THE LIFEBOAT....leaking and i dangern , driftin eightg miles fro Dungenessm A whol. e gale was...

THE LIFEBOAT.The Journal of the Royal National Life-boat Institution.

VOL. XXVII.—No. 297.] MARCH, 1929. [PRICE 6d.

[Owing to the Rye disaster, and the Board of Trade Inquiry which was held on it, the issue ofTHE LIFEBOAT which should ham been published in February has been delayed, as it was feltto be most important that it should contain the full judgment of the Court of Inquiry, anda full treatment of a number of questions to which the disaster gave rise.}

The Rye Disaster.Result of the Board of Trade Inquiry.

IN the last issue of The Lifeboat wagpublished an account of the terribletragedy which occurred at Rye Harbouron 15th November last, when the Life-boat capsized on service with the lossof her whole crew of seventeen men,practically the whole adult male fishingpopulation of the village.

At 6.45 in the morning of that daythe Rye Life-boat, which is a Pullingand Sailing Life-boat of the LiverpoolType, was launched with a Crew ofseventeen in response to a message thata steamer (a Latvian vessel, Alice) wasleaking and in danger, drifting eightmiles from Dungeness. A whole galewas blowing from the south-west, withvery heavy rain squalls, and a heavysea. The tide was at low water.Five minutes after the Life-boatwas launched another message camethat the crew of the Alice had beenrescued by another steamer. Therecall signal was fired three times, butno answer came from the Life-boat.Apparently the Crew had not seen it.At 10.30 the Life-boat was seen return-ing under sail. The wind had increased,and there were heavy squalls. As sheappeared to be coming in to the harbour-mouth with a following sea she was seento capsize. As quickly as possible helpersgathered on the beach, and every effortwas made to help the Crew as they werewashed in, but without avail. Six ofthem were recovered when the Life-boat was driven ashore, but all weredead. The whole crew had perished.

At the inquest a member of theCommittee of the Rye Branch, who hadalso been out on service in the Life-boaton a number of occasions, made seriouscriticisms of the life-belts provided bythe Institution.

These criticisms were to the effectthat the belts were perished, with theresult that they quickly became water-logged, and lost their buoyancy, wouldweigh down instead of supporting aman in the water, and were likely tochoke him.

The Institution at once asked theBoard of Trade to hold an inquiryinto the whole circumstances of thedisaster, and before the inquiry tookplace the Board of Trade and theInstitution independently tested thebelts worn by the Rye Life-boatmen.

The Institution's Life-belts.These belts were of the type known

as No. 3. This type was adopted in1917 because, in the opinion of theBoard of Trade, the first belts of kapok(the No. 2 belt), which had supersededthe old cork belts in 1906, could notbe depended upon, under all conditions,to support an unconscious man with hisface clear of the water. Exhaustiveexperiments were carried out, a newkapok belt was designed -which met theBoard of Trade's requirements, andthis new belt (No. 3) was issued to allstations. This substitution cost theInstitution £9,000.

"Unfortunately, the Crews themselves

194 THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929

took the strongest objection to it. Theyfound it more cumbersome than theold, and some Crews refused to wear itat all.

After repeated but unavailing effortshad been made to induce the Crews toaccept the new belt, the Institutionfelt compelled to place the matterbefore the Board of Trade, whichrealised the Institution's difficulty, andeventually approved of a return to thefirst and more comfortable belt (No. 2)on the clear understanding that it beworn by the men on their own responsi-bility. Those men, therefore, who pre-ferred the old belt were allowed to useit. The immediate difficulty was thusremoved, but naturally the Institutioncould not be content to let matters restat this, and again very careful experi-ments were carried out. As a result, athird kapok belt was designed in 1920.It was the first kapok belt (No. 2)with slight modifications, and gavethe maximum of security which it waspossible to obtain, consistent with thatfreedom of movement for neck, arms,and diaphragm on which the Crewsthemselves insisted.

The Crews which had preferred No. 2were then supplied with this new belt(No. 5). The few Crews, however,which had preferred No. 3 continuedto use it. The Rye Harbour Crewwere among them. They had beenusing this belt for three years, and weresatisfied with it. This was the beltwhich the Crew were wearing on the15th November last, when the boatcapsized—the belt specially designedto meet the requirements of the Boardof Trade that a belt must be able tosupport an unconscious man with hisface clear of the water under all condi-tions.

The Court's Judgment.

The Inquiry was held at Rye, andlasted five days. His Honour JudgeCann presided, as Wreck Commissioner,with a Vice-Admiral, a Captain of theMercantile Marine and a Naval Archi-tect as Assessors. The Court gave itsjudgment in the form of answers to aseries of fourteen questions. Thisjudgment was followed by an additional

report in the form of recommendationsto the Board of Trade. The fourteenquestions and their answers are givenin full below. It will be seen fromthem that the Court found that theRye Life-boat had been chosen by theCrew after visiting three stations withdifferent types of Life-boat, that shehad proved herself a good sea boaton all occasions, and that she hadhad the full confidence of the Crew.It found that the life-belts had fulfilledtheir purpose, and that they were atype approved by the Board of Trade,and chosen by the Rye Crew themselves.It concluded its report by expressingappreciation of the constant efforts ofthe Institution to supply Life-boats andequipment of the highest efficiency inconsultation with the Coxswains andCrews.

Inquiry into Kapok.

In the additional report to the Boardof Trade, the Court suggested thatkapok, the material which more thantwenty years ago supplanted cork forlife-belts—for those in general use inthe Mercantile Marine as well as forthose specially designed for the Life-boatService—might not be the most suitablematerial, and that experiments shouldbe made to see if a better materialcould be found. As a result of thissuggestion the Board of Trade hasappointed a Committee further toexamine the question, and although theInstitution is satisfied that the 1920pattern belts (No. 5) are thoroughlysuitable for the requirements of theLife-boat Service, it will gladly co-operate in any further investigationinto the qualities of kapok as a materialfor providing buoyancy. It will berepresented on the Committee byCaptain Howard F. J. Rowley, C.B.E.,R.N., Chief Inspector of Life-boats.

The Message Recalling the Life-boat.

The Court also made an importantrecommendation with regard to tele-graphic and telephonic messages whichare concerned with the work of theLife-boats.

The message to say that the crew of

MARCH, 1929.] THE LIFEBOAT. 195

the Alice had been rescued by anothervessel reached the Rye Life-boat Stationonly five minutes after the Life-boathad been launched, but the efforts torecall the Boat failed. The Court ofInquiry found that this message wasreceived by the Ramsgate CoastguardStation from the North Foreland RadioStation at 6.12, and by the Rye Coast-guard Station from Ramsgate at 6.50,and that it was then sent immediatelyto the Life-boat House.

Under the existing regulations—bywhich priority is given over othertelegraphic and telephonic messages toone calling for the services of a Life-boat, but not to one saying that herservices are no longer required—therewas, in the opinion of the Court, noundue delay. In its additional report,however, the Court recommended thatpriority should be given also to messagesaffecting the Life-boat after she hadbeen launched. As a result of thi|recommendation the Board of TradeJwith the concurrence of the GeneralPost Office, has now issued instructionsby which priority will be given tomessages which may prevent the launch-ing of a Life-boat already called out, ormay enable a Life-boat already launchedto be recalled. The Committee ofManagement heartily welcome thisdecision, which will undoubtedly proveof great value to the Life-boat service,as it will not merely prevent the delaywhich in this case was a secondarycause of the disaster, but will enablethe Life-boats to be at, or return to,their respective stations, mobilisedand ready for action, instead of beinglaunched or remaining out when theyare not required and when it is possibleto recall them.

The Fourteen Questions and Answers.In the Wreck Commissioner's Court.

TOWN HALL, RYE,Friday, ith January, 1929.

Before His Honour JUDGE CANN(Wreck Commissioner), with Vice-Ad-miral E. L. BOOTY, C.B., M.V.O.,Captain J. GAREIOCK, and E. F.SPANNER, Esquire, M.I.N.A., Assessors.In the matter of a Formal Investigation

ordered by the Board of Trade into

the circumstances attending the cap-sizing of the Sailing Vessel MaryStanford (Rye Harbour Life-boat) offRye Harbour on the 15th day ofNovember, 1928, and the subsequentloss of life.

JUDGMENT.THE COMMISSIONER : At the con-

clusion of the evidence, Mr. WilfredLewis, on behalf of the Board of Trade,submitted certain Questions for theconsideration of the Court. TheseQuestions and the Answers of the Courtthereto are as follows :—

Question 1:When and by whom was the Sailing

Vessel Mary Stanford (Rye HarbourLife-boat) built ? What type of Life-boat was she ?

Answer:She was built in 1916 by S. E.

Saunders, Limited, at East Cowes. She,was Liverpool type—non-self-righting.

Question 2 :When and in what circumstances was

the Sailing Vessel Mary Stanford placedat the Rye Harbour Station ?

Was she chosen by the Coxswain andCrew as the type of boat most suitablefor the class of work she and they wouldbe called upon to perform ?

Was she, in fact, so suitable ?

Answer:In May, 1914, the Royal National

Life-boat Institution offered a new Life-boat to the Rye Harbour Life-boatStation, to replace the then existingboat, which was self-righting. At theinvitation of the Institution, the thenCoxswain and two members of the Crewvisited three Life-boat Stations andinspected different types of boat workedunder conditions similar to those atRye Harbour. As the result of this visit,the Crew selected a Liverpool type asmost suitable for the class of work sheand they would be called upon to per-form. In fact, she was quite suitable.

Question 3 :Did the Sailing Vessel Mary Stanford

undergo trials before being put intoactive service ? If so, what were theyand what was the result of such trials ?

196 THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929.

Answer :The Sailing Vessel Mary Stanford was

tested for draught and stability by thebuilders at East Cowes on 13th April,1916. These tests were perfectly satis-factory. She was sailed from EastCowes to Rye by the Crew and wasplaced on service at Rye on the 19thOctober, 1916.

On the 25th November, 1916, a testexercise was carried out at Rye underweather conditions that fairly tested theboat.

The result of these trials gave everysatisfaction to the Coxswain and Crewof the Boat and the Officials of theInstitution.

Question 4 :On how many occasions since she was

placed at the Rye Harbour Life-boatStation has the Sailing Vessel MaryStanford been put to use—

(a) On practice ?(6) On active service ?

Had she proved herself to be a goodsea boat in rough weather upon thoseoccasions or any of them ?

Did the Crew at any time express dis-satisfaction with the Sailing VesselMary Stanford ?

Answer :Since the Sailing Vessel Mary Stanford

was placed at the Rye Harbour Life-boat Station she has been put touse :—

(a) On practice, 47 times.(6) On active service, 15 times, ex-

clusive of the occasion of thedisaster.

She proved herself to be a good seaboat upon all occasions, several of theservices having been rendered underweather conditions similar to those pre-vailing at the time of the disaster.

The Crew at no time expressed dis-satisfaction with the boat; on thecontrary, all recorded remarks werehighly favourable.

Question 5 :With what type and pattern of life

jackets were the members of the Crewof the Sailing Vessel Mary Stanfordsupplied ?

When, and by whom, and for whatparticular purpose or purposes was thistype and pattern of life jacket designed ?

Before adopting this type and patternof life jacket for use by the Crews ofLife-boats at the various Stationsaround the coast, what measures weretaken by the Royal National Life-boatInstitution, with or without the co-operation of the Board of Trade andtheir officers, to ensure that they ful-filled the purposes for which they weredesigned ?

Did they fulfil the purpose or pur-poses for which they were designed ?Answer :

The type and pattern of life jacketssupplied to the Crew were Kapok TypePattern No. 3 of the Royal NationalLife-boat Institution.

This type and pattern was designedby the Royal National Life-boat Institu-tion in consultation with the Board ofTrade in the early part of 1917, for thepurpose of keeping the head of an un-conscious person from falling forward inthe water, in addition to the purposes forwhich the earlier patterns were designed.

Exhaustive experiments were madeup to September, 1917, by the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution, with theco-operation of the Board of Trade andtheir officers, to ensure that jackets ofNo. 3 pattern fulfilled the purposes forwhich they were designed.

Under the conditions of these experi-ments the belts fulfilled those purposes.

Question 6 :When was this type and pattern of

life jacket adopted by the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution andserved out to Life-boat Stations ?

Had the Crew of the Rye HarbourLife-boat used this type and pattern oflife jacket and expressed their approvalof, or satisfaction with it ?

Is this type and pattern of life jacketnow in general use by members of theLife-boat Crews round the coast ? Ifnot, why were any alterations in thetype and pattern of life jacket made ?

Were the Board of Trade consultedabout the matter, and why were suchaltered jackets not issued to the Crewof the Rye Harbour Life-boat ?

MARCH, 1929.]

By courtesy of]

THE LIFEBOAT.

THE RYE DISASTER.

197

[Messrs. F. J. Parsons, Ltd., Hastings.

THE WRECKED LIFE-BOAT.

By courtesy of]THE FUNERAL.

[The Times.


Answer:This type and pattern was adopted by

the Royal National Life-boat Institu-tion and served out by them to the Life-boat Stations in 1917. They weredespatched to the Rye Life-boatStation on the 25th September, 1917.

The Crew used and expressed theirapproval of Pattern No. 3 life jacketafter trying it in a heavy gale on the30th October, 1917, at a service launch ;and on 10th December, 1920, the Crew,in response to an invitation by theRoyal National Life-boat Institution,voted by a majority of 11 to 6 to retainPattern No. 3 life jacket in preference toPattern No. 2 (Waistcoat Pattern).

This type and pattern of life jacket isnot now in general use by members ofLife-boat Crews round the coast.

Alterations in the pattern of the lifejacket were made owing to numerouscomplaints from the Crews, on theground of discomfort and inconvenience,but no complaint was made as tobuoyancy.

The Board of Trade were consultedabout the matter. The altered jacketswere not issued to the Rye Crew becausethey had expressed their satisfactionwith Pattern No. 3.

Question 7 :What was the occasion for the

launching of the Sailing Vessel MaryStanford on the 15th day of November,1928?Answer :

The occasion for the launching of theSailing Vessel Mary Stanford on the15th day of November, 1928, was in.response to a message received from theNorth Foreland Radio Station at 4.27A.M. by the Liaison Officer at RamsgateCoastguard Station, and was receivedby the Rye Harbour Coastguard Stationat 4.50 A.M.

The message was as follows :—

" Steamer Alice Riga leaking—danger—drifting S.W. to W. 8miles from Dungeness 0430."

Question 8 :At what time was the Sailing Vessel

Mary Stanford launched and what wasthe state of the tide, force and directionof wind and state of the sea at that time?

Answer :The Sailing Vessel Mary Stanford was

launched at 6.45 A.M., approximately atlow water. The direction of the windwas S.S.W., Force 8 to 10, with a veryhigh, rough, broken sea.

Question 9 :At what time did the information

that the Crew of the S.S. Alice had beensaved and that the services of the RyeHarbour Life-boat were not requiredreach the Rye Harbour Life-boatStation ?

Was there undue delay in the cir-cumstances in transmitting such in-formation to the Rye Harbour Life-boatStation ?

If so, what were the reasons for thedelay ?Answer :

The information that the Crew of theS.S. Alice had been saved and that theservices of the Rye Life-boat were notrequired was received from the NorthForeland Radio Station by the LiaisonOfficer at the Ramsgate CoastguardStation at 6.12 A.M., and was receivedby the Rye Coastguard Station at 6.50A.M., and was immediately transmittedto the Life-boat House.

Under the existing regulations govern-ing the transmission of telephone mes-sages, there was no undue delay in trans-mitting such information to the RyeHarbour Life-boat Station.Question 10:

When the message was received at theRye Harbour Life-boat Station, wereprompt and proper measures taken torecall the Life-boat ? If so, how was itthat she did not at once return to theHarbour ?Answer:

Prompt and proper measures weretaken to recall the Life-boat, but therecall flag should have been hoisted atdaybreak. It is, however, highly im-probable that the recall flag would havebeen seen, if hoisted.

The recall signal was not answered bythe Life-boat.

Whether the signal was observed bythe Crew and, if so, why they did notanswer it, are matters of conjecture.From the existing atmospheric condi-


tions it is probable that the recall signalwas not seen.

Question 11 :When and where was the Sailing

Vessel Mary Stanford seen by the Mateof the S.S. Halton ?

How was she heading at the time ?What sail was she under ?What was the state of the weather

and sea and force and direction of thewind at that time ?

Answer:The Mary Stanford was first seen by

the mate of the S.S. Halton about9 A.M., and was last seen by him about9.10 A.M., when the S.S. Halton wasapproximately W.S.W. 3 miles fromDungeness, and the Life-boat passedunder her stern at a distance of abouthalf a mile, heading about WestNortherly on the port tack. She hadtwo small lug sails set.

It was then blowing a whole galefrom the S.S.W. with a very high seafrom the same direction. The sky wasovercast with rain squalls.

Question 12 :When and in what position at sea did

the Sailing Vessel Mary Stanford cap-size ?

What was the cause of the Life-boatcapsizing and the loss of her Crew of17 hands ?

Answer :The Mary Stanford capsized about

10.30 A.M., when she was about 1| milesS.S.E. from the Rye Coastguard Look-

I out Hut.| As there were no survivors of the| Crew, the cause of the Life-boat cap-

sizing is a matter of conjecture, butfrom the evidence available we are ofopinion that whilst attempting to makethe Harbour on a strong flood tide andin a high and dangerous breaking sea,with a gale of wind on her quarter, shesuddenly capsized, and the Crew werethrown into the water, two men beingentangled under the boat. The brokenwater and heavy surf caused the loss ofthe crew.

Question 13 :Was the Life-boat seen to capsize by

persons on shore ?

If so, was every effort promptly madeby those on shore to render all assistancepossible and to save the lives of theCrew ?Answer:

The Life-boat was seen to capsizeby persons on shore.

Every possible effort was promptlymade by those on shore and all possibleassistance was rendered by every one tosave the lives of the Crew.Question 14:

Did the life jackets worn by themembers of the Crew fail to fulfil theobjects for which they were designed ?

Did they cause or contribute to theloss of life ?Answer :

Owing to the sea and weather whichprevailed, it is impossible to say whathappened to the life jackets worn bythe members of the Crew from the timewhen the boat capsized until theyreached the shore, or to say how thelife jackets functioned. Neither is itpossible to say that the life jacketscaused or contributed to the loss of life.

