Inishowen Head at fullspeed. St Jasper was sighted at 1807and, following the same plan as before,Coxswain Stewart asked her skipper tomake a lee on his starboard side. At1816 the lifeboat made fast port side tothe trawler and both vessels steamedslowly north east to maintain steerage.Dr Hill boarded with Crew MemberMcQuilken and another first aider tofind the patient had recovered con-sciousness after accidentally inhalingfumes. A Sea King helicopter arrivedoverhead and stood by, but once againDr Hill decided the patient should betaken ashore by lifeboat and the heli-copter was released. The patient washelped aboard the lifeboat togetherwith the medical party and the lifeboatcleared the trawler at 1830.

The weather continued to moderate,the wind now being north west force 5,but a moderate confused sea was stillrunning. The lifeboat returned to Port-rush at full speed and was made fastalongside at 1905. The patient wastaken to hospital by the honorarysecretary.

The lifeboat was refuelled and by1930 she was back on her moorings andready for service.

For this service a special doctor'svellum was accorded to Dr William J. C.Hill, the honorary medical adviser, anda framed letter of thanks signed by theDuke of Atholl, chairman of the Institu-tion, was presented to Crew MemberAlbert McQuilken.

Scotland South Division

Ebb tideA GIRL was playing at the water's edge ofIrvine Beach, near the mouth of theRiver Irvine, on Sunday evening Aug-ust 30, 1981, when she realised that shewas being washed away from the shoreand out to sea. She tried to paddle backwith her hands, but the ebb tide was too

continued on page 105

The naming of the 52ftArun relief lifeboat

Duchessof KentSOUTH BANK

TUESDAY, APRIL 27

THE PERFECT SUNNY AFTERNOON of Tu6S-

day April 27 seemed to take on extrabrightness when Their Royal Highnes-ses, The Duke and Duchess of Kentarrived at the Jubilee Gardens, SouthBank, to name the relief 52ft Arunlifeboat Duchess of Kent. With flags andbunting fluttering gaily in the strongbreeze, and the rising waters of theRiver Thames slapping against the sidesof the lifeboat, the ceremony couldhave been at any coastal port; only thenoise of trains from the nearby Water-loo station and the roar of the trafficbetrayed the fact that it was taking placein the heart of London.

The lifeboat was the gift of theFreemasons United Grand Lodge ofEngland, and the large audience ofFreemasons and RNLI branch and guildmembers, together with the music pro-vided by members of the Royal MarinesBand, attracted many casual walkers inthe park to the site of the ceremony.

After being greeted by the Mayor andMayoress of Lambeth, Councillor andMrs Johnny Johnson, and the chairmanof the Greater London Council, JohnWard, JP, the Duchess of Kent waspresented with a posy by eight-year-oldKatie Higham, daughter of Cdr MichaelHigham, Grand Secretary of the UnitedGrand Lodge of England. In return,after having a short talk with the littlegirl, the Duchess picked a rose from the

Her naming ceremony held by the RiverThames, the new relief 52ft lifeboat gave herdemonstration run with the Houses of Parlia-ment as her background.

photographsabove and left bycourtesy ofJeff Morris

The Duchess ofKent was there toname the newlifeboat RNLBDuchess of Kent.

(Below) Katie Higham presented a bouquet toher Royal Highness, who look from it a roseto give back to Katie.

centre of the posy and gave it to Katie,along with a box of chocolates. Katiewas obviously delighted with the gifts.

In his welcoming speech, the Duke ofAtholl, chairman of the RNLI said:

'It is unusual for a lifeboat namingceremony to take place in our capital citybut in this Maritime England Year, mostappropriate, for we are here today on thebanks of The Thames—a river which has

flowed for all time through the maritimehistory of our nation.'

Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, direc-tor, then described the lifeboat and therole she would play in the Institution'srelief fleet:

'The RNLl's relief fleet is not a fleet oflifeboats in mothballs, to be called outonly when a crisis occurs, but consists offully-operational lifeboats ready to takeover from a station lifeboat when repairsare required, or when she is on refit orsurvey.' Admiral Graham went on to saythat, 'the Arun is an outstanding successstory; three of the last four gold medalawards have been for services carried outin Arun class lifeboats and 1 can revealthat the Arun class has been awarded a1982 Design Council Award which will bepresented tomorrow by His Royal High-ness The Duke of Edinburgh.'