The Court having carefully inquiredinto the circumstances attending theabove-mentioned shipping casualty, inthe absence of direct evidence, finds, forthe reasons stated in the Annex to theReport, that the capsizing of the saidvessel and the subsequent loss of lifewas probably due to the fact that inattempting to make Rye Harbour on astrong flood tide and in a high anddangerous and breaking sea, with a galeof wind on her quarter, she capsized, andthe Crew were thrown into the waterand drowned.

The Court desires to express its deepsympathy with the relatives and friendsof those lost in this very sad disaster.

The Court also desires to express itsappreciation of the efforts of the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution to supplyto the Life-boat Stations boats andequipment of the highest efficiency, inconsultation with the Coxswains andCrews of the Life-boats and with theco-operation of the Board of Trade.

Messages of Sympathy.In the last issue were published the

messages of sympathy received from


the King, as the Institution's supremePatron, the Prince of Wales, its Presi-dent, and the Princess Louise, Duchessof Argyll, Patron of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild. Among the many othermessages of sympathy were telegramsor letters from the North and SouthHolland Life-saving Society, the SouthHolland Society for Saving the Ship-wrecked, the Belgian Minister of Marine,who is the head of the Belgian Life-boatService, the Commandant of the UnitedStates Coastguard, of which the Life-boat Service in the States forms part,the German Society for Saving theShipwrecked, the Danish Ministry ofMarine, which administers the DanishService, the Norwegian Society forSaving the Shipwrecked, the SwedishSociety for Saving the Shipwrecked,the French Central Society for Savingthe Shipwrecked, the Breton Life-saving Society, the Latvian Life-savingSociety, the Naval Attache to theItalian Embassy, the Chief Inspectorof H.M. Coastguard, the ShipwreckedFishermen and Mariners' Royal Bene-volent Society, the Imperial MerchantService Guild, the Co-operative Whole-sale Society, the Manchester Branch ofthe National Union of Seamen, theNorddeutscher Lloyd, owners of theSmyrna, which rescued the crew of theAlice, the Battersea Labour League, theBaden-Powell Sea Scouts of Ghent, andthe workpeople of the EarlsheatonBrush Works, at Dewsbury.

To these messages of sympathy fromforeign governments and societies athome and abroad have to be addedmany individual messages, and messagesfrom many of the Institution's ownbranches.

Memorial Services.

The grief and the sympathy of theInstitution's Stations and FinancialBranches were shown also in otherways. At Walton - on - the - Naze amemorial service was held on the 25thNovember, at the Town Hall, conductedby the Ministers of the differentchurches. Members of the WaltonLife-boat Crew were present, and acollection was made on behalf of theRye Fund.

At Bournemouth, on the day of thefuneral, a last tribute to the men ofRye was paid by the Mayor, who isPresident of the Branch, at a specialmemorial meeting at the entrance tothe pier.

At Eastbourne £100 was raised by adance in aid of the Rye Fund. AtHeckmondwike the Ladies' Life-boatGuild organized a matinee in aid ofthe Fund, and at Thame a specialcollection was made for it by theHonorary Secretary of the Branch.Many other Branches, we know, madespecial appeals on behalf of the Fund,sending their contributions direct tothe Mayor of Rye, and it is onlybecause the particulars have not beensent to the Institution that they arenot mentioned here.

At the church at Frant, TunbridgeWells, a special Service of Intercessionwas held, at the height of the gale onthe night after the Rye disaster, and acollection made for the Institution,while the following Sunday over £21was collected in the same church forthe Rye Fund. At the Red LanternCinema, Herne Bay, a Sunday per-formance, including one of the Institu-tion's films, was given, and £31 was sentto the Institution's funds.

The special contributions receivedby the Institution towards the pensionsfor the dependents included £100 fromthe Cuaard Steamship Company, £2from a Dutchman, and another £2which came with the message " Rye !the men who put ' Safety Last! ' andthe wives who seconded them." TheInstitution also received a copy of aboy's story book, "The Golden Budgetfor Boys," which came anonymously,but had written on the fly-leaf, in achild's hand, "For one of the littleboys of Rye." It was sent to the Mayorof Rye, who gave it to one of the sonsof the Coxswain.

Among the letters received was onefrom " an old Life-boat volunteer whohad served nearly fifty years ago inthe Rosslare Boat." He wrote how" passionately proud " he always waswhen he read of the deeds of the menin the Service to which he had oncebelonged. He had already paid a fine


tribute, in an article in the local paper,to the men " who are not servants ofthe State, but servants of humanity."Another was from an old Rye fisher-man in the Brighton workhouse whowrote to the Honorary Secretary,begging that the Brighton Stationwould send a wreath to the funeral (as,in fact, had already been done).

In these, and in many other ways,Life-boat Branches, Life-boat workersand the general public showed theirgrief at the disaster, their pride in themen who had given their lives, and theirsympathy with the Life-boat Service.

The Seventeen Rye Life-boatmen.The seventeen men who lost their

lives were :—

Herbert Head, the Coxswain, and histwo sons, James Head and John Head.

Joseph Stonham, the Second Cox-swain.

Henry Cutting, the Bowman, and histwo brothers, Robert Redvers Cuttingand Albert Ernest Cutting.

Charles Frederick David Pope, RobertHenry Pope and Alexander Pope, threebrothers.

William Clark and Leslie Clark,brothers.

Maurice James Downey and ArthurDowney, cousins.

Herbert Smith, Walter Igglesden andCharles Southerden.

The Burial.Fifteen of the seventeen men were

buried in the churchyard at Rye Har-bour on 20th November. The bodiesof the other two, Henry Cutting andJohn Head, had not then been found.It was not until nearly three monthslater that Henry Cutting was washedashore at Eastbourne, and taken toRye for burial. John Head has not yetbeen given up by the sea.

" Rye Harbour seems remote fromthe homely old town on a hill two milesaway, and the hamlet, thinly spreadwhere the marshes meet the lonelyshore, was a desolate place in the storm-swept days of sorrow last week.* To-daythe one street which ends abruptly by

* This account is taken from The Times of21st November.

the coastguard station was throngedwith a quiet and slowly-moving gather-ing of people who had come to paytribute to the brave who met deathwhen seeking to save others. Most ofthe men who attended the funeral hadthe stamp of the sea on their faces. Afew were of the village, but the majorityhad travelled from the ports and townsof the Kent and Sussex coast. Manyof the women in the crowd wore black,and carried wreaths or bunches ofchrysanthemums. Hundreds of wreathshad been sent to be placed on the grave.

" The fifteen coffins rested this morn-ing in the Sailors' Institute, withinsound of a. still restless sea. Each onehad for a pall the flag of the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution, andon the flags white flowers had been laidby the nearest kin of the dead. Thewords on the cards tied to the wreathsand posies were almost too intimate tobe read, though in them there was oftena note of pride. At the head of the roomother wreaths covered two woodenforms. Union Jacks flew at half-mastoutside the Institute.

" The wind which has raged duringthe gales was still fitful as the mournersassembled for the funeral procession,and flags strained at their halyards, butthere was blue in the partly-clouded sky,and cold, wan sunshine on the flat wastesbeyond the cottages. At half-past onethe coffins were brought out into thestreet and placed temporarily on a longrow of iron trestles.

" The Rye Borough Band, in uniform,with members of the Salvation Army,took up places to lead the procession ;120 pall bearers, some drawn from theHastings and other Life-boat Crews,and the others members of the BritishLegion, stood by the draped coffins ;the sad line of family mourners—a long,extended company, for the dead menwere related to nearly every soul inRye Harbour, and relatives had alsocome from near and distant towns andvillages—was marshalled ; the Hon.George Colville, Viscount Curzon, M.P.,and other representatives of the Life-boat Organisation, the Latvian Consul-General, the Mayors of Rye and neigh-bouring towns, General Lloyd, V.C., and


representatives of various public bodies,fell in behind, and in the rear came manyof those who man the Life-boats ofEastbourne, Newhaven, Deal, Rams-gate, Margate and Worthing, and astrong muster of the British Legion,with eight crepe-topped banners.

" Shortly before 2 o'clock the bandplayed ' Lead, kindly light,' the coffins-were raised to the shoulders of thebearers, and the short progress to the

I church began. Several thousands ofpeople lined the road or were gatheredoutside the walls of the burial-ground,and they stood motionless, the men withbared heads, as the dead were carriedby. When the church was approachedthe band played ' Abide with me.'Only the relatives, clergy and officialmourners passed into the church-yard. There was not space for more.Before the Burial Service was recited,the bodies, one by one, were loweredinto the deep, open grave. When theflags were removed, it was seen thateach coffin had a brass tablet, on whichwere inscribed the name, age, and dateof death, and the expressive words,' Died gallantly.' The grave was linedwith leaves of laurel and yew.

" The service was conducted by theRev. Henry Newton, Vicar of RyeHarbour, and the Rev. J. Fowler, vicarof Rye. Among the clergy who assistedwere three former Vicars of Rye Har-bour. Following the comforting openingsentences, the 23rd Psalm was read, andthe whole gathering sang ' Jesu, Loverof my soul.' Then came the words ofcommittal of the bodies, ' earth to earth,ashes to ashes, dust to dust,' prayersfor help for those who mourned, theCollect of the Burial Service, and theBlessing. The banners of the BritishLegion, which had been dipped, wereraised again. For a few minutes therewas silence around the grave, whilemothers and wives dropped flowers onthe coffins. One cry of distress roseabove the hush, but the mourners as acompany were dry-eyed. Softenedpride denied grief demonstrative expres-sion while so many of the Life-boatService stood around."

At this last ceremony the Institutionwas represented by the Hon. George

Colville, Deputy-Chairman of the Com-mittee of Management, Captain theViscount Curzon, C.B.E., V.D., A.D.C.,R.N.V.R., M.P., Mr. George F. Shee,M.A., Secretary of the Institution,Captain Howard F. J. Rowley, C.B.E.,R.N., Chief Inspector of Life-boats,Commander Edward D. Drury, O.B.E.,R.D., R.N.R., Deputy-Chief Inspectorof Life-boats, Captain G. H. Bevan,O.B.E., R.N., Deputy Chief Inspectorfor Stores, and Commander R. L. Hamer,R.N., Inspector of Life-boats for theSouthern District. H.M. Coastguardwere represented by Captain A. L.Strange, Inspector of Coastguard atHove.

Pensions for the Dependents.The wives, children and parents

wholly dependent on these seventeenmen numbered eighteen. They haveall been pensioned by the Institution, asif the men were sailors, soldiers or airmenkilled in action. The Coxswain ranks asa Chief Petty Officer or Colour Sergeant,the Second Coxswain as a First ClassPetty Officer or Sergeant, the Bowmanas a Second Class Petty Officer or Cor-poral, and the Life-boatmen as Seamenor Privates.

These pensions, capitalised, amountto about £6,000, and will be paid out ofthe general funds of the Institution.

The Mayor of Rye's Fund.

Immediately after the disaster the jMayor of Rye, who is also the Honorary iSecretary of the Rye Branch of the IInstitution, opened a fund for the idependents. j

So generous was the response to the ap-peal that over £35,000 was very quickly :

subscribed, money continuing to comein even after the fund had been closed.

To arrange for the disposal of such asum to the satisfaction of everyoneconcerned was not easy, and unfortu-nately some draft suggestions preparedby the local Trustees (the Mayor, theTown Clerk, the Vicar of Rye, the Vicarof Rye Harbour and Captain E. H.Brookfield, R.N., Honorary Treasurerof the Rye Branch of the Institution)met with some adverse criticism at apublic meeting at Rye to which theywere submitted.


An Advisory Committee of six waselected at a later meeting, and then, asit was found impossible to come to anyagreement, the Trustees and AdvisoryCommittee decided to put the matterbefore the Charity Commissioners. Asa result of the Mayor's interview withthe Commissioners, the Trustees andAdvisory Committee took Counsel'sopinion in order to discover the powersof the Trustees. A scheme put forwardon behalf of the dependents for theimmediate and final distribution of themoney was also submitted to Counsel.He advised that the Trustees were re-sponsible for the administration of thefund, and that the dependents' schemewas not one which could be adopted. Asub-committee was then appointed toprepare a deed of trust, on the linessuggested by Counsel.

Following this meeting, the Mayorwas invited by the Attorney-General tomeet him in London, and as a result ofthis interview the Attorney-Generalmade a statement in the House ofCommons on the 20th February. Hesaid that he had formed the opinion thatthe money subscribed must be treatedas a charitable fund, and it was only forthat reason that he had taken theresponsibility of making suggestions.His purpose was to see that the wholeof the fund was applied as promptly aspossible for the sole benefit of the personsconcerned. Suggestions had been madefor a draft deed or scheme to be pre-pared. The scheme was to provide fora wide discretion on the part of thoseadministering the fund to advancecapital sums for the benefit and advance-ment in life of the dependents, besidessecuring to the parents and the widowsa regular income. He had proposed thatthe scheme should provide for a small

committee of men and women residentin the neighbourhood of Rye to advisethe Trustee who would be appointed toadminister the Fund.

The Institution feels sure that, as aresult of the Attorney-General's advice,a scheme will very soon be preparedwhich will have the approval of allconcerned. There are, however, twothings which it is important should beclearly understood.

The first is that the Institution is notresponsible in any way for the adminis-tration of the Fund. The Fund is underthe control of the Mayor of Rye and the

I other local Trustees, and although theInstitution is paying the pensions asalready described, it does not regard thisfact as giving it any claim to influencethe disposal of the Fund.

The second fact which requires to beemphasised is that there is not, andnever has been, any possibility of thedependents being in want while a schemewas being prepared for the administra-tion of the Fund. The Institutionis now paying the pensions, as de-scribed, to the eighteen persons who hadbeen wholly dependent on the Life-boat Crew, and provision has beenmade out of the Fund for all thosepartly as well as wholly dependent,numbering altogether forty-three. Fromthe day of the disaster the Trustees tooksteps to provide for their immediateneeds. The figures of the payments sofar made out of the Fund were given bythe Attorney-General in the House ofCommons. During the thirteen weeksthat had passed, the sum of £1,168 hadbeen paid to the families by the Trustees,in addition to £229 for the expenses ofthe funeral. This is, of course, exclusiveof the pensions and allowances paid bythe Institution.

Self-Righting and Non-Self-Righting Life-boats.Losses through Capsizing since 1850.

THE discussion in the Press and else-where which followed the Rye disastershowed that the public was very farfrom understanding the relative meritsof self-righting Life-boats and of thosewhich do not self-right, or the reasons

which decide the choice between thetwo.

As the Rye boat was of the Liverpooltype, which does not self-right, it wasperhaps not unnatural that, in face ofthe disaster, many people should have


thought that she could not have been amodern type of Life-boat, because shecould not self-right, and suggested thatthe Institution should replace all thenon-self-righting Life-boats by self-righting as soon as possible.

There was even some confusion withregard to the actual meaning of "; self-righting," although the name seems toexplain itself. Some people, and evensome writers in the Press who ought toknow better, imagined it to mean aboat which could not capsize! Such aboat, it is hardly necessary to say, doesnot exist.

The main difference between the self-righting and the non-self-righting types*is as follows : The power to self-rightis obtained by the two chambers, or high" end-boxes " as they are called, whichare the distinguishing feature of theself-righting Life-boat, and by a heavykeel, weighing from one-third to one-fifth of the boat's total weight. Thesehigh end-boxes, exposed as they are tothe wind and the sea, make the self-righting Life-boat less easy to handle inheavy weather ; and though she willcome right way up as soon as shecapsizes, she is, in fact, more liable tocapsize than the Life-boats whichcannot self-right. These, although oncethey go over they have no chance ofself-righting, are much more stable.

Broadly speaking, the experience ofthe Institution shows that with largeLife-boats, intended to go well out tosea, whether sailing or motor, it is betterto set aside the self-righting principleand aim at greater buoyancy, stabilityand speed. At present rather more thanhalf of the Institution's fleet are self-righting boats, but as the Pulling andSailing Life-boats are replaced by MotorLife-boats, the number with the self-righting principle is steadily growingless. Of the Institution's 70 Motor Life-boats, at the end of last year, 21 wereself-righting boats. Of the 14 MotorLife-boats under construction only twowere self-righting.

The choice of Life-boat for any

* There are six different kinds of Life-boatwhich have not the self-righting quality, but,broadly, they may be treated as of the onetype.

particular Station is governed by theconditions of the coast, but in no caseare a Crew ever asked to go out in a Life-boat which they have not already triedand approved. Before a new boat is laiddown for a Station, a deputation fromthe Crew visits a Station where there isa similar boat, and goes out in her.In the case of Rye, the men visitedthree different Stations on the EastCoast, where conditions were similar tothose at Rye, and tried a Liverpoolboat, a Self-righting boat, and a Norfolkand Suffolk boat.

Any one of these, in the opinion of theInstitution, would have been suitablefor Rye. The choice between the threewas left to the Rye Life-boatmen them-selves, and they unanimously chose aLiverpool boat.

Previous Capsizes.

The general statement made withregard to the qualities of the two types,self-righting and non-self-righting, isborne out by the figures of losses throughthe capsizing of Life-boats during thepast 78 years.

During that time 214 Life-boatmenhave lost their lives in this way.*

The following tables show how theselosses are divided between the self-righting and non-self-righting types :—

SELF-RIGHTING LIFE-BOATS.Capsizes Capsizes

with withoutloss of l ife. lo'S of life

41 52

Totalcapsizes.

93

Totallives lost.

145

NOX-SELF-RIGHTIXG LlFE-BOATS.

10 0 10 69

Thus it will be seen that the non-self-righting Life-boats never capsizedwithout loss of life, and that the averageof lives lost for each capsize was nearlyseven, while in the case of the self-righting Life-boats, it was under two.On the other hand, there were ninetimes as many capsizes of self-rightingLife-boats, and more than twice asmany lives were lost from them.

To give an absolutely accurate com-parison it would of course be necessary

* In the same time 36 lives were lost afloatby other accidents than capsizing.


to take into account the number oflaunches of the two types of Life-boat,but these figures give a fair indicationof the relative risks of capsizing withthe two types.

Lives Lost—Lives Saved.

It is no less interesting to comparethe number of lives lost with the numbersaved, and also the number of Life-boatmen lost with the number who haverisked their lives.

Since 1850 the Institution's Life-boatshave rescued nearly 40,000 lives. Inthe same time 250 Lifeboatmen havelost their lives at sea. That is to say,160 lives have been rescued for everylife lost.

During the same period of 78 yearssomething like 250,000 Life-boatmenhave been afloat on service, so thatone Life-boatman in 1.000 has lost hislife.

Life-boat disasters were relativelycommon between 1850 and 1890, butthey have been much less common inrecent years. The last was eight yearsago, when three lives were lost owing tothe capsizing of the self-righting Life-boat at Ehoscolyn, Anglesey, and wehave to go back thirteen years, to 1916,for a disaster on the same terrible scaleas the Rye disaster. In that year theSalcombe Life-boat capsized with theloss of thirteen out of her Crew offifteen men.

Dutch Life-boat Losses.Ix the gales of last November, andagain in January of this year, the DutchLife-boat Service did magnificent work,but, like our own Service, it sufferedheavy loss.

The same terrible gales which struckour own coasts during the second halfof November were no less severe on theDutch coast. During the twelve daysfrom the 16th to the 27th there were 41launches of Dutch Life-boats, a largernumber in the time than there have beenfor many years, and no fewer than 89lives were rescued—a magnificent record.

On 25th November, just ten daysafter the Rye Life-boat capsized aftergoing out to the help of a Latviansteamer, one of the Life-boats atIJmuiden,* belonging to the North andSouth Holland Life-saving Society, waslaunched to the help of an Italiansteamer, Salento.

The IJmuiden boat is of the type usedeverywhere along the Dutch coast.Like the Rye boat, she is not a self-righter. Before she could reach thewreck she capsized, about 300 yardsfrom the shore. Several men wereunder the boat, but they managed tofree themselves, although their life-

* An account of a very fine service offIJmuiden, earlier in the year, to an Englishsteamer appears on page 213.

belts, in which it is very difficult todive, hampered them. One man, how-ever, could not get clear, and when theboat was righted on the beach his bodywas found beneath. The other men,although several of them had been hurt,succeeded in climbing on the boat, andstood on the fender, holding fast to thebilge keel. The boat was carried to theshore, and they were all rescued.

It shows the magnificent spirit of theDutch Life-boatmen that when theylanded five of them wanted to try againin the same boat !

The Steam Life-boat at the Hook.

A WORSE disaster befell one of the twoSteam Life-boats stationed at the Hookof Holland on 16th January, when shecapsized and her whole Crew of eightwere drowned. The Life-boat was thePiins der Nederlanden, and belonged tothe South Holland Society for Savingthe Shipwrecked. She had gone out tothe help of a Latvian steamer, Valka,which had stranded. Another Life-boatalso put out, and stranded on a sand-bank, but succeeded in getting off andreturned to her station, after being outfor seventeen hours. The next day sheagain put out and succeeded in rescuingthe whole of those on board the Valka,25 in all, including 3 women.

206 THE LIFEBOAT. [MAECH, 1929.

Six of the Life-boatmen who had losttheir lives were married, and left 38children. An appeal on behalf of thewidows and orphans was at once issuedby the Dutch Red Cross and by theSouth Holland Society for Saving theShipwrecked, and a very generousresponse was made.

The Prins der Nederlanden is anhydraulic-driven Steam Life-boat, builtin 1908, and is one of two Steam Life-boats at the Hook which have a splendidrecord of lives rescued, including manyBritish lives. She was one of the foreignLife-boats which came up the Thamesin 1924 to take part in the centenarycelebrations of the Institution.

As soon as the news of the disasterwas received the Institution sent a tele-

gram of sympathy, which concluded :'' This Institution, which has recentlysuffered similar loss of brave Crew,recognises that such tragedies exemplifythe constant perils of the Life-boat Ser-vice and sanctify the courage andhumanity which inspire the Life-boatCrews." "

The Life-boat Crews of Rye Har-bour and the Hook of Holland weredrowned in attempts to help Latvianvessels. The Life-boat at IJmuidencapsized when going out to an Italianvessel. These 20 Life-boatmen ofEngland and Holland, who have died onservice during the gales of this lastwinter, all gave their lives in attemptingto bring help to vessels and men offoreign nations.

The Record of 1928.NINETEEN HUNDRED AND TWENTY-EIGHT has been a year of splendidachievement for the Life-boat Service,overshadowed by a great tragedy.

During the year the Institution gaverewards for the rescue of no fewer than591 lives. This is the largest numberrescued in one year since 1923. Of theselives, 60 were rescued during ten daysin the gales in the middle of November.In addition to the lives rescued, 52vessels and boats have been saved orhelped to safety. Since the Institutionwas founded, 105 years ago, up to theend of 1928, 61,759 lives have beenrescued from shipwreck round ourshores, an average of 11 lives saved everyweek for over a century. The tragedywas the capsizing of the Rye HarbourLife-boat on November 15th (of whicha full account is given on p. 193), withthe loss of her whole crew of 17 men.

The majority of the 591 lives saved in1928 were British, but once again ourLife-boats have shown that they are agreat international as well as a Britishservice. Altogether 15 vessels belongingto 8 different nationalities were helped,and 83 lives were rescued from them.Four of the vessels were French, threeGerman, two Norwegian, two Dutch,

one Italian, one Danish, one Belgianand one Latvian. In addition to these83 lives from foreign steamers, 15 China-men were rescued from an Englishsteamer. Two of the three principalservices of the year, for which theInstitution awarded its medals forgallantry, were to foreign vessels.

The outstanding Life-boat Servicewas performed by the Motor Life-boatat New Brighton, when it rescued thecrew of 23 from a French steamer. Itwas a service of great danger, carriedout with conspicuous skill and courage.Coxswain George Robinson was awardedthe Silver Medal and each of the eightmembers of the Crew the Bronze Medal.(A full account of the service will befound on the opposite page.)

Two other services were of specialmerit, and they were both carried outby the Life-boatmen of Padstow. Onthe llth February the smaller of thetwo Padstow Pulling and Sailing Lifeboats, Arab, rescued the crew of 18 ofa Norwegian steamer, Taormina. Theservice was one of great danger, but theLife-boat was handled with conspicuousskill by Coxswain W. J. Baker, who wasawarded the Bronze Medal, and he wassupported by splendid work at the oars


on the part of his Crew, more than halfof whom had not been out on servicebefore. (A full account of this servicewas given in The Lifeboat for lastMay.)

The other Padstow service was onthe 27th November, when the SteamTug Helen Peele rescued the five menof the fishing boat Our Girlie, justbefore she was carried on to the rocksand went to pieces. For this servicethe Master of the Tug, Mr. J. Atkinson,was awarded the Bronze Medal. (Afull account of the service appears onp. 209.)

Two Bronze Medals were also awardedduring the year for gallantry in rescuinglife from shipwreck through other meansthan Life-boats. Mr. Thomas Boyle, ofQuilty, Co. Clare, received it as theleader of three men in rescuing threemen who had been marooned on anisland on the 8th February. The rescuewas carried out in a canvas canoe, witha gale blowing and a high sea.

The other Bronze Medal was awardedto Mr. Hugh Mac Kay, Senr., of Hilton,in Ross-shire, who, with four other men,went out at dusk on the 20th March ina whole gale, with a heavy sea and adangerous tide running, to the help ofa fishing-boat, the engine of which hadbroken down. The first of these fineservices was fully described in The Life-boat for last May, and the second in TheLifeboat for last September.

New Motor Life-boats.IN other ways, 1928 was a very busyyear for the Life-boat Service. Sevennew Motor Life-boats were built, forStromness in the Orkneys, Walton-on-the-Naze and Southend-on-Sea, Essex ;Swanage, Dorset; Fowey, Cornwall;Cromarty, Cromartyshire ; and Thurso,Caithness-shire. Sixteen other MotorLife-boats were under construction atthe end of the year. The Life-boatFleet on the 31st December numbered205, of which 70 were Motor Life-boats.

The year also saw the final trials ofthe new Tractor for launching, a fullaccount of which appeared in the lastissue of The Lifeboat, and the firststeps in an important development inconstruction—the building of a speciallyfast type of Motor Life-boat for workin the Straits of Dover. This Boat isfully described on page 215.

The second International Life-boatConference was held in Paris—twice asmany nations being represented as atthe first Conference held in London fouryears before—and a report appeared inThe Life-boat for last September. Itwas once more made clear how valuableis such a full discussion and exchangeof ideas. For all the Services arefaced with similar problems of con-struction and mechanics, although thesolutions vary according to the varyingconditions of the different coasts.

The Finest Service of 1928.Silver Medal Awarded to the Coxswain at New Brighton.

THE Institution has awarded its SilverMedal to Coxswain George Robinson, ofNew Brighton, on the Mersey, and itsBronze Medal to each of the eightmembers of the Crew, for their gallantryin rescuing 23 men of the French steamerEmile Delmas on 24th November last—the finest service of the year.

A very heavy N.N.W. gale wasblowing, with a very heavy sea, con-tinuous blinding rain squalls, and gustsat nearly 100 miles an hour. Owing tothe gale and shortage of fuel, thesteamer anchored and signalled for

help. When the Motor Lifeboat reachedher, she had the greatest difficulty ingetting alongside, as the steamer was jyawing tremendously. In the end she isucceeded, thanks to the splendid skill jwith which the Coxswain handled her,and the magnificent courage of her wholeCrew. As soon as she got alongside theFrenchmen jumped into the net whichthe Life-boat carries, stretched amid-ships, or climbed down a rope-ladder.

The whole crew of 24 men wererescued, but the Life-boat herself hadbeen badly damaged. Then, on her way


By courtesy of] [J. H. Muinferd, ^eic Brighton.

COXSWAIN GEORGE ROBINSON, OF NEW BRIGHTON.

By courtesy of\ [Will in in Iluurntnn, fitro

THE SERVICE TO THE CARMANIA II.The Stromness Lifeboat is lying off the steamer, and the rope by which the crew were rescued can just be seen

over the steamer's stern.

(Seepage 211.)


home, she was struck by a huge sea. Itflooded one of the engine rooms, andswept overboard the chief engineer ofthe steamer and two of the Life-boat'sown Crew. After great difficulty andmuch manoeuvring, the Life-boatsucceeded in picking up the two Life-boatmen, but in spite of repeated efforts,she could not save the engineer, whowas swept away and drowned. TheLife-boat reached her Station againnearly six hours after she had put outto the rescue.

Particular gallantry was shown bythe Motor Mechanic of the Life-boat,Ralph B. Scott. He was ill, waiting for avacant bed in the hospital and faced withthe probability of a serious operation.In spite of this he answered the call

with the rest of the Crew, and duringthe whole service was in charge of theengines. When he landed he was takenstraight to hospital. This is not thefirst time that Mr. Scott has shown suchgallantry and endurance. Before theNew Brighton Life-boat went to herStation, in 1923, she made a tourround Great Britain. Mr. Scott brokea bone in his arm, but in spite of thisremained in charge of the engines untilthe end of the trip a month later.

The owners of the Emile Delmas arethe Compagnie Delmas Freres et Viel-jeux, of La Rochelle. They are alreadysubscribers to the Institution, and in

I gratitude for this service they have madea special gift of 10,000 francs to the NewBrighton Life-boat Crew.

Another Bronze Medal Service by Padstow.Awards to the Master and Crew of the Tug " Helen Peele."

PADSTOW has the distinction of havingcarried out two services last year inwhich such skill and gallantry wereshown in circumstances of great dangerthat the Institution has awarded itsBronze Medal in each case.

The first service was on llth Feb-ruary, when the Arab rescued the crew ofeighteen of the Norwegian steamer Taor-mina. Coxswain Baker being awardedthe Bronze Medal. A full account ofthis service appeared in The Lifeboatfor last May. The second service wason 27th November, when the Life-boatTug Helen Peele rescued the crew ofthe motor fishing boat Our Girlie, of PortIsaac.

At 4.30 in the morning as a galewas blowing from the west-north-west,with a very heavy sea, the HonorarySecretary at Padstow made inquiriesabout the fishing boats, and foundthat one boat, Our Girlie, with fivemen on board, was at sea. TheCoastguard could give no news of her,so the Steam Tug Helen Peele wasimmediately sent out. With the help ofher searchlight she found Our Girlieanchored close to the shore near Port

Quin, and in great danger, for if heranchor gave, the heavy seas would flingher at once on the rocks. The master ofthe Tug ordered the oil tap to be turnedon, and this smoothed the seas consider-ably. He then stood boldly in to within200 yards of the rocks, in only two orthree fathoms of water, anchored, andmanoeuvred the tug with such skillthat he got her safely alongside thefishing-boat, so that her crew wereable to climb on board the Tug. Inthe darkness and shallow water, andwith the heavy sea running, it wasan operation of great difficulty anddanger. Had the Tug touched therocks, it would have been fatal. Therescue was completed only just in time.Immediately afterwards the cable ofthe fishing-boat parted, she was carriedon to the rocks, and became a completewreck.

The Institution awarded its BronzeMedal to Mr. J. Atkinson, the Master ofthe Tug, its Thanks inscribed on Vellumto each member of the Crew, and itsThanks and an inscribed Barometer toCaptain E. P. Hutchings, the HonorarySecretarv.

F 3

210 THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929

Three Fine Services in February.Thurso, Plymouth and Stromness.

THE month of February was marked bythree fine services, two in the north ofScotland and the other in the south ofEngland. One was performed by thePulling and Sailing Life-boat at Thurso,the others by new Motor Life-boats ofthe Barnett type, the 60-feet boat whichwent to Plymouth in 1926, and the 51-feet boat which went to Stromness lastyear.

Thurso.

At ten at night, on the 2nd February,a message was received that a vesselhad gone ashore on Brims Ness, sixmiles from Thurso, the scene of manywrecks. She was found later to be thetrawler Edward VII., of Grimsby. Theweather was thick and very cold, astrong breeze was blowing from thesouth and a heavy ground swell wasbreaking on the foreshore. The Life-boat reached the wreck half an hourafter midnight, to find that the trawlerhad struck a submerged rock, known asthe Whale's Back. She had then beenthrown clear of this and came in on tothe long wide reef called Buff of Brims.There she lay in shallow water in achannel, with gear of all kinds floatingabout, and with high rocks and reefsall round her, grinding and rollingheavily in the surf.

The position of the trawler, the rocksand shallow water, the surf, and thedarkness of the night, all made the taskof rescue very difficult and dangerous.

The Coxswain did not anchor, as hewas afraid the cable would get fouledon the half-submerged rocks. Hebrought the Life-boat opposite thewreck, and as close as possible, undersail, and then with oars worked inamong the rocks. The Life-boat ran adouble risk of running on the rocks closeunder on her lee and of being sweptagainst the trawler's side. Both dangerswere successfully avoided, and by thelight of white flares and the ship's ownlights, which were still burning, the tenmen on board the trawler were rescued,not only without injury to the crewbut without damage to the Life-boat.

Seven hours after putting out, the Life-boat reached Thurso again.

In recognition of the skill with whichthe Life-boat was handled in circum-stances of great difficulty, the Institu-tion has awarded its Thanks on Vellumto Coxswain McPhail, and an additionalmonetary award to him and to eachmember of the Crew. Special lettersof thanks have also been sent to Mr. J.Miller, the honorary secretary, and toCaptain Shearer, who acts as honoraryshore signalman.

Plymouth.At 2.10 on the morning of the 12th

February, the Coxswain at Plymouthreceived information from the Coast-guard that a steamer, which was foundafterwards to be the s.s. Deventia, ofWorkington, was in distress off BoltHead, eighteen miles to the south-east.A strong E.S.E. gale was blowing witha heavy sea and snow squalls, and theweather was bitterly cold. After com-municating with the Honorary Secre-taries of the neighbouring stations,Torbay and Hope Cove, the HonorarySecretary decided to send out the Ply-mouth boat, and she left at 3.10. Shereached the wreck at 5.45, just aboutdaybreak, and found the vessel ashoreon the rocks under the lee of Bolt Head.She was filling rapidly, and althoughout of the full force of the sea, wassufficiently exposed to feel the effect ofthe seas sweeping past. There was,however, just enough shelter for theCoxswain to be able to get alongsidewithout anchoring, and he rescuedten of the crew of thirteen, the otherthree being rescued from the shore bythe Life-saving Apparatus.

The net amidships, which the Barnetttype of Life-boat carries, was of greatvalue in getting the ten men quicklyinto the Life-boat.

Coxswain Eagles has been awardedthe Thanks of the Institution inscribedon Vellum, and he and each member ofthe Crew have been granted an extramonetary award. A letter was receivedfrom the Chief Engineer of the Deventia


expressing his gratitude and his admira-\ tion for the splendid way in which the

Life-boat was handled.

Stromness.

About 4 on the morning of the14th February three messengers fromdifferent houses in Invertown broughtthe Honorary Secretary the news that asteamer, which was found afterwards tobe the trawler Carmania II., of Grimsby,had gone ashore on the Kirk Rocks,Hoy Bound, and was showing signals ofdistress. The Coxswain and Crew werecalled out immediately, and the Life-boat, which had not been housed aftera service carried out three days before,owing to the stormy weather, left the

! harbour at 4.35. A strong breeze wasI blowing from the S.W., with a very

heavy sea running, and the weather wasbitterly cold. When the call came soft,blinding snow was falling. This ceasedabout the time when the Life-boat putout.

She reached the neighbourhood of therocks about five o'clock, and the Life-saving Apparatus arrived at the sametime, but neither could give the trawlerany immediate help. She was too farfrom the shore for it to be possible forthe Apparatus to get a line to her, andtoo far in for it to be possible for theLife-boat to get near in the darknessand the breaking seas. There was nohope of approaching her from seaward,as the seas were breaking 100 to 150yards before they reached her, whilebetween the wreck and the shore werereefs and shallow water, where the Life-boat could not go until the tide rose.The Coxswain waited.

By this time the trawler was lyingwith a very heavy list, and was rollingheavily. About an hour after the Life-boat arrived a huge wave lifted her asif she had been a cork, swung her com-pletely round, and threw her right ontop of the reef. Her lights were thenburning, but gradually grew dimmerand eventually went out. About thistime the tide turned, and the seas grewheavier and heavier.

The Coxswain stood by for another| two hours and then decided to attempt

a rescue. He manoeuvred the Life-

boat through the breakers, and droppedanchor. The first attempt to establishcommunication by means of the Line-Throwing Gun failed, but the secondand third shots succeeded, and two lineswere secured on board the trawler. Alifebuoy was then sent to the wreck,and the Life-boat herself was veered inthrough the surf, nearer and nearer asthe tide rose. She was thrown high inthe air by every sea and then disappearedin the trough, but, watching for theiropportunity when a lull came in thebreaking seas, the Life-boatmen gotthe trawler's crew oft, man by man,until five were safely on board the Life-boat. All had gone well up to thispoint, but then a tremendous wavecaught the Life-boat nearly broadsideon, the wire cable snapped and the boatreeled to leeward. She was in imminentdanger herself, but the Coxswain showedperfect judgment and seamanship andrushed the boat ahead among the reefsand breakers until he was under the leeof the wreck, with which he was still incommunication by the ropes.