The Duke of Kent then formallydelivered the lifeboat into the care ofthe RNLI saying that the audience werewitnessing a unique occasion . . .

'. . . not because a lifeboat is beingnamed in London, that has been done onseveral occasions; but because I, as GrandMaster of the United Grand Lodge ofEngland, am in effect giving myself alifeboat, as I am also President of theRNLI. There have been ten lifeboatsgifted to the RNLI by the Masons and Iam very pleased to be able to continue thistradition. Freemasonry today is outwardlooking and able to give practical help tomany organisations. This lifeboat repre-sents such practical help which because itis a lifeboat will in its turn serve anybodyin trouble at sea.'

The Right Reverend George Rein-dorp, Honorary Assistant Bishop ofLondon, then conducted the service ofdedication, assisted by the Right Rev-erend Principal Martin Cressey, Mod-erator of the General Assembly of theUnited Reformed Church, and FatherGerald Burke, Director of the Ministryto Priests Programme in the Diocese ofWestminster. Rabbi M. Berman wasalso in attendance representing theChief Rabbi.

The Duke of Atholl then called uponthe Duchess of Kent to name thelifeboat. After saying that she couldwell understand the necessity with amodern lifeboat fleet for the relief fleetto be composed of similar craft, capableof covering the same area at the samespeed as the station boats they replacetemporarily, the Duchess expressed herdeep appreciation of the singular hon-our of having a lifeboat bear her name,and also of being able to name herpersonally. With the breaking of abottle of champagne, the Duchessnamed the lifeboat Duchess of Kent.

Following the now famous Royalwalkabout, the Duke and Duchessboarded the lifeboat for a short demon-stration on The Thames.

The Institution was most grateful tothe Greater London Council, the Portof London Authority and the EnglishTourist Board for their help in arrang-ing this naming ceremony, a mostsuccessful occasion.—S.J.G.

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Grim but GloriousTHE DAYS OF OAR AND SAIL

by Ray Kipling

WRITING ABOUT LIFEBOATS JS HCVer easy.

To many people, every lifeboat rescueis an act of heroism, carried out in atortuous battle against the elements; tolifeboatmen, even the worst conditionsare modestly played down and real actsof heroism are shrugged off withgenuine embarrassment. Striking a bal-ance between these extremes is evenmore difficult when dealing with his-tory, for there are less first-handaccounts and more temptations toromanticise and exaggerate. So thestory of pulling and sailing lifeboats, aneasy one to imagine, is a difficult one toresearch accurately. Fortunately thereare just enough men and records still inexistence to bring a reasonable perspec-tive to the subject.

The lifeboatmenThe most striking feature of any

lifeboat story is the lifeboatmen. Thecrews of pulling and sailing boats weretough, weatherbeaten fishermen whospent all their working lives at sea,building up the muscles, skill and inti-mate knowledge of local waters needed "for rescues. Calls were infrequent andwere almost exclusively to merchantvessels and fishing boats. In the small

fishing villages, there were strong fami-ly traditions, verging almost on obliga-tions to join the lifeboat crew. Therewas also the very practical point ofmutual self protection among the fisher-men, the lifeboat being the best meansof ensuring safety for the men of thelocal fleet.

In the last century money was animportant feature of lifeboating. Thepay for a service was 10 shillings by dayand £1 by night, with 4 shillings for anexercise launch. This was a substantialamount in relation to the small wageearned from fishing when times werehard. Salvage was not uncommon andthough the RNLI had strict rules aboutsalvage being secondary to lifesaving, inthe early days the Institution used totake a portion of salvage money tocover the risk of damage to the lifeboat.Today, of course, salvage is virtuallyunknown and the Institution has no partin any salvage claim.

The launchersLaunchers were hard to come by in

small villages and often women wouldlaunch the lifeboats while their hus-bands and sons formed the crews. Inlarger communities there were some-

On instruction from the coxswain and second coxswain, the crew of Southsea lifeboat launch bypulling on the haul-off warp. This was a rope which was attached to an anchor offshore, allowingthe lifeboat to be hauled out through the surf until there was enough water to set the sails or startrowing.

times too many eager helpers and atWhitby brass discs were issued to iden-tify launchers. There was once such ascramble for the discs that three mencrashed through a plate-glass windowtrying to get one. It was arduous workat the best of times, by no meanswithout danger, and phenomenalefforts were sometimes made to haulthe boats overland to the best place tolaunch to reach a vessel in distress.