Just before this happened thetrawler's small boat had been sweptoverboard, and was floating under herlee. The Coxswain shouted to the menwrho were still on board to get into thesmall boat and he would haul them tothe Life-boat. This was done, and fivemore men of the trawler's crew wererescued. Then the painter parted, andthe small boat was swept away withtwo men in her, but the Life-boat,passing again between the wreck and theshore, rescued the two men. Thus thewhole of the trawler's crew were saved.

It was then nearly 9.30, five hourssince the Life-boat had left harbour, andan hour and a half since the work ofrescue had started.

The Honorary Secretary had watchedthe rescue from the shore, and reportedthat the Coxswain and Crew deservedthe highest praise for their judgmentand skill in circumstances of great peri!,where success was only possible to menwho knew every part of the reefs andthe run of the tide.

Coxswain William Johnston has beenawarded a Second Service Clasp to theBronze Medal which he already holds,


and he and each member of the Cret-an extra monetary award.

Many people do not know that theInstitution has at Poplar, London, aStoreyard where there is a ReserveFleet of Life-boats, and where all storesand spare parts required for the equip-ment of Life-boats and their enginesare kept, ready for immediate despatchto the coast. As showing the efficiencyof the Storeyard, it deserves to be

recorded that the Honorary Secretaryat Stromness reported the loss of theanchor and wire cable by telegraph onthe 14th February, that the newanchor and cable were at once sent bypassenger train, and that when theHonorary Secretary wrote two dayslater, giving details of the service,he acknowledged their receipt, and wasable to report that the Life-boat wasagain in full commission.

A Gallant Service in 1912.Silver Medal for the Second Coxswain at Fraserburgh.

IT has been decided to make specialawards in connexion with a service whichtook place at Fraserburgh in January,1912, when the Life-boat was launchedto the help of a steam trawler, Clio. Theservice of the Life-boat was reportedto the Institution, and the usual awardswere made, but owing to the seriousillness of the Honorary Secretary nomention was made, at the time, of thespecial gallantry shown by the SecondCoxswain and three members of theCrew. It was not until the Secretary ofthe Institution visited Fraserburgh thathe heard the story of their gallantry.He brought the matter to the -notice ofthe Committee of Management, a fullreport was called for, and it has nowbeen decided that special awards shouldbe made.

It was on the night of 14th January,1912, that the Clio, in attempting tomake Fraserburgh Harbour in a veryheavy sea, struck the Beacon Rock offCairnbulg Briggs, round which there wasa great deal of broken water. Flareswere burned, the Coastguard Life-savingApparatus was called out, and the Life-boat was launched. The rockets firedby the Coastguard were of no avail,as the trawler was too far off. and theCoastguard proposed to wait untildaylight before taking any furtheraction. The Life-boat made twoattempts at rescue, but the sea waswashing over the top of the Clio, and shecould not get alongside. The Coxswaintherefore anchored about 100 yards tothe west of the Beacon, sheltering behind

the Mungo Rock. At about 11 p.m. theSecond Coxswain, James Sim, fearingthat the crew of the Clio would die ofexposure if they were not rescued beforethe morning, proposed that he shouldtry to swim to the Briggs and thatthree other members of the Crew shouldfollow him. The Coxswain approved ofthe plan, anchored his Boat ahead of theBriggs, and veered down as close to therocks as possible. The Second Cox-swain then jumped overboard in thedarkness with a line attached to himand struggled through the heavy seato the rocks, where he made theline fast. Three members of the Cre»~followed—Alexander Ritchie, AndrewRitchie and James Mitchell—and withthe aid of the line got on to the Briggs.

Under the leadership of James Sim,they then crawled over the rocks untilthey were opposite the Clio, to find thatthe crew had got into the cage of theBeacon and lashed themselves there.Between the Briggs and the Beacon wasa deep channel. 20 feet wide. TheSecond Coxswain therefore decided totry to get the L.S.A. In this he wassuccessful. A line was got across fromthe shore to the Briggs. The tide wasfalling, and six or seven of the L.S.A.Crew waded across, with the help of thisline, bringing with them a heaving-line,life-buoy and other apparatus. Bymeans of this apparatus a line wasthen got over the deep channel to theBeacon, and the shipwrecked crew wererescued. But for the ini t ia t ive, soundjudgment, fine leadership and courage


of the Second Coxswain, ably .supportedby the three men who followed him,there is little doubt that the eight menof the Clio would have perished.

The Institution has therefore awardedits Silver Medal to Second Coxswain

Sim. its Thanks inscribed on Vellumto Alexander Ritchie, Andrew- Ritchie,and the widow of James Mitchell, whohas died since the service was performed.Extra monetary awards have also beengiven.

A Brave Swimmer.Award of Bronze Medal.

Ix the early afternoon of 27th Augustlast a small steamer. Kendy, of Cardiff,got into difficulties off Porthcawl inGlamorganshire, and foundered. TheCrew took to the boat, but it capsized,and, with the men clinging to it, driftedtowards the shore. There was amoderate wind blowing, and the seawas moderate, but a heavy surf wasbreaking on the rocks.

The Coast-guard Life-saving Ap-paratus Company was called out andtwo rockets were tired, but the men onthe boat could not get hold of the line.The Company then lined the rocks readyto seize the men as they were washedup, and an urgent call was sent forboats, one of which rescued one of thefive men.

Meanwhile, at great risk to himself,a visitor to Porthcawl, Mr. W. H. B.Cotton, of Sandiacre, near Nottingham,

plunged off the rocks into the surf,swam out to the upturned boat with, aline and passed it to the Kendy'scaptain, but the captain, unfortunately,could not keep hold of it. Mr. Cottonthen swam back and volunteered to goout a second time, but as the boat wasby this time close inshore the Coast-guard would not let him take the risk.As the boat was carried in, with the fourmen on her, the Life-saving Companyseized them before they were flung onthe rocks, and passed them back toother helpers, one Coastguard diving offthe rocks in order to get one of the menashore. All four men were rescued, butmany of the Company were bruised andhad their clothes torn.

Mr. Cotton's action in plunging intosuch a surf among the rocks was one ofgreat gallantry, and the Institution hasawarded him its Bronze Medal.

Dutch Service to a British Steamer.41 Lives Rescued from a Vessel of the Elder Dempster Line.

\T/ie following is an abbreviated versionof a graphic account of a fine service toa British vessel which appears in DeReddingboot, the journal of the Northand South Holland Life-saving Society,for last June. The three Life-boatsengaged in this service have each beenawarded by H.M. the King, on the recom-mendation of the President of the Boardof Trade, the British Government's SilverMedal for Gallantry in saving Life at Sea(Foreign Services).\

ON the morning of Friday, 17thFebruary, 1928, the British steamshipShonga, of the Elder Dempster Line,left the harbour of IJmuiden at 10 A.M.

There was a stormy W.S.W. wind, whichwhen she got clear of the piers carriedher towards the shore. She droppedboth anchors and hoisted the distresssignal. The position was such that tugscould not come out. Heavy seas beatover the vessel. The anchors dragged,the stern struck the bottom and thepropeller was lost. Then both anchor-chains broke, and the forward part ofthe ship was wrenched away fromthe firmly-jammed stern part, on alevel with the after bulkhead of theengine-room. The forward part of theship, on which were, fortunately, thewhole of the crew, drifted another100 yards to the coast, on the northern


side of the North Pier. There itwent aground, with its stern towardsthe land. All this took place in afew moments, and at 10.30 A.M. thefirst report reached the North andSouth Holland Life-saving Society inAmsterdam.

The Life-boat from Wijk aan Zee, alittle way up the coast, was called out,and although the road to the shore atWijk aan Zee is not easy, and the shoreitself was speedily strewn with bags ofcocoa beans which were washed fromthe after-part of the Shonga, the Life-boat succeeded in reaching the place ofstranding at 1.30 P.M.

Meantime the force of the stormremained unabated. It seemed im-possible to get a boat away from theshore, and even had it been possible toreach the stranded forward half of theship, it would have been impossible toget alongside, for the ship was giving nolee. Therefore nothing remained but towait, it being remembered that the crewof the Shonga, for the moment, were in nodanger. In the strong desire, neverthe-less, to make an effort to get them offbefore the night, the stout crew fromWijk aan Zee, who are farm labourers,completed by three men from Egmondaan Zee, who as soon as they heard ofthe wreck had set out to walk the ninemiles along the coast, put to sea ; butthey had to return, the force of thestorm was too great.

Thus night fell, with the disquietingknowledge that on board the Shongathere were a large number of people,about forty, who were, it is true, in noimmediate danger, but whose fate wasuncertain if the storm continued. Itwas also not known whether or notthere were any people still on the after-part of the vessel.

In the evening the Signal Station wascontinually in communication with theShonga by Morse lamp. The crew weretold that they could rely that when daybroke an effort would be made. TheShonga asked for the weather report,which was given, and replied that themen were keeping a stout heart andfirmly relied on IJmuideu.

As there was very little certainty thatthe conditions of wind and sea would,

on the following morning, permit of therescue from land or by means of theshore Life-boat, the Motor Life-boatDorus Rijkers * at Helder, which hadbeen already fully informed during theday, was called out. In case of theDorus Rijkers being unable to reach thewreck, further steps were taken.There are three Pulling and SailingLife-boats at Umuiden itself, one inthe harbour, one to the north and oneto the south. The northern stationwas temporarily closed, owing toextensive alterations to the harbour,and the harbour Life-boat could not beused, as even the tugs could not getout. It was therefore decided to takethe southern Life-boat inland until theship-canal from Umuiden to Amster-dam could be crossed, and then alongthe north bank of the canal to theshore north of the harbour, where thewreck lay. This journey by nightof over twelve miles was successfullycarried out with the help of the launch-ing tractor.f

The Dorus Rijkers left at 9 P.M.in a stormy N.W. wind and rough seaon her long night journey, a distance ofsome forty miles. At 3 A.M. sheAvas inthe port of IJmuiden. She had had abad night, but everything had passed offwell. The crew were in the after-cabin,where everything was ready for service,including the Schermuly line-throwingpistol, should this be found necessary.

The rescue which was now to be triedby the Dorus Rijkers was dangerous,not so much on account of the wind andsea—which had gone down somewhatduring the night—as on account of un-certainty with regard to the depth ofwater at the wreck. The wreck had tobe approached from windward, as it layon shore, which is more dangerous than

* Named after Theodorus Rijkers, whodied in April of this year, aged 81. He wasCoxswain at Helder for 25 years, retiring in1911. He took part in the rescue of 487 lives,of which over 300 were from British ships.An account of his services and hi? portraitwere published in The Lifeboat for February,1921.

•f The tractors used by the North and SouthHolland Life-saving Society are British, thesame as those originally used by the Institu-tion.


if it were on a bank away from the coast,for then, as a rule, it can be approachedfrom leeward, and in any case deepwater will be found all round the bank.The water had dropped 4| feet during thenight and the sea was still very heavy.

At about six o'clock the Dorus Rijkersstarted out. Skipper C. Bot steered herfirst between the pier and the after-halfof the ship in order to make sure whetherthere were still any people on it. Hethen got abeam of the forward half ofthe ship and there made soundings andfound sufficient water. He next triedthe powers of the Dorus Rijkers in thesurf, and found that he had the masteryof it. Then he got alongside theforward half of the ship. Just a littlelater, the IJmuiden Life-boat, withSkipper P. J. A. Kramer, also reachedthe Shonga, and found a fine berthbehind the Dorus Rijkers.

Although very heavy seas were stillrunning, the rescue now proceededspeedily, especially owing to the goodorder which prevailed on board theShonga. From the shore, when it grew

somewhat lighter, the people wereclearly observed jumping over, and atlast the N.C. signal was seen beinglowered on board the Shonga and onemore man jumping over. Then boththe Dorus Rijkers and the IJmuidenLife-boat returned. The latter landednine men on the shore, and the DorusRijkers thirty-two men at IJmuiden, inthe port.

A few days later the North and SouthHolland Life-saving Society received thefollowing letter : " We the undersigned,Master, officers and crew of the ill-fatedBritish steamship Shonga, desire to placeon record our sincere and heartfelt thanksfor the magnificent response made bythe Life-boat Institution whilst we layin deadly peril of our lives on the beach,north of IJmuiden."

Thanks also came from the ElderDempster Line, which sent a contribu-tion of £150, by which the expensesincurred by the Life-saving Societywere fully covered, and, in addition, asum of £100 to be distributed amongthe crews of the Life-boats.

A New Fast Type of Motor Life-boat.Ax important development in MotorLife-boat construction has been decidedupon. The aim of the Institution in thedesign and construction of Motor Life-boats and their engines, suitable,for thework of rescuing life from shipwreckunder all conditions, has been, not highspeed, but a great reserve of power. Itis this reserve of power, enabling theLife-boat to maintain her speed in faceof the worst conditions of weather,which may make all the differencebetween success and disaster at thatcritical moment when a Life-boat ismano3uvring to get alongside or to getaway from a wreck.

There is no intention of departingfrom this as the general policy ofconstruction. It has, however, beenfelt that the present conditions ofcross-Channel traffic point to the desir-ability of providing a special and fastertype of Motor Life-boat in the Straitsof Dover. In addition to the very heavypassenger-steamer traffic across the

Straits, there is now a considerable dailytraffic by aeroplane, maintained in allbut the worst weather. The time duringwhich an aeroplane is exposed to the riskof coming down while over the sea isvery short. On the other hand, once anaeroplane is down in anything but acalm sea, the time during which shewill remain afloat is generally so shortthat the ordinary Motor Life-boatcould scarcely hope to reach thecasualty soon enough to rescue those onboard. In the case of a vessel the timebetween first being in distress and beingin imminent danger of destruction maybe many hours, and even two or threedays. In the case of an aeroplane itmay be only a matter of minutes.

The original proposal considered wasfor the provision of a very fast MotorBoat, able to travel between 25 and 30knots, but an examination of this pro-posal resulted in the decision to build aboat with a speed of 17 to 18 knots, thisbeing the fastest speed obtainable with-


By courtesy of]ICE-BOUND.

[./. ./. IliU, Xeichurcn.

The new Motor Life-boat for the Humber arriving at Newhaven from Cowes on February 13th, 1929, d u r i n gthe severe frost.

By courtesy of]LIFE-BOAT IN THE LORD MAYOR'S SHOW.

[Central Sen's.

The Life-boat "Robert and Catherine," late of Appledore, now of the Reserve Fleet at Poplar, in the LordMayor's Show of the 9th November, 1928, with Coxswain W. T. Hammond and members of the Walton-on-Naze

Crew on board.


out sacrificing the essential qualities ofa Life-boat.

Such a Life-boat has been laid down.She will be 64 feet by 14 feet, withnine main water-tight compartmentsand eighty air cases. Like the Harrietttype of Motor Life-boat, she will havetwo cabins, with room in them for aboutfifty people, will be lighted with elec-tricity, and will have an electricallydriven capstan, a searchlight and line-throwing gun. Whereas the most power-ful Life-boats at present on the coasthave two 80-h.p. engines, this newtype will have two engines of 375 h.p. \each.

Another departure which is beingmade with this boat is that she will befitted with wireless telephony, which willenable her to take and send messagesover a distance of fifty miles. Both boatand engines have been designed and arebeing built by Messrs. Thornycroft, theengines being of the type which has beenused on coastal motor boats.

This new boat will be capable of goingto sea in any weather not too heavy for jthe cross-Channel passenger service, but !she will not be suitable for work inshoreor on the Goodwin Sands. Casualties

inshore and on the Sands are providedfor by the Life-boats stationed at Rams-gate, Deal, "VValmer and Folkestone, anda further defence in this direction isunder consideration. The new Boatwill be stationed at Dover, with a Crewof whom some will be permanently em-ployed by the Institution. The Boatwill cost "between £17,000 and £18,000and the cost of upkeep will be some£1,750 a year.

A Keel of Kentish Oak.

The boat is being built at the Hamp-ton Launch Works, on an island in theThames, Platt's Eyot at Hampton-on-Thames, and the keel and hog of thisnew boat for the Kentish coast have,most fittingly, been cut from a Kentishoak. The tree was grown on theTongues Wood Estate at Hawkhurst,and was felled in 1921. Its length was48 feet, and its girth over 9 feet. Itwas then approximately 130 years old.That is to say, the acorn, from whichthe keel of this latest Life-boat has beengrown, took root just two years afterthe first Life-boat, Original, waslaunched at Tvnemouth in 1789.

The Prince's Appeal to Shipping.

The First Response: Gift of Three Motor Life-boats.

FOUR of the leading shipping companieshave responded to the appeal on behalfof the Life-boat Service which thePrince of Wales made to shipping in hispresidential address at the AnnualMeeting of the Institution last year.In that address the Prince said : " MayI also make a suggestion to our greatShipping Lines ? 1 know their wonder-ful seamen's charities, but may I suggestthat one or two of them might give aLife-boat ? What prouder thing coulda great Shipping Line have than itsname on one of our Life-boats ? It istrue that the Life-boat will not be seenby many people : it will not have verymuch publicity ; but think what it cando ! "

The four shipping companies whichhave responded to this appeal are thePeninsular and Oriental Group, theRoyal Mail Steam Packet Co., theUnion-Castle Mail Steamship Co., andthe White Star Line. The Peninsularand Oriental Group, through Lord

| Inchcape, have given the InstitutionI £14,500 to provide the Motor Life-boat

of the Barnett type, 61 feet by 15 feet,with two 80 h.p. engines, which isbeing built for the Station at Padstow,Cornwall. She will be named PrincessMary.

The White Star Line, through LordKylsant, have given £8,500 to providethe new^Motor Life-boat which is to bebuilt for Fishguard, and which will be


named White Star. She will be of theWatson type, 45 feet 6 inches by 12 feet6 inches, with two 40 h.p. engines.

The Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. andthe Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co.,have given jointly, also through LordKylsant, £6.500 to provide the WatsonLife-boat, 40 feet by 11 feet 8 inches,which is being built for Weymouth.

This Boat will be named LadyKylsant.

The Committee of Managementdesire to record their hearty apprecia-tion of the generous manner in whichthese Companies have answered thePrince's appeal, and they earnestly hopethat other companies will follow thefine example of these four great lines.

The Value of a Life.The Cost of the Life-boat Service compared with the Value of the Lives Saved.

No one can calculate the full value of alife saved, or a life risked. But certaincalculations can be made, and have beenmade, by Insurance Companies and others,based on the wage-earning capacity of aman and the cost of providing for thosedependent on him. The following notehas been sent to the Institution by one ofthe leading life assurance companies inGreat Britain, in which, as will be seen,the cost to the Institution of each lifewhich it saved last year is compared withthe minimum cost simply of providing

money, it is generally agreed that a manor a woman is a very definite assetduring the working period of life, and avery definite liability at other periods.This note must not therefore be regardedas showing a lack of sense of proportionin that it neglects the non-materialaspect of a life. Its object is simply toshow that, leaving aside the non-materialand incalculable value of a life, thevalue of even a part of the material sideis sufficiently great to justify theexpenses incurred by any of our great

VALUE TO DEPENDENTS OF ASSUMED INDIVIDUAL MALE LIVES SAVED.

: Capital value ofAge of first Age of secondj £1 10 0 weekly

child uring

3030405060

2727374757

312

£1,5081,5081,3551,160

923

Capital value of51- weekly per

£14027948

i Total Capitali value of the life

1,6481,7871,4031.160

923

for the dependents of men who lose theirlives. This cost naturally is greater theyounger the man, but it will be seen thateven in the case of a man of sixty, the costof providing for his widow is much greaterthan the average cost of saving a life lastyear. It need only be added that the notewas not prepared in consultation with theInstitution; nor did the Institution askfor it. It represents a quite independentcalculation.]

While it is not contended that ahuman life can be equated to a sum of

Services and Institutions in saving life,or, to the same end, in combatingdisease.

The Metropolitan Life Insurance Com-pany of America published some twoyears ago a series of studies on " TheValue of Human Life " in the pages ofits monthly Statistical Bulletin. Briefly,the value of a life is there expressed asthe present capital worth of all futureearnings less the present capital worthof all future net costs. These studieswere, however, of a very detailed natureand from that point of view not alto-


gether suitable for our present purpose.Moreover, the method of treatmentnecessitated separate consideration ofpersons in different ranks of society, andit is felt that such distinctions should beomitted from this note.

In order to keep this note on simplelines the only point considered is thefinancial value of a man to his depen-dents alone, although from other pointsof view, it would, on the lines of theAmerican studies, be possible to showin most cases a further and additionalfinancial value. It is understood thatabout 80 per cent, of the lives saved bythe Royal National Life-boat Institutionare A.B.'s in the Mercantile Marineearning an average weekly wage ofabout £3 3s. This fact guides theargument, but does not affect its con-clusion, unless it could be proved that avery large proportion of the livesactually saved have been withoutdependents of any kind whatso-ever.

With the same idea of keeping thenote on simple lines, no attempt hasbeen made to find the average age oflives saved, or the average number ofdependents per life saved. Considera-tion has merely been given to assumedindividual cases. The examples taken,however, indicate clearly that the ex-pense incurred in rescuing life from

shipwreck is well justified economically,even if regard is had only to this oneaspect of a life's value, the cost ofproviding for the dependents.

It has been assumed that £1 10s. isthe minimum weekly amount necessaryto the continued existence of the widow,and 5s. the minimum weekly amountnecessary for the maintenance of eachchild up to the age of sixteen. Whilethe bread-winner is alive he providesthese amounts or more ; should he diehe cannot provide them. The capitalisedvalue of these weekly amounts duringthe remaining lifetime of the wife, or inthe case of the children until they attainthe age of sixteen, seems to be a fairminimum financial value of the life tothe dependents, and the calculations arebased on the mortality shown by the1911 Census, with Interest at 4 per cent.The minimum weekly amounts assumedare possibly open to argument, but thereis plenty of margin if even smalleramounts are taken.

It is observed that in 1928, theexpenses of the National Life-boat In-stitution were £319,905, or £541 inrespect of each life saved. This assumesthat no services other than life-saving areperformed by the Institution. This is, ofcourse, not the case ; but it does showthat the maximum expense is well belowthe minimum value of each life saved.

The Royal Life-boat Matinee.THE second annual Life-boat Matinee atthe Lyceum Theatre, organised by theCentral London Women's Committee ofthe Ladies' Life-boat Guild, was held onthe llth December, and realised £992after all expenses had been paid.

It was held at a time of great anxietyand in circumstances of exceptionaldifficulty—just at that time when thelong illness of the King was at its mostdangerous and critical stage. The Kingand Queen had both promised to bepresent, and it would have been thefirst occasion on which their Majestieshad been present together at a Life-boatfunction. Not only did his illness makeit impossible for the King himself or the

Queen to be present, but during the lastweek of preparation there was continualuncertainty as to whether or not theMatinee could be held at all. This uncer-tainty, and the general and deep anxietyabout the King, made the work oforganisation and ticket-selling excep-tionally difficult. The ticket-selling wasin the hands of the whole Committee,while a special Matinee Committee offour members arranged the programmeand performance : Lady Bertie of Thame(Chairman of the Central Committee),who acted as chairman of the MatineeCommittee, Lady Florence Pery (DeputyChairman of the Committee, andHonorary Secretary of the Ladies' Life-

THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929.

boat Guild), Lady Dorothy d'OylyCarte and Mrs. Toye.

In spite of the deep anxiety of theRoyal Family with regard to the King'shealth, the Duke of York attended theMatinee in place of their Majesties, andH.R.H. Princess Louise, Duchess ofArgyll, Patron of the Ladies' Life-boatGuild, was also present. Among theothers present were the Duchess ofNorfolk, Vice-Patron of the Guild, theDuchess of Sutherland, President, SusanDuchess of Somerset, Lady CynthiaColville and Lady Baring. Amongthose who gave their patronage were theGerman, French and Italian Ambassa-dors, the Norwegian and LatvianMinisters, the Prime Minister and Mrs.Baldwin, and the Lady Mayoress.

The programme consisted of drama,opera and ballet. Mr. Louis N. Parkerwrote a one-act Life-boat play, " TheirBusiness in Great Waters," specially forthe occasion, and a description of theplay and the names of the cast willbe found below. The opera was anact from " The Rhythm Eternal," anopera on jazz, by Mr. T. C. Fairbairn,with music by Mr. Leighton Lucas,in which the principal parts were taken

by Miss Dorothy d'Orsay and Mr.Thorpe Bates. The programme wascompleted with a charming pas seul bythe child-dancer, Miss Wendy Toye,and three ballets—" The F eerie Cvag •.A Highland Legend," produced byMiss Euphan MacLaren, " Orpheus,"a burlesque in mime, written and pro-duced by Mr. Leighton Lucas, arvd" The Masque of the Sea," by Mr.Leighton Lucas, the production andchoreography being by Miss RubyG inner.

In the interval Sir Godfrey Baring,Bt., Chairman of the Committee ofManagement, expressed the thanks of theInstitution to the authors, composers,producers, actors, actresses, musicians,singers and dancers, numbering overfifty, who had given their services, toMessrs. Frederick and Walter Melville,who had lent the theatre, to the theatrestaff, and to the many others who indifferent ways had given their help.

The first Lyceum matinee, organisedby the Central London Women's Com-mittee, was held in May, 1927. Therewas a variety programme, and H.RJLPrincess Mary, Viscountess Lascelles,was present.

Their Business in Great Waters.Mr. Louis N. Parker's Life-boat Play.

WHEX the programme for the RoyalLife-boat Matinee, at the Lyceum, onthe llth December, was being arrangedMr. Louis N. Parker, the author of manyplays, and the organiser of some ofthe most successful historical pageants,was asked if he could arrange for aperformance of his play " Drake." Hepointed out the difficulties of producingsuch an elaborate play, with its verylong cast, and offered to write a one-actLife-boat play specially for the matinee.This generous offer the Institution mostgratefully accepted.

Mr. Parker's kindness did not endhere. In addition to writing the playhe came over from Switzerland, wherehe now lives, to conduct the rehearsals,and through the help of his friendand agent, Mr. Golding Bright, an

[ exceptional cast of leading actors andactresses was obtained. The eight partswere taken by Mr. Edmund Gwenn, MissLena Ashwell, Miss Sara Allgood, MissTallulah Bankhead, Miss Marjorie Mars,Mr. Leslie Howard, Mr. Frank Lawton,and Mr. Edgar Norfolk. The play wasproduced by Mr. Norman Page, and thehonorary stage manager was Mr. GeorgeDesmond.

Mr. Parker has generously presented] the entire rights in this play to theI Ladies' Life-boat Guild, and it is hoped! that the performance on 11th. December

last, in the presence of the Duke of YorkI and Princess Louise, will be only the

first of many performances of the playon behalf of the Life-boat Service.

The title of the play is " Their Busi-ness in Great Waters," and there are

MARCH, 1929. THE LIFEBOAT. 221

eight parts, four women and four men.The scene of the play is in the living-room of a Life-boat Coxswain's cottageon a wild night. A signal of distress isheard, and the Coxswain and his son,the Second Coxswain, hurry to the Boat-house. From the window of the roomthe Coxswain's wife watches the Life-boat's searchlight, as she goes out, seesit disappear, believes the Life-boat tobe lost with all her crew, and waits inagony until the Coxswain and his sonreturn tr iumphant with the whole crewsaved.

The play is a noble expression of theunaffected courage and the deephumanity of the Life-boat Service.It moves naturally, inevitably, andwithout any exaggeration, from a simplehuman interest to a tense atmospherecreated by the storm, increasing fromanxiety to terror and anguish andculminating in a noble close, where thejoy and thankfulness at lives rescuedfrom death, men returned in safety froma terrible ordeal, and a family re-united,find fitting expression in the words fromthe Bible which the Coxswain reads,"And He arose, and rebuked the wind,and said unto the sea, Peace, be still,and the wind ceased, and there wasa great calm."'

The entire rights of the play belongto the Institution, and it can only beproduced by obtaining the licence of theInstitution. For this licence a chargewill be made of one guinea, but wherethe performance is given in aid of theInstitution or one of its Branches, no feeis charged. It is, however, advisablefor Branches which think of arrangingfor a performance of the play to applyto the Institution for the licence.Copies of the play may be obtained byHonorary Secretaries at the cost priceof 6rf., and may be sold at Is., the profit

; going to the funds of the Branch.The simplicity of the characters of the

play, and the simplicity of the produc-tion, scenery and dresses, make the playspecially suitable for good amateurs.The only special dresses required areLife-boatmen's oil-skins, and these canalways be provided by the Institutionfor any performance of the play givenon its behalf. It lasts half an hour, sothat with, the addition of Life-boatfilms and some sea songs, a completeentertainment can be easily arranged.

We hope that many Honorary Secre-taries will find the play a means ofincreasing interest in the work oftheir Branches and of adding to theirfunds.

Obituary.SINCE the last issue of The Lifeboat theInstitution has lost a number of friendsand workers : Sir Charles Macara, Bt.,J.P., Chairman of the St. Anne's-on-the-Sea Branch, and founder of the Life-boat Saturday Fund ; the Lady Shef-field. Honorary Secretary of theManchester, Salford and District Ladies'Life-boat Guild ; Miss Annie Swallow,late Honorary Secretary of the Peter-borough Branch : Mr. C. B. Stoddard,

Honorary Secretary of the CardiffBranch ; Mr. A. J. G. Anson, lateHonorary Secretary of the Hastings andSt. Leonards Branch ; Mr. Felix Ruble,M.I.N.A., the Institution's late Surveyorof Life-boats ; Coxswain William Robin-son, of Newbiggin : and CoxswainWilliam Stephen, of Montrose. It ishoped to publish an account of theirwork for the Institution in the nextissue of The Lifeboat.

Acknowledgment.THE photograph of the presentation ofthe Centenary Vellum at Appleclore,which was reproduced in the last issue

of The Lifeboat, was taken by Mr. R. L.Knight, photographer of Barnstaple, andwas reproduced by his kind permission.

222 THE LIFEBOAT. MARCH, 1929.;

THEIR BUSINESS IN GREAT WATERS.

By courtesy of] [Photo Press

MR. EDMUND GWENN AS THECOXSWAIN.

Jill coiirtrxi/ o/l \/'lmtH JVc«

WATCHING THE LIFEBOAT.Miss Tallulah Bankhead and Miss Lena Ash well.

IN THE COXSWAIN'S COTTAGE.Left to right : Miss Marjorie Mars, Mr. Edmund Gwenn, Miss Tallulah Bankhead , Miss Sara Allgood and

Miss Lena Ashwell.


Summary of Meetings of the Committee of Management.Thursday, 21st June, 1928.

SIR GODFREY BARING, Bt., in the Chair.

Passed a special Vote of Thanks to H.R.H.PRINCE GEORGE for graciously visiting theOrkney Islands in order to perform thenaming ceremonies of the Stromness andLonghope Life-boats.

Passed a cordial Vote of Thanks to H.R.H.PRINCESS BEATRICE for graciously attendinga Garden Party given for the Institution byMrs. Hillier Holt,

Reported the resignation from the Com-mittee of Management of Mr. HAROLD CLAY-TON, and co-opted Engineer Vice-AdmiralSir ROBERT B. DIXON, K.C.B.

Reported that Sir WOODBURN KIRBY hadtendered his resignation as a member of theCommittee of Management.

Reported the receipt of the following specialcontributions :—F. Newson, Esq., London & North £ s, d.

Eastern Railway 5 per cent.Preference Stock to provide anAnnual Subscription . . 200 0 0

Anonymous (Additional Donation) 50 0 0Col. F. J. A. Trench, C.V.O.,

D.S.O., R.A. (Additional Dona-tion) 26 5 0To be thanked.

Paid £20,552 12s. for sundry charges inconnexion with the construction of Life-boats,Life-boat Houses and Slipways, and themaintenance of the various Life-boat establish-ments.

Voted £59 2,9. 6(7. to pay the expenses ofthe following Life-boat services :—

LivesLife-boat. Vessel. Rescued.

Hartlepool . Coble Margaret, of Sea-(Motor) ham Harbour. Saved

boat and rescued . . 2The Humbcr . Steam trawler Abelia,

(Motor) of Grimsby. Stood by-vessel.

Scarborough . Motor fishing boat 1'j'c-(Motor) tory, of Scarborough.

Escorted boat intoharbour.

Tenby . . . Fishing vessel Leonora(Motor) Minnie, of Brixham.

Landed 3.The Porthdinliaen Motor Life-boat saved the

yacht Arrow, of London, and rescued her onlyoccupant.

Also voted £116 18s. <td. to pay the expensesof the following Life-boat launches, etc., witha view to assisting persons on vessels indistress :—Clacton-on-Sea (Motor), Johns-haven, Montrose No. 1 (Motor), Piel (Barrow)(Motor), Port St. Mary, Rhoscolyn, Selsey andBognor (Motor), and Wells.

Granted £15 16s. to men who were injured inthe Life-boat Service at Folkestone andWinterton.

Voted the Thanks of the Institution in-scribed on Vellum and framed to ERIC G.MUNDELL and STANLEY A. DARKIN, school-boys of about fifteen years of age, in recogni-tion of their plucky conduct in putting off in a10-feet dinghy during a fresh N.E. breeze witha rough sea, and, at grave personal risk,rescuing a man and a boy whose sailing boathad capsized off Worthing on 2nd June.

Voted £2 to two men for going to the helpof the motor fishing boat Spitfire, of Dunbar,and rescuing her only occupant on 24th May.Also granted 10*. to the owner of the boatfor petrol used and loss of gear. Whilereturning from the fishing grounds the Spit-fire's engine had failed and she was in dangerof being driven on to the Wildfire rocks. Therescuers put out at once, and, at some riskowing to the rocks, succeeded in getting holdof the disabled boat before she got into thesurf. A moderate E.S.E. wind was blowingwith a heavy ground sea.

Voted £1 to ERNEST HUGEN for rescuingtwo boys who were adrift in a small boatwithout oars, off Brighton, on 30th May.Also £2 15s. to the crew and launchers of amotor boat which made an unsuccessfulsearch, and £1 Os. od. for stores consumed, etc.At about 5 P.M. information was received fromthe police that a small rowing boat was driftingout with the off-shore wind. The sea wassmooth. Manning his motor boat, the Life-boat Coxswain, with three other men, put out,but although afloat for five hours saw no signof the boat. In the meantime Ernest Hugenhad also gone out in a small boat, found thetwo bo}"s and rescued them.

Thursday, 19th July, 1928.THE HON. GEORGE COLVILLE, in the Chair.Reported the death of Mr. T. B. GABRIEL,

a member of the Committee of Management.Reported the receipt of the following

special contributions :—£ s. d.

Douglas Cow, Esq., special giftto produce an Annual Sub-scription . . . . 1,000 0 0

Anonymous (Donation) . . 100 0 0White Star Steamers' Charity

Account (Additional Donation) 50 0 0To be thanked.

Paid £31,312 3s. lid. for sundry charges inconnexion with the construction of Life-boats,Life-boat Houses and Slipways, and themaintenance of the various Life-boat establish-ments.

Voted £111 4s. to pay the expenses of thefollowing Life-boat services :—

LivesLife-boat. Vessel. Rescued.

Hastings . . A small fishing boat, ofEastbourne. Stood byboat.


LivesLil'e-boat. Vessel. Kescued.

Lowestoft . Sailing boat £'<//!/, of(Motor) London. Saved boat

a n d rescued . . . 1Lowestoft . Motor fishing boat Mica,

(Motor) of Lowestoft. Stoodby boat.

Minehead . . S.S. Pelican, oi Cardiff.Saved vessel and res-cued 5

Xewhaven . Fishing boat Mallard,(Motor) of Brighton. Stood by

boat. "Rosslare liar- Fishing yawl Jane, of

bour (Motor) Wexford. Saved boata n d rescued . . . 3

Sunderland . Cobles Klondike and(Motor) Frank, of Seaham.