The lifeboats were sturdy but offeredlittle protection to the men. Alreadyhardened by their work they foundnormal services and exercises routine,but long winter services took their toll.In October 1927 the Moelfre lifeboatsailed right over a ketch to rescue hercrew but the lifeboat was damaged. Shespent a total of 17 hours in fierce galesand one lifeboatman died from exhaus-tion. The coxswain, who had been atthe tiller the whole time, was com-pletely blind for several hours afterlanding, though he later recovered.

Apparently some lifeboatmen used todrink hot soup out of their oilskinsou'westers, the heat freeing the linseedoil to mix with the soup. Their provi-sions were basic: some chocolate, aflask of rum and whatever else theycould grab on the way, including on oneoccasion, raw potatoes.

The lifeboatsRight from the beginning the RNLI

took lifeboat design very seriously andwas constantly striving to improve allaspects of the boats. Competitionsbrought forward a great many designs,ranging from the practical to the whim-sical. In different areas, the men haddifferent preferences. In Norfolk andSuffolk, for instance, the lifeboats werebig, heavy non self-righters, relying onlarge sails. Elsewhere, the RNLI beganby discouraging the use of sail as, invery high winds and squally weather, itcould cause capsize unless skilfullyhandled. Controversy raged over therelative merits of self-righting and nonself-righting boats. The Institution pro-duced figures to show that less menwere lost from self-righters but, evenso, many crews still preferred the nonself-righters which were less lively at seaand, they thought, less likely to capsize.

Experiments with oars were as impor-tant then as trials with engines now and

Sail plan of Norfolk and Suffolk lifeboats,big, heavy non self-righters which relied onlarge sails.

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a series of tests were held in 1866 to findthe best woods for the job.

Comparative trials of different classesof lifeboats were held in 1892 but theresults, which showed the Institution'spreferred Watson and self-rightingboats to be best, failed to convincecrews of Norfolk and Suffolk or thecrews of tubular boats. The tubularboats, first proposed in the Duke ofNorthumberland's 1851 design competi-tion, were chiefly used in North Walesand the Mersey and the last was inservice at Rhyl until 1939.

The servicesThe services of the pulling and sailing

lifeboats were, like lifeboat servicestoday, largely routine with the spectacu-lar minority attracting attention.Routine for lifeboatmen meant standingby a grounded merchantman for tenhours until she floated off on the nexttide or escorting a dismasted ketch tothe safety of harbour in a gale, but thetales that have been handed down fromthe 100-year span of oar and sail re-count the most hazardous rescues whichwon medals for coxswains such asCharles Fish of Ramsgate, James Cableof Aldeburgh and Robert Smith ofTynemouth.

Some rescues were more unusual: atWhitby the rowing lifeboat once wenttwo miles inland by road and launchedinto a river to rescue people from theirroofs after the river flooded. Somerescues even had their humorous side:in the Isle of Wight a lifeboatman wasadmonished by a rescued mother forallowing her baby to get wet.

If some rescues were marked withhumour, a few were tinged withtragedy. Shoal water near the shore wasthe greatest danger, making launchingand getting under way a perilous task.Sometimes the conditions proved toomuch for the boats and they wereoverwhelmed and flung back on to thebeach. Over the years the losses oflifeboatmen mounted, 250 in the firsthundred years. But in that time 40,000people were saved and crews kept uptheir struggle against the elements.

The end of the era of oars and sailscame gradually as steam power wasintroduced, later to be rapidly over-taken by petrol engines and then diesel.By the 1920s engines had made a bigimpact on the RNLI fleet and by thebeginning of the second world war,pulling and sailing boats were few andfar between. The last sailing boat leftNew Quay, Cardiganshire, in 1948 andalthough there was a pulling lifeboat atWhitby until 1957, she was mainly usedinside the harbour while the town'smotor lifeboat was at sea.

The days of oar and sail were grimbut glorious and rescues then, as now,brought their own reward.

Ray Kipling, public relations officer ofthe RNLI, is the author of Rescue bySail and Oar, reviewed on page 107.

The end of HMS Foudroyant, one of Nelson's flagships which in her last years wa