Saved two cobles andrescued . . . . 7

Weymouth . Cutter Jlonny Jean, of(Motor) Poole. Saved boat

a n d rescued . . . 2The Aberdeen No. 1 (Motor) Life-boat

rendered assistance to steam drifter Re-gain, ofLowestoft; and the Caister No. 1 Life-boatrendered assistance to the schooner Mary Ann,of Guernsey-

Also voted £195 13s. 6rf. to pay the expensesof the following Life-boat launches, assembliesof crews, etc., with a view to assisting personson vessels in distress :—Abersoch, Bembridge(Motor), Brighton, Caister, Eastbourne. Llan-dudno, Lowestoft (Motor), New Brighton,Newhaven (Motor), Pwllheli. Walmer, Walton-on-the-Naze (Motor), and Whitby.

Granted £23 Is. fid. to men for injury in theLife-boat Service at Cardigan and Exmouth.

Directed that a Letter of Appreciation beaddressed to Captain W. J. OLIVER, HonorarySecretary at Sunderland, for going out in theLife-boat on service on 14th July.

Directed that a Letter of Appreciation besent to Mr. G. W. SPENCER and six men whoput off with him in a motor launch fromLittlehampton and saved the barge LadyMaud, of London, and rescued her crew oftwo. At about 3 P.M. on 26th June the vesselwas reported in difficulties in a westerly galewith a heavy sea and the rescuers put off toher help. Three of them boarded the LadyMaud and taking charge worked her toNewhaven.

Voted £4 to four men for rescuing two menat Broadstairs on 1st July. A strong S.W.off-shore wind was blowing with a heavy sea,and the two men, who were in a sailing boat,found that they were unable to make harbour.A distress signal was hoisted, and in responsethe rescuers put out in a motor boat. A towrope was thrown, but at that moment a heavysea struck the sailing boat, which heeled over,rilled with water, and sank. The motor boatpicked the men up and brov.ght them safely toBroadstairs.

Voted 7*. b'</. to \V. WARD, Bowman of theLife-boat at Lvnmouth. for rendering assist-

ance to the crew oi the motor ketch 3/arffc?/Ann, of Bideford, on 17th June. At about7 A.M. he saw a small boat about two miles offland, and put out in his motor boat. He foundin the boat the crew of the ketch, three innumber, in an exhausted condition. Theirvessel had sunk, but before they left her theyhad been at the pumps for sev«ral hours.They were very glad to be towed in as a strongebb tide was running.

Voted £4 to WILLIAM BROWX, SecondCoxswain of the Life-boat at Newbiggin, andseven other men for saving the pleasure boatJean, of Wansbeck, and rescuing her tenoccupants on XOth June. Also granted 2s. tothe owner of the boat for petrol used. Atabout 8.30 A.M. a message was received fromCresswell that the boat, containing ten minersout for a day's fishing, had drifted out to seaowing to eiiL'ine trouble. The boat was flyingsignals of distress and a strong N.W. gale hadsprung up. As the Newbiggin Life-boat wasoff service for overhaul, a motor coble wasimmediately manned, picked up the disabledboat and towed her home, a distance of sixmiles.

Voted £6 to JOHN WATSON, Coxswain of theCromarty Life-boat, and five other men, forputting off in a launch on the night of 28thJune to search for the motor fishing boatHyacinth, of Buckie. Also granted £2 l~x. 6/J.for coal consumed. A report was receivedthat the vessel was on fire about six miles tothe north-east, but no sign of the vessel couldbe found.

Voted £4 to JA.MES GOOOBRA^H, Coxswainof the Buckie Life-boat, and three other menfor going out in a motor boat on the sameoccasion. Also granted Is. for stores consumed.The Hyacinth was found, about sixteen milesto the north-west of Buckie, burnt to thewater's edge. Her crew had been rescued byanother fishing boat.

Thursday, 20lh September, 1928.THE HON. GEORGE COLVILLE in the Chair.Appointed Commander Edward D. Drury,

O.B.E., R.D., R.N.R., Deputy Chief Inspectorof Life-boats rice Commander Stopford C.Douglas, R.N., deceased.

Reported the receipt of the following specialcontributions :—

£ *. d.Civil Service Life-boat Fund (per

Mr. H. A. Clark), in respect ofexpenditure incurred for theCivil Service Life-boats in1927 I,(ii'() H 4

Cunard S.S. Co.. Ltd. (Collectionon Steamers)—

Subscription . . . . 1 0 0 ( ) ( )Donation . . . . 1 0 0 0 0

!t. Pope, Esq. (Donation) . . 200 0 0Trustees of the late Win. Thorn-

gate. Esq. (Subscription) . SO 0 (ICayxer Irvine & Co.. Ltd. (Sub-

scription) . . . 48 0 0


£ x. d.Frederick W. Peabody, Esq. (per

Philip G. Peabody, Esq.)(Donation) . ." . . 26 5 0

Major Herbert Weeks, A.M. (perPhilip G. Peabody, Esq.)(Donation) . .' . . 2(> 5 0

Mrs. Emily Best (per Philip G.Peabody, Esq.) (Donation) . 26 5 0

Reginald Best, Esq. (per Philip G.Peabody, Esq.) (Donation) . 26 5 0

The late Madame Jessie Hart-mann, Gift from Estate of . 25 0 0To be thanked.

Paid £25,848 10.S. 'Ad. for sundry charges inconnexion with the construction of Life-boats,Life-boat Houses and Slipways, and the main-tenance of the various Life-boat establish-ments.

Voted £145 12s. 6d. to pay the expenses ofthe following Life-boat launches :—

LivesLife-boat. Vessel. res uetl.

Berwick-on- Boat of motor vesselTweed . . Heather Pet. Stood

by boat.Helvick Head . Yacht Estere.l, of Dublin.

Assisted yacht intoharbour.

Lowestoft . . S.S. K. Hone, of Yar-(Motor) mouth 8

Montrose No. 1 Motor boat Angora.(Motor) Rendered assistance.

Newhaven . . Fishing boat Y<nntg(Motor) Cecil, of Brighton.

Rendered assistance.Peterhead . . Yacht Frebi-lle. Stood

(Motor) by vessel.Porthdinllaen . A small boat of Porth-

(Motor) dinllaen. Saved boata n d rescued . . . 4

Southend-on- Motor launches NunffxSea (Motor) Queen and tiussejc

Maid. Saved boatsa n d rescued . . . 4

Stromness . . N o r w e g i a n M o t o r(Motor) schooner Urtt. Stood

by vessel.Worthing . . Motor yacht >Si-a Hawk.

Saved yacht andrescued . . . . .'!

The Margate (Motor) Life-boat renderedassistance to the motor yacht Musntf, ofLondon, and assisted the motor yacht Froth-blower, of Lcridon, into harbour ; the Ross-lare Harbour (Motor) Life-boat rescued fromshipwreck the crew, eleven in number, of thetrawler Oldhani, of Milford Haven, and savedthe yacht Temptress and rescued her crew ofthree. The Galway Bay (motor) Life-boattook out a pilot to the S.S. Yorck, of Bremen.

Also voted £347 '2s. 'Ad. to pay the expensesof the following Life-boat launches, assembliesof crews, etc., with a view to assisting personson vessels in distress :—Abersoch, Alnmouth,Caister, Caister No. 2, Clacton-on-Sea (Motor),Clovelly, Cullercoats, Folkestone, Great Yar-mouth and Gorleston. Holyhead No. 1, HolyIsland No. 1 (Motor), Huna, Kessingland,

Lowestoft (Motor), The Mumbles (Motor),New Romney, Newcastle, Co. Down, New-haven (Motor), Palling No. 1, Port Erin(Motor), Port St. Mary, Ramsey, Ramsgate,Redcar and Rosslare Harbour (Motor).

Granted £84 13s. 8d. to men for injury in theLife-boat Service at Flamborough, Scar-borough and Winterton.

Reported the death, at the age of 81. ofH. F. Belsey, a survivor of the Indian Chiefrescue of 1881, who had been in receipt of anallowance from the Institution since 1914.

Granted £17 16*. to defray the funeral jexpenses of the late Coxswain Richard jWedge, of St. Ives, Cornwall, and voted acompassionate grant of £10 to his widow, whowas left in poor circumstances.

Voted a compassionate grant of £5 to thewidow of the late Sidney Harris, who was inpoor circumstances. Harris, an ex-Coxswain,had been connected with the Gorleston Life-boats for many years.

Granted £8 16-s. to defray the funeral jexpenses of Mrs. M. P. Cook, the dependentmother of Wm. W. Lamble, a Life-boatmanwho was drowned in the Salcombe Life-boatDisaster of 1916.

Voted a special gratuity of £10 to DonaldSmith, Signalman at Stroma in connexion withthe Huna Life-boat, on his resignation onaccount of age and infirmity after many yearsservice.

Awarded Aneroid Barometers, suitably in-scribed, to Mr. C. E. Tatham, HonorarySecretary of the Blackpool Branch of theInstitution, and to Mr. E. Flower, a memberof the Blackpool Local Committee, in recogni-tion of their good services in rescuing the onlyoccupant of the sailing yacht Britannia, offFleetwood, on the 1st July. Also presented aninscribed copy of " Britain's Life-boats " toMr. Tatham's son Joseph, who was on boardhis father's yacht at the time.

(This service was described in the issue ofThe Lifeboat for November, 1928.)

Voted £2 os. to three men for rescuing thecrew of four of the fishing boat Kate, of Ballin-agoul, Helvick, on the 30th July. During astrong S.S.E. breeze, with a rough sea and rain,the boat was seen about a quarter of a milefrom the shore, dismasted and showing signalsof distress. Another fishing boat, about twomiles distant, saw the signals, went to therescue and brought the disabled boat and hercrew of four safely into harbour.

Voted £1 10s. to two men in a motor coblefor saving the coble Vera, of Whitby, andrescuing her two occupants on the 31st July.Also granted 5s. to the owner of the motorcoble for petrol used. The Ytra, containing aman and a boy, was engaged in salmon fishing,when owing to an increase in wind and sea,they were obliged to leave their nets. Afterexhausting themselves in their efforts to reachthe shore under oars, they hoisted signals ofdistress. The salvors who were in the cobleGratitude, and had a salmon coble in tow,slipped their tow when they saw the signals,


and went to the help of the distressed boat,which they towed to Whitby.

Directed that a Letter of Thanks should beaddressed to Robert Hooper, Second Coxswainof the Tenby Life-boat, for rescuing the sixoccupants of the open boat Ivy on the 25thAugust. Whilst going to sea with a pleasureparty, he saw a boat apparently in distressabout one and a half miles N.E. of VictoriaPier, Tenby, and went to her help. A strongS.S.W. wind was blowing, but no special riskwas incurred.

Voted Is. 6d. to Mr. George Dyke for rescuinga man and woman in a small rowing boat atSwanage, on the 17th August. At about2.20 P.M. the Coastguard reported the boat tobe out of control and getting into difficulties.The weather at the time was fine, with aslight westerly breeze and moderate sea. Mr.Dyke at once went to the rescue and broughtthe boat to shore. Moderate risk was incurred,as the boat was near the Peveril Ledge with astrong ebb tide running.

Voted £5 12s. 6d. to nine men, three ofwhom rescued and six of whom endeavouredto rescue, the crew, ten in number, of the S.8.Mellanear of Penzance, on the 4th September.Also granted 10s. for fuel consumed. Thesteamer, which was laden with coal, andbound from Cardiff to France, ran ashore atPeel Point, Land's Knd, during thick weather.On learning that the steamer was ashore, thesix men put out from Sennen Cove, but onreaching her found that the crew had beentaken off by the three men on the fishing boatSilver Stream, which, when returning fromfishing, had heard the vessel's whistle and goneto her help. The boats stood by the Mellanearfor about two hours, and then abandoned her.She became a total wreck.

Voted £2 to four men for rescuing fourboys, at Margate, on the 9th September. Alsogranted Is. Qd. for fuel used. At about 7 P.M.during a sudden heavy north-westerly squall,the boys' boat was seen to be in trouble aboutone mile from the shore. The men promptlyput off in a motor boat and rescued the boys,together with their boat, which had nearly beenswamped. No risk was incurred.

Voted £1 2s. Gd. to three men for landingtwo men from the fishing boat Korers Belle, atBirr Point, Co. Down, on the 18th August.At about 3 A.ii. signals of distress "were seeu,and the three men put off and found the fishingboat on Burial Island in a dangerous position.They landed two men from the boat, and thesemen went to Sandiland harbour, near by, andobtained help. The boat was got off the rocksthe same day.

Voted £1 10s. to the Life-boat Coxswain atNew Brighton, and another man, who,accompanied by the two Motor Life-boatmechanics, put off on the 2nd September inthe Life-boat's boarding boat, as flares had beenreported, by the Coastguard, to have been seenon the Burbo Bank. The weather was fine,with a smooth sea and moderate N.W. breeze,when the boat went out at 8.30 P.M. Aftersearching for two hours, she returned, havingfound nothing.

Voted £1 10s. to the Coxswain of the PenleeLife-boat and three other men for putting offfrom Mousehole, on the 4th September, to thehelp of a fishing boat which the Coastguard hadreported as stranded on the rocks. The seawas smooth, but there was a very thick fog.On reaching the boat, the four men found thatshe had refloated. After giving the skipperhis position and finding out that his boat wasundamaged, they returned home.

Awards to Coxswains and Life-boatmen.IN connexion with the Bye Harbour Life-boat

disaster on loth November, when thewhole of the Crew, seventeen in number,lost their lives, Memorial Certificates havebeen awarded—in addition to the pensionsand allowances mentioned elsewhere—asfollows :—MRS. HEAD, widow of Herbert Head, Cox-

swain, mother of James A. and John 8.Head.

MRS. STONHAM, widow of Joseph Stonham,Second Coxswain.

MRS. H. CUTTING, widow of Henry Cutting,Bowman.

MR. W. CUTTING, father of Henry Cutting,Robert R. Cutting and Albert E. Cutting.

MRS. A. E. SMITH, widow of Albert E. Smith.MRS. W. T. CLAEK, widow of William T.

Clark.MR. W. T. CLARK, father of William T.

Clark and Leslie G. Clark.

MR. G. H. POPE, father of Charles F. D.Pope, Rabsrt H. Pope and Louis A. Pope.

MR. J. DOWNEY, father of Maurice Downey.MR. W. G. DOWNEY, father of Albert G.

Downey.MR. JAMES IGGLESDEN, father of Walter

Igglesden.MR. C. SOUTHERDEN, father of Charles

Southerden.To BRYAN O'DONNELL, on his retirement, after

serving 22J years as Coxswain and previously2J years as Second Coxswain of the Aran-more Life-boat, a Certificate of Service anda Pension.

To WILLIAM ROBINSON, on his retirement,after serving 14 years as Coxswain andpreviously 16 years as Second Coxswain ofthe Newbiggin Life-boat, a Certificate ofService. Robinson died after sending inhis resignation, and the Certificate and a

I Gratuity were given to his widow.


To HUGH HERALD, on his retirement on theclosing of the Station, after serving 14 yearsas Coxswain, and previously 3 years asSecond Coxswain and 5 years as Bowmanof the Greencastle Life-boat, a Certificateof Service and a Pension.

To WILLIAM H. MITCHELL, on his retirement,after serving lOj years as Coxswain of theKxmouth Life-boat, a Certificate of Serviceand a Pension.

To DANIEL DAVIP.S, on his retirement, afterserving 11 years a Second Coxswain and

previously 12 years as Bowman and 4 yearsas a member of the Crew of the New Quay,Cardigan, Life-boat, a Certificate of Serviceand a Pension.

To C. McGiLLOWAY, on his retirement on theclosing of the Station, after serving 14 yearsas Second Coxswain of the GreencastleLife-boat, a Pension.

To WILLIAM HERALD, on his retirement onthe closing of the Station, after serving 17years as Bowman of the Greencastle Life-boat, a Pension.

Awards to Honorary Workers.Mr. Loris N. PARKEK has been elected an

Honorary Life Governor of the Institutionin recognition of his generous and valuableservices to the Life-boat Cause in writingfor the Institution the Life-boat play " TheirBusiness in Great Waters," and presentingthe play, with all rights of production andperformance, to the Institution.

To the Viscountess BERTIE OF THAME, inrecognition of her valuable co-operation asChairman of the Central London Women'sCommittee of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild,the Gold Brooch and the Record of Thanks.

To Mr. JOHN OWEN, on his retirement after20 years as Honorary Secretary and pre-viously 5 years as Honorary Treasurer of theCardigan Branch, the Thanks of the Institu-tion inscribed on Vellum.

To Mr. WILLIAM MURRAY, upon his retirementafter 20 years as Honorary Secretary of theNewburgh Branch, the Thanks of theInstitution inscribed on Vellum.

I To Alderman FRED BRITAIN, in recognition oflong and valuable co-operation as Honorary

Secretary of the Southend-on-Sea Branch, aBinocular Glass.

To Mr. P. L. HUTCHINGS, upon his retirementafter 7 years as Honorary Secretary of theDungeness Branch, a Framed Photographof a Life-boat going out to a vessel indistress.

To Mrs. WILLIAMS, Honorary Secretary of theLadies' Life-boat Guild at Aberdovey, aFramed Photograph of a Life-boat going outto a vessel in distress.

To Miss W. SEATTER, in recognition of hervaluable assistance as Central Convenerof the Edinburgh Life-boat Day organisationfor 8 years, a Framed Photograph of theLife-boat going out to a vessel in distress.

To Mr. FRED BEDFORD, upon hi retirementfrom the office of Honorary Secretary of theGlasgow Branch, a Framed Photograph of aLife-boat going out to a vessel in distress.

To 52 ladies and gentlemen, in recognition oftheir services in connexion with the RoyalLife-boat Matinee at the Lyceum Theatre,on llth December, the Record of Thanks.

Division of the North of England into Two Districts.IN making its appeals for public support,the Institution has decided to divideinto two Districts the North ofEngland, which up to the end of lastyear was one District, and which hadas its Organizing Secretary the lateMr. Edgar H. Johnson, F.C.I.S., ofManchester.

This change has become necessaryowing to the great development in theInstitution's work during recent years,and the great increase in the number of

its Branches in the North of England,which last year contributed over£30,000 to tie funds of the Institution.The North-Western District will consistof Lancashire, Cheshire, Cumberland,Westmorland and the Isle of Man, withan area of 5,300 square miles, and apopulation of just over 6,353,000 ; theNorth-Eastern District of Northumber-land, Durham and Yorkshire, with anarea of 9,100 square miles, and apopulation of just over 6,400,000.


News from the Branches.1st October to 31st December.

Greater London.BARNES (SURREY).—Concert.

BERMONDSEY.—Concert.

CLAPHAM.—Address to the RotaryClub by the Organizing Secretary.

; HAYES.—Annual Meeting on 15thNovember. Speaker : The DistrictOrganizing Secretary. The AnnualReport showed that £51 had been raised.

ILFORD (ESSEX).—Concert and pre-sentation of Certificates in the Life-boatEssay Competition. Speakers : TheMayor and Deputy Mayor.

ST. PAXCRAS.—Address to the RotaryClub by the Organizing Secretary.

STOKE NEWIXGTON.—Address to theRotary Club by the Organizing Secre-tary.

STREATHAM.—Address to the RotaryClub by Mr. Walter Riggs, HonorarySecretary at Aldeburgh. Address to" Toe H " by the Organizing Secretary.

WEST ACTOX.—Visit of Life-boatworkers to the Institution's Storeyard.

WILLESDEX.—Address to the EastWillesden Rotary Club by the Organiz-ing Secretary.

WOODFORD (ESSEX).—Bridge Drive.Ten Lantern Lectures and talks were

given during the quarter.

North of England.ACCRIXGTOX (LANCASHIRE).—Collec-

tions by the Ladies' Life-boat Guild inplaces of amusement.

ARLINGTON (LANCASHIRE).—AnnualMeeting on the 8th November. TheAnnual Report showed that £42 hadbeen raised, as compared with £30 inthe previous year.

ALXWICK (NORTHU51BERLAXH).

Annual Meeting. Special efforts duringthe year. Ball which raised over £60and Concert. The Annual Reportshowed that £111 had been raised, ascompared with £106 in the previousyear.

BERWICK-OX-TWEED.—Annual Meet-ing on 20th November. Captain F. C. H.

Allenby, R.N.. Vice-President, in thechair. The Annual Report showed thatthe Life-boat had been out on twooccasions, and that £344 had beenraised as compared with £296 in theprevious year. Of this sum the Ladies'Life-boat Guild contributed £250. ascompared with £69 in the previous year.

BLACKPOOL (LANCASHIRE).—Meetingof the Ladies' Life-boat Guild. WhistDrive.

Dinner to the Life-boat C'rew by theMayor, who presented the InscribedBarometers awarded to Councillor C. E.Tatham (Honorary Secretary) and Mr.E. Flower by the Institution for rescuinga stranded yachtsman at considerableri<k on 1st July.

BLYTH (NORTHTMBERLAXD).—Sale ofWork.

BRADFORD (YORKSHIRE). — AnnualMatinee at the Alhambra Theatre.

Visit of the Bridlington Life-boatCrew, who were presented to the Mayor.The Coxswain presented Miss NoraGrainger, the Assistant Secretary, witha model of the City of Bradford MotorLife-boat, stationed at Spuin Point onthe Humber.

BRIDLIXGTOX (YORKSHIRE).—WhistDrive organized by the Ladies' Life-boatGuild.

BURLEY - IX' - WHARFEDALE (BRAD-FORD BRANCH, YORKSHIRE) . -— BridgeDrive.

CARNFORTH (LANCASHIRE).—AnnualMeeting on 19th October. The AnnualReport showed that £74 had been raised,as compared with £16 in the previousyear.

C'eLCHETH-WITH-KEXYOX (LANCA-SHIRE).—Annual Meeting on 15thNovember. Mrs. Arthur Taylor, Presi-dent, in the chair. The Annual Reportshowed that £17 had been raised ascompared with £53 in the previous year.

DENTON (MANCHESTER A N D HALVDRDBRANCH).—Whist Drive and Dance.

DUKINFIELD (CHESHIRE). — WhistDrive, at which the Mayor was present.


GATESHEAD (DURHAM). — Annualfleeting on 2nd November. The AnnualReport showed that £183 had beenraised, as compared with £105 in theprevious year.

GOLBOURXE (LANCASHIRE).—Annual: Meeting on 18th October, at which steps

were taken to revive the activities of theBranch.

HALIFAX (YORKSHIRE) . — AnnualMeeting on 5th October. The AnnualReport showed that £233 had beenraised as compared with £144 in theprevious year, the expenses being only£1 9.s. Id."

Bridge Drive organized by theMayoress.

HECKMOXDWIKE (YORKSHIRE) . —Whist Drive.

IXCE (LANCASHIRE) .— Annual Meetingof the Branch and Ladies' Life-boatGuild on 3rd October. The AnnualReport showed that the Guild, whichwas only formed in February, had raisedover £66 by the end of September. TheHonorary Secretary, Mrs. W. Smith,was cordially thanked.

KEXDAI. (WESTMORLAND).—AnnualMeeting of the Ladies' Life-boat Guild,3rd December. A sum of £135 had beencollected as compared with £106 theprevious year.

KIRKBY STEPHEN (LANCASHIRE).—Whist Drive and Dance.

KlRKHEATOX (YORKSHIRE) . HoUSe-

to-house Collection.

LVMM AND HEATLEY (CHESHIRE).—Whist Drive and Dance.

MARKET WEIGHTOX (YORKSHIRE).—Whist Drive.

MELTHAM (YORKSHIRE). — AnnualMeeting. The Annual Report showedthat £36 had been raised.

Whist Drive and Dance, with anaddress by Sir Charles Wilson, M.P.,Chairman of the Leeds Branch.

MYTHOLMROYD (YORKSHIRE). —House-to-house Collection.

NEW BRIGHTON (CHESHIRE).—Twospecial performances at the TrocaderoCinema, attended by the New BrightonCommittee and the Life-boat Crew, at

which was shown the film of the NewBrighton Motor Life-boat returningwith the 23 men rescued on 24th Novem-ber from the French steamer EmileDelmas.

ORRELL (LANCASHIRE).—Whist Driveand Dance.

PADIHAMDrive.

(LANCASHIRE). — Whist

PIEL, BARROW (LANCASHIRE). —Annual Meeting of the Branch andLadies' Life-boat Guild on 27th Novem-ber, Mr. ,T. M. Mawson, J.P. (HonorarySecretary), presiding in the absence ofthe Mayor. The Annual Report showedthat there had been one launch onservice, and that £258 had been raised,as compared with £133 in the previousyear. To this sum the Guild had contri-buted £70.

PORT ERIX (!SLE OF MAN).—AnnualMeeting on 12th October. The AnnualReport showed that there had been onelaunch on service, and that £363 hadbeen raised, as compared with £389 inthe previous year. The Ladies' Life-boat Guild was cordially thanked.

PORT ST. MARY (!SLE OF MAN).—Annual Meeting on 10th December,Mr. F. W. Lawson, J.P., the Chairman,presiding. The Annual Report showedthat £74 had been raised as comparedwith £49 in the previous year.

RADCLIFFE (LANCASHIRE). — Annual31eeting on 8th October, fit which stepswere taken to revive the activities ofthe Branch.

RAMSEY (!SLE OF MAN).—AnnualMeeting on 17th December, the Rev.W. M. Harrison, M.A., Chairman, pre-siding. The Annual Report showedthat there had been one launch onservice, and that the sum of £152 hadbeen collected, as compared with £150in the previous year. A presentationwas made to the Bowman, HarrySharpe, who has been connected withthe Station for 40 years.

RAWMARSK (YORKSHIRE). — Organ 'Recital.

ROCHDALE (LANCASHIRE).—Meetingat the Town Hall at which the Ladies'Life-boat Guild was reconstituted.

230 THE LIFEBOAT. MARCH, 1929

ROMILEY (CHESHIRE) .—The firstAnnual Meeting was held on 9th Octo-ber, Mrs. Kinsey, President of theGuild, in the chair. The Annual Reportshowed that £40 had been raised.

SALFORD (MANCHESTER, SALFORDAND DISTRICT BRANCH, LANCASHIRE).—Whist Drive, attended by the Mayorand Mayoress.

STAINLAND (YORKSHIRE). — WhistDrive and Dance organized by theLadies' Life-boat Guild.

STANDISH (LANCASHIRE).—AnnualMeeting on 1st November. The AnnualReport showed that £55 had been raised,as compared with £88 in the previousyear.

STOCKTON AND THORNABY (DURHAM).—Annual Meeting on 24th September.The Annual Report showed that £170had been raised.

Whist Drive and Dance.

URMSTONDrive.

WESTHOUGHTONWhist Drive.

(LANCASHIRE). — Whist

(LANCASHIRE). —

WIGAN (LANCASHIRE).—" Bring andBuy" Sale arranged by the Ladies'Life-boat Guild.

Midlands.

BARNT GREEN (WARWICKSHIRE) —Branch formed (district of BirminghamBranch). Honorary Secretary, Mrs.Newman.

BIRMINGHAM (WARWICKSHIRE). —Dance, Concert, Wireless Appeal.

BRISTOL (GLoucESTERSHrRE). —Annual Ball

CANNOCK (STAFFORDSHIRE). — Life-boat Day. Address at Sunday Concert.

CHADSMORE (STAFFORDSHIRE). —Life-boat Address in the church.

COSELEY AND SEDGELEY (STAFFORD-SHIRE).—Branch formed. HonorarySecretary, Mr. T. B. Davies.

DAVENTRY (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE). —Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Mrs. W. Edgar.

GRIMSBY (LINCOLNSHIRE). — WhistDrive and Dance. Concert.

HANDSWORTH. (STAFFORDSHIRE). —Address to the Brotherhood.

HEAGE AND BELPER (DERBYSHIRE).—Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Mr. Joseph Allsop. |

HINCKLEY (LEICESTERSHIRE). — |Special Works and Banks Appeal. j

HORNCASTLE (LINCOLNSHIRE). —Dance at Coningsby.

ILKESTON (DERBYSHIRE).—Meetingto restart the Branch. Life-boat Day.

LETCHLADE AND FAIRFORD (GLOUCES-TERSHIRE). —Branch formed. HonorarySecretary, Mr. W. Birkley-Forrester.

NOTTINGHAM (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE).—Annual Meeting on 20th November, theLord Mayor (Alderman AtYiey) presiding.Speaker : Sir Godfrey Baring, Bart.,Chairman of the Committee of Manage-ment of the Institution. The AnnualReport showed that £342 had beenraised, as compared with £581 in theprevious year.

NUNEATON (WARWICKSHIRE). —Branch revived. Honorary Secretary,Mr. George Cross, Junr. Life-boat Day.

RETFORD (NOTTINGHAMSHIRE). —Whist Drive and Dance.

STOKE-ON-TREXT (STAFFORDSHIRE).—Life-boat Day.

SUTTON - IN - ASHFIELD (NOTTING-HAMSHIRE).—Dance and Whist Drive.

ToWCESTER (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE) .—Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Mr. W. W. Baker. Dance."

UPPIXGHAM (RUTLANDSHIRE). —Concert.

WEDNESFIELU (STAFFORDSHIRE).—Whist Drive and Dance.

WOLVERHAMPTON (STAFFORDSHIRE).—Address to the Rotary Club.

South-East of England.

AMERSHAM (BUCKINGHAMSHIRE).—Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Mr. A. E. Whitcomb.

ASHFORD (KENT).—Branch formed.Honorary Secretary. Mrs. Alexander.

AYLSHAM (NORFOLK.). — Branchformed. Honorary Secretary, . Com-mander E. A. Day, R.N.


BEDFORD (BEDFORDSHIRE).—House-to-house Collection.

BRENTWOOD (ESSEX). — Branchformed. Honorary Secretary, Mrs.Churchill.

BROADSTAIRS (KENT). — Branchformed. Honorary Secretary, H. E.Slade, Esq.

BYFLEET AXD PYRFORD (SURREY).—Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Paymaster-Rear-Admiral C. S. Wonham,C.B.E.

CAMBERLEY (SURREY).—Drawing-room Meeting. Branch formed. Hono-rary Secretary, Miss J. Hilary.

CANTERBURY (KENT).—Lecture by theOrganizing Secretary to St. Edmund'sSchool.

DORKING (SURREY).—Branch formed.Honorary Secretary, Miss Stilhvell.

DOVER (KENT).—Branch formed.Honorary Secretary, Dr. Richardson.

Ladies' Life-boat Guild formed.Honorary Secretary, Miss Jordan.

EASTBOURNE (SUSSEX).—AnnualMeeting on Hth November, Mr. ErnestArmstrong, Chairman, presiding.Speaker : Mr. George F. Shee, M.A.,Secretary of the Institution. TheAnnual Report showed that the Life-boat had been out once on service, andthat £1,397 had been raised, as com-pared with £1,489 in the previous year.Mr. Armstrong's resignation as Chair-man was accepted with regret. Mr.Shee paid a tribute to his services, andspoke of the invaluable work done byMrs. Astley Roberts as President of theGuild, and Mr. A. Robertson as Hono-rary Secretary of the Branch. Mr.Norman Holland was elected Chairman.

EGHAM AND ENGLEFIELD GREEN(SURREY).—Branch formed. HonorarySecretary, Paymaster-Rear-Admiral B.U. Colclough, C.B.E., R.N.

ELY (CAMBRIDGESHIRE).— Life-boatDay.

FOLKESTONE (KENT).—Annual Meet-ing. The Annual Report showed thatthere had been one launch on service,and that £353 had been raised as com-pared with £258 in the previous year.

Bridge Tournament.

GUILDFORD (SURREY). — House-to-House Collection. Special Meeting,with Alderman W. T. Patrick presiding,at which Mr. H. Hargood, O.B.E., aVice-President of the Institution, gavean address and received the cheque forthe collection.

HORSHAM (Si'SSEx).—Address to theRotary Club by the Organizing Secretary.

HUNTINGDON (HUNTINGDONSHIRE).—Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Mr. J. H. Howgate, B.A., F~C.S.

KESSINGLAND (SUFFOLK).—Life-boatService in the Parish Church.

MARGATE (KENT).—Dinner and En-tertainment for the Life-boat Crew by'Mrs. T. W. Gomm, wife of the HonorarySecretary. Among tho.se present werethe Mayor and Mayoress and ColonelE. 0. Skey, Chairman of the Branch.

ROCHESTER (KENT).—Church Collec-tion.

ST. IVES (HUNTINGDONSHIRE).—Life-boat Day.

SHERINGHAM (NORFOLK).—Life-boatDay.

UCKFIELD (SUSSEX).—Branch formed.Honorary Secretary, Rev. K. H. Mac-Dermott.

WESTGATE-ON-SEA (KENT).—Branchformed. Honorary Secretary, Mr. G. L.Watson.

WOLVERTON (BUCKINGHAMSHIRE).—Branch formed. Honorary Secretary,Mr. Albert Brown, J.P.

South-West of England.

BATH (SOMERSET).—Annual MeetingThe Report showed that £341 had beenraised as compared with £345 in theprevious year. Entertainment at theTheatre. Whist Drive.

BUDE (CORNWALL).—Annual Meetingon 2nd October. The Annual Reportshowed that £161 had been raised, ascompared with £143 in the previous year.

CREDITON (DEVONSHIRE).—Lectureand Life-boat films at the Cinema.

• EXETER (DEVONSHIRE). — MonthlyWhist Drives. Bridge Drive and Dance,organized by the Master Butchers' Asso-ciation.

LAUNCESTON (CORNWALL). — Meetingand display of films at the Cinema.

'232 THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929.

NEWTOX ABBOT (DEVONSHIRE). —House-to-house Collection.

OKEHAMPTOX (DEVOXSHIRE).—Meet-ing and display of films at the Cinema.

OXFORD (OXFORDSHIRE).—Life-boatDay. "' At Home " to collectors, withLife-boat Address.

PORTSMOUTH (HAMPSHIRE). — AnnualMeeting. The Annual Report showedthat £417 had been raised, as comparedwith £429 in the previous year. Pre-sentation by the Lady Mayoress of theChallenge Shield (South of England),won by Harold Mills, Drayton RoadBoys' School, Portsmouth.

SALCOMBE AXD HOPE COVE (Dsvox).—Annual Meeting on 9th October. TheAnnual Report showed that £173 hadbeen raised, as compared with £162 inthe previous year. A special vote ofthanks was passed to Mrs. Street, Mrs.Prowse and Mrs. Trevenar for theirefforts in obtaining the largest sum sofar raised by the Branch.

SHERBORXE (DORSET).—Special meet-ing organized by the Ladies' Life-boatGuild to increase interest in the Institu-tion. Speakers : Rear-Admiral Isorris,C.B., C.M.G., the Rev. Canon S. H.Wingfield Digby and Mr. George F.Shee, 31.A.. Secretary of the Institution.

SWIXDOX (WILTSHIRE). — Specialmeeting arranged by the Mayoress.

WINCHESTER (HAMPSHIRE) . —House-to-house Collection, Bridge Drive, Saleand Tea. Both organized by the Ladies'Life-boat Guild.

Scotland.ARBROATH (FORFARSHIRE).—Whist

Drive.ARDRISHAIG (ARGYLLSHIRE).—Whist

Drive, Children's Concert.BRIDGE OF ALLAX (STIRLIXGSHIRE).—

Life-boat Day.CAMPBELTOWX, MACHRIHAXISH AXD

SOUTHEXD (ARGYLLSHIRE). — AnnualMeeting on 15th October, Ex-ProvostMitchell, Chairman, presiding. TheAnnual Report showed that there hadbeen one launch on service, 15 livesbeing rescued, and that £173 had beenraised, as compared with £172 in theprevious year.

DUMFRIES (DUMFRIES-SHIRE). —Address by Captain A. S. Balfour,O.B.E., a member of the EdinburghCommittee.

DfMBARTOX (l)UMBARTOXSHTRE).—Life-boat Day.

DUNDEE (FORFARSHIHE).—AnnualMeeting on 5th October. Speaker :The Duke of Montrose, Chairman of theScottish Council. The Annual Reportshowed that there had been one launchon service of the Broughty Ferry Life-boat, and that £385 had been raised ascompared with £170 in the previousyear. The reason for this increase is thatthe bulk of the 1927 House-to-HouseCollection was received just after theclose of the financial year, so that the1928 figure includes this part of the1927 Collection.

EDIXBURGH.—Annual Meeting on20th November. Speakers : The SeniorMagistrate (Bailie Hay), Admiral SirJohn F. E. Green, Captain C. K.M'Intosh, R.N.R., and Dr. A. Darling.The Annual Report showed that £1,978had been raised as compared with £1,595in the previous year.

GOUROCK (REXFREWSHIRE).—WhistDrive arranged by the Ladies' Guild.

JOHXSTOXE (RENFREWSHIRE).—Life-boat Day.

KILMARXOCK (AYRSHIRE).—Addressto the Rotary Club.

KIRKCUDBRIGHT (KIRKCUDBRIGHT-SHIRE).—Annual Meeting on 30th No-vember, Dr. Norris presiding. TheAnnual Report showed that £137 hadbeen collected as compared with £102in the previous year.

MoXTHOSE (FORFARSHIRE).—WhistDrive.

MOTHERWELL (LAXARKSHIRE).—Life-boat Day.

NEWBURGH (ABERDEEXSHIRE). —Ladies' Life-boat Guild formed. Ad-dress by Captain A. S. Balfour, O.B.E.,a member of the Committee of the Edin-burgh Branch.

PAISLEYboat Day.

(REXFREWSHIRE).—Life-

MABCH, 1929.] THE LIFEBOAT. 233

STOBNOWAY (ISLAND or LEWIS).—Whist Drive and Dance.

WISHAW (LANARKSHIRE).—Life-boatDay.

Thirty-four Lantern Lectures weregiven during the Quarter.

Ireland.ABBEYFEALE (Co. LIMERICK).—Life-

boat Day.CLONMEL (Co. TIPPERARY).—Life-

boat Day.ENNIS (Co. CLARE).—Children's

Dance.ENNISKILLEN (Co. FERMANAGH).—By

the death of Lady Mary Lowry-Corry on5th October the Institution has lost anHonorary Secretary who, for overtwenty years, had carried on the workof the Branch.

KILLORGLIN (Co. KERRY).—Life-boatDay.

LISTOWEL (Co. KERRY).—Life-boatDay.

NEWCASTLE WEST (Co. LIMERICK).—Life-boat Day.

PORTRUSH (Co. ANTRIM).—CinemaEntertainment and Cinema Collection.

TUAM (Co. GAL WAY) .—Branch formed.Honorary Treasurer, Mr. W. F. Pur-cell ; Honorary Secretary, Mr. R. M.Burke. Dance.

WATERFORD (Co. WATERFORD).—Life-boat Day.

WEXFORD (Co. WEXFORD).—Life-boat Day.

Wales.(Including Herefordshire and Shropshire.)ABERGAVENNY (MONMOUTHSHIRE).—

Whist Drive.BANGOR (CAERNARVONSHIRE).—Con-

cert.BASCHURCH (SALOP).—Church ser-

vice.CONWAY (CAERNARVONSHIRE). —

Dance at which the Mayor and Mayoresswere present, the Mayor making aspecial appeal.

NEWPORT (MONMOUTHSHIRE).—WhistDrive.

WELLINGTON (SALOP).—Whist Drive.

Forthcoming Articles.OWING to the space given in this numberto the Rye disaster a number of articleswhich would otherwise have appearedhave been held over until the next issue.They include an article on the Life-boatService in Iceland (which will be fol-lowed in a later issue by an article onthe present Russian Service) ; thearticle, mentioned in the last issue, onthe work of the International Hydro-graphic Bureau ; and accounts of thecentenary presentations at Blyth andAberdeen, of the Aberdeen Conferenceof Life-boat Workers, of two most

successful balls held at Glasgow andBelfast, of a very successful theatricalentertainment at Exeter, and of Life-boat carol singing last Christmas.

We are glad to say, however, thatthe work done all over the United King-dom by our Honorary workers, andespecially by the devoted women whoare members of the Ladies' Life-boatGuild, is increasing to such an extentthat it is becoming impossible to givemore than a very brief notice of manyevents which deserve, and have fullyearned, our heartfelt thanks.

Notice.The next number of THE LIFEBOAT will be published in

MAY, 1929.

When you have read this number, will you kindly pass it on to a friend,unless you are keeping a complete set of the Journal ?


Services of the Life-boats of the Institution during 1928.

1928.Jan. 1.

„ 10.

„ 10.

„ 12.

PersonsTime of rescued from

Launching. shipwreck.2.30a.m. S.S. Hesperides, of Liverpool. Hauxley Life-boat rendered

assistance.6.32 a.m. Steam drifter Paramount, of Ramsgate. Kamsgate Life-boat . 5

10.15 a.m. S.S. Lady Gertrude Cochrane, of Glasgow. Rosslare Harbour Life-boat landed one sick man.

11.50a.m. Motor fishing boat Dewdrop, of Whitehills. Whitehills Life-boatstood by boat.

1.30 p.m. Motor yawl Rejoice, of Spittal. Holy Island No. 1 Life-boat savedyawl and rescued 3

Motor yawl Ellen Fairbairn, of Eyemouth. Holy Island No. 1Life-boat stood by yawl.

2.35 p.m. Fishing boats Remembrance, Irene and Faith, of Whitby. Whitby(Motor) Life-boat escorted boats into harbour.

3. 0 p.m. S.S. Moyle, of London. Porthdinllaen Life-boat stood by vessel.3.15 p.m. Fishing coble Guide Me, of Whitby. Scarborough Life-boat stood

by coble.3.55 p.m. Motor fishing boat Fife's Own, of Scarborough. Filey Life-boat

stood by boat.11. 0 a.m. The fishing fleet of Montrose. Montrose No. 1 Life-boat stood by

fishing fleet.12 noon. The fishing fleet of Abroath. Abroath Life-boat stood by fishing

fleet.4.30 p.m. A motor fishing boat of Montrose. Johnshaven Life-boat stood by

boat.7. 5 p.m. Fishing smack Golinda, of Lowestoft. Lowestoft Life-boat . . 41.15p.m. Motor fishing boats Irene, Faith, Diligence, Remembrance, Lady

Kitchener, and Pilot Me, of Whitby. Whitby (Motor) Life-boatescorted boats into harbour.Motor fishing boats Fortuna, and Guide Me, of Whitby. Whitby(Motor) Life-boat saved boats and rescued 9

2.45 a.m. S.S. Cewea, of Hamburg. Palling No. 1 Life-boat stood by vessel.3.30 p.m. S.S. Ferento, of Genoa. North Deal Life-boat stood by vessel.

11.10 a.m. Motor fishing coble Isaac Edward, of Boulmer. Boulmer Life-boatstood by coble.

MARCH, 1929.]

1928.Jan. 22.

„ 24.

„ 24.

,, 25.

„ 28.

Feb. 2.1

„ 4-5.

„ 7.„ 10.

„ 10.

„ 10.

„ 10.

„ 10.„ 10.„ 10.„ 10.

„ 10.11.

„ 15.

„ 15.„ 17.

„ 17.

„ 20.

„ 25.„ 28.

Mar. 1.

„ 4.

„ 10.

„ 14-„ 15.

Time ofLaunching.

8. Op.m.

12.15p.m.

12.55p.m.

9.15 a.m.

12.55p.m.

7.50 a.m.

7.12 a.m.

12.37 p.m.9.15 a.m.

11. Oa.m.

12.30 p.m.

2. Op.m.

4.45 p.m.5.55 p.m.9.25p.m.

10.58 p.m.

11.10p.m.2. 5 p.m.

11.40a.m.

9. Op.m.

6.15a.m.

7.15p.m.

10.45 p.m.

10. Op.m.2.15p.m.

1.30 p.m.

12.20a.m.

7.45 a.m.11.10a.m.3.20 p.m.

THE LIFEBOAT. 235

Personsrescued fromshipwreck.

Motor launch Bessie, of Swansea. The Mumbles Life-boat saved

Barge Lily, of Whitstable. Dungeness No. 2 Life-boat savedvessel and rescued . .

A motor fishing boat of Wicklow. Wicklow Life-boat stood byboat.

Ketch Harold, of London. Cromer No. 1 Life-boat assisted to savevessel and rescued . . . . . .

Fishing boat Our Willie, of Brixham. Torbay Life-boat saved boatand rescued . . . . .

S.S. Achill, of Belfast. Maryport Life-boat stood by vessel,rendered assistance and landed 3.

Steam trawler Cyclone, of Boulogne. Bamsgate Life-boat assistedto save vessel and rescued . . . .

Fishing boat Boy Bob, of Yarmouth. Palling No. 2 Life-boat .The fishing fleet of Newbiggin. Newbiggiu Life-boat stood by

fishing fleet.The fishing fleet of Montrose. Montrose No. 1 Life-boat stood by

fishing fleet.The fiahing fleet of Arbroath. Arbroath Life-boat stood by fishing

fleet.Fishing cobles of Bridlington. Bridlington Life-boat stood by

cobles.Barge Link Light, of London. Margate Life-boat landed 3.French yawl Barbara. Bembridge Life-boat saved vessel.Fishing sm&rk Arrowvale, of Milford. Angle Life-boat .Schooner Agnes Qlover, of Castletown. Holyhead No. 1 (Steam)

Life-boat . . . .Barge Emma, of Portland. Weymouth Life-boat stood by vessel.S S Taortnina of Oslo P&dstow No I Life- boatMotor fishing yawl Sarah Brigham, of Holy Island. Holy Island

No. 1 Life-boat rendered assistance.Motor fishing yawl Nellie, of Holy Island. Holy Island No. 1 Life-

boat saved vessel and rescuedMotor fishing yawls Water Lily, Blossom and Marquis of Lassie, of

Sea Houses. Holy Island No. 1 Life-boat saved boats andrescued . . . . . . .

S.S. Orlockhead, of Belfast. Ardrossan Life-boat stood by vessel.

S.S. Varand, of London. New Brighton No. 2 Life-boat .

Barque Jeanne D'Arc, of Havre. Dungeness No. 1 Life-boat stoodby vessel.

S.S. Marta, of Hamburg. Cresswell Life-boat stood by vessel.

Steam trawler Isle of Wight, of Hull. Newburgh Life-boatCoble Morning Star, of Scarborough. Scarborough Life-boat

escorted coble into harbour.Steam drifter John Somers, of Galway. Galway Bay Life-boat

rendered assistance.Schooner Matilda, of Wexford. Appledore Life-boat rendered

assistance.Coble Florence, of Bunswiok. Bunswick Life-boat stood by coble.Four cobles of Filey. Filey Life-boat stood by cobles.S.S. Peggy Grieve, of Grimsby. Hauxley Life-boat stood by vessel.

2

3

3

2

161

4

4

18

2

11

42

10

236

1928.Mar. 16.

16,» *vr»

„ 17.

„ 19.„ 20.

„ 20.

„ 21.„ 21.,, 22.

„ 23.

„ 25.

„ 25.

„ 29.

„ 29.

„ 29

„ 29.

April 3.

„ 3.

„ 8.

„ 10.

,, 13.

„ 13.

„ 13.

,, 17.

„ 18.

„ 18.„ 20.

THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929.

Time ofLaunching,

2.45 a.m.

10. 0 p.m.9.30 a.m.

10.15 a.m.1. Op.m.

1. Op.m.

4.50 a.m.5.45 a.m.4.30 a.m.

11.30 a.m.

8.50 a.m.

10.30 a.m.

10.50 a.m.

11.40 a.m.

12.15p.m.

5.53 p.m.

12.25 p.m.

4.11 p.m.

6.40 a.m.

1.20 a.m.

9.20 a.m.

1. Op.m.

5. 0 p.m.

8.15p.m.

12 noon.

3.35 p.m.2.15 p.m.

Personsrescued from

shipwreck .Steam trawler Night Hawk, of Grimsby. The Humber Life-boat

rendered assistance.

S.S. Alicia, of Libau. Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Life-boat

Steam trawler Lard Devonport, of Hull. Stromness Life-boat .Motor fishing cobles Eagle, Morning Star and Golden Gate, of

Scarborough. Scarborough Life-boat stood by eoblea.Fishing yawl Hero, of Dunbar. Dunbar Life-boat saved yawl and

S.S. Deal, of London. Donaghadee Life-boat stood by vessel.S.S. Deal, of London. Glou.gb.ey Life-boat stood by vessel.Smack Wave Crest, of Lowestoft. Palling No. 1 Life-boat stood by

vessel.S.S. Gatwick, of London. Kobin Hood's Bay Life-boat stood by

vessel, and rendered assistance.Trawler Renaissance, of Aberdeen. Peterhead No. 2 Life-boat .Trawler Firsby, of Granton. Peterhead No. 2 Life-boat landed 2

and stood by vessel.Steam trawler Star of Britain, of Aberdeen. Fraserburgh Life-boat

stood by vessel.Eleven motor fishing boats of Newbiggin. Newbiggin Life-boat

stood by boats.Fishing vessels Wayside Flower, Boys Own, Premier II,, Excelsior,

Ilex and Rosamond, of Bridlington. Bridlington Life-boat stoodby fishing vessels.

Motor fishing cobles Morning Star, Jack and Reliance II., ofScarborough. Scarborough Life-boat stood by cobles.

Motor fishing boat Dawn, of Bridlington. Scarborough Life-boatstood by boat.

Barge Greenhithe, of London. Great Yarmouth and GorlestonLife-boat stood by vessel.

Yacht Coquette, of London. Clacton-on-Sea Life-boat saved vessela n d rescued . . . . . . .

Admiralty drifter Cold Snap. Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, Life-boatrendered assistance.

Motor coble Eagle, of Scarborough. Scarborough Life-boat escortedcoble into harbour.

Motor barge Ramble, of London. Great Yarmouth and GorlestonLife-boat saved vessel and rescued

Motor fishing cobles Ebeneezer and Golden Gate, of Scarborough,Scarborough Life-boat stood by cobles.

Fishing boat Premier II., of Bridlington. Scarborough Life-boatstood by boat.

Motor fishing boat Miseltoe, of Bridlington. Scarborough Life-boatstood by boat.

Motor fishing coble Our Boys, of Newbiggin. Newbiggin Life-boatsaved coble and rescued

Motor fishing boats Pilot Me and Guide Me, of Whitby. Whitby(Motor) Life-boat escorted boats into harbour.

Motor coble Heather, of Filey. Filey Life-boat rendered assistance.Motor fishing boats Guide Me, Pilot Me and Remembrance, of

Whitby. Whitby (Motor) Life-boat escorted boats into harbour.

15

116

1

7

4

5

4

MABCH, 1929.] THE LIFEBOAT. 237

PersonaTime of rescued from

1928. Launching. shipwreck.April29. 6.40a.m. S.S. 8t. Sunniva, of Aberdeen. Peterheid No. 2 Life-boat landed

45.„ 30. 2.15 a.m. Steam trawler Sarah, of North Shields. Newbiggin Life-boat . 9

May 7. 11.45a.m. The fishing fleet of Wexford. Rosslare Harbour Life-boat stood byfishing fleet.

„ 16. 6.15 p.m. Motor fishing boat Victor and Millie, of Southwold. SouthwoldLife-boat saved boat and rescued 2

„ 17. 4. 5 a.m. Schooner Isabella, of Barrow. Bamsgate Life-boat saved vesseland rescued 4

,, 18. 9. 8a.m. Yacht Valetta, of Falmouth. Weymouth Life-boat stood by vessel.June 6. 2.50 a.m. Steam trawler Abelia, of Grimsby. The Humber Life-boat stood

by vessel.,, 9. 11.30a.m. Yacht Arrow, of London. Porthdinllaen Life-boat saved boat and

rescued 1,, 9. 7.40 p.m. Ketch Leonora Minnie, of Brixham. Tenby Life-boat landed 3.„ 14. 11.0a.m. Fishing yawl Jane, of Wexford. Rosslare Harbour Life-boat saved

boat and rescued 3,, 14. 2. 0 p.m. Motor fishing boat Victory, of Grimsby. Scarborough Life-boat

escorted boat into harbour.„ 16. 11. 0 a.m. Coble Margaret, of Seaham Harbour. Hartlepool Life-boat saved

boat and rescued 2„ 22. 6.30 a.m. S.S. Pelican, of Cardiff. Minehead Life-boat 5,, 22. 4.55p.m. Steam drifter Regain, of Lowestoft. Aberdeen No. 1 Life-boat

rendered assistance.„ 22. 5.45p.m. Sailing boat Ugly, of London. Lowestoft Life-boat saved boat and

rescued 1„ 23. 1. Oa.m. Schooner Mary Ann, of Guernsey. Caister No. 1 Life-boat rendered

assistance.„ 25. 3.45 a.m. Motor fishing boat Mica, of Lowestoft. Lowestoft Life-boat stood

by boat.,, 26. 4.10 a.m. Fishing boat Mallard, of Brighton. Newhaven Life-boat stood by

boat.„ 26. 6.30p.m. Cutter Borem/ Jean, of Poole. Weymouth Life-boat saved boat and

rescued 2,, 30. 4. 0 p.m. Yacht Esterel, of Dublin. Helvick Head Life-boat assisted yacht.

July 6. 1.12 p.m. A small fishing boat of Eastbourne. Hastings Life-boat stood byboat.

„ 14. 6.20 p.m. Cobles Klondike and Frank, of Seaham. Sunderland Life-boatsaved boats and rescued 7

„ 22. 11.5a.m. Yacht Frebelle, of the Northern Yacht Club. Peterhead Life-boatstood by vessel.

„ 30. 4. 0 p.m. Motor Yacht Musme, of London. Margate Life-boat renderedassistance.

Aug. 5. 12.15 a.m. Motor yacht Frothblower, of London. Margate Life-boat assistedvessel into harbour.

„ 6. 11.0a.m. A small boat of Porthdinllaen. Porthdinllaen Life-boat saved boatand rescued 4

„ 12. 11.15p.m. Steam trawler Oldham, of Milford Haven. Rosslare Harbour Life -boat 11

„ 20. 9.30 p.m. Motor launches Sussex Queen and Sussex Maid. Southend-on-SeaLife-boat saved launches and rescued 4

„ 25. 11.15 a.m. Norwegian motor schooner Bru. Stromness Life-boat assisted tosave vessel.

238 THE LIFEBOAT. [MARCH, 1929.Persons

1928.Aug.

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Sept.

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Oct.

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Nov.

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26.

26.

26.27.29,

6.

11.

12.

17.28.

28.

28.5.

6.

6.

7.

14.18.18.

18.19.20.23.

25.

25.26.27.27.27.29.

31.

3.

5.

Time ofLaunching.

4.40 p.m.

7.37 p.m.

10.30 p.m.11. Op.m.1.50 p.m.

7.45 p.m.

11.10p.m.

3.20 p.m.

10.20 p.m.10.10 a.m.

3.20 p.m.

5.55 p.m.1. Op.m.

6.45 a.m.

10.50 p.m.

7. 0 p.m.

2.35 p.m.12.50 p.m.2.15 p.m.

11. Op.m.7.16p.m.3.45 a.m.6.48 a.m.

2.37 a.m.

4.15 a.m.4.20 p.m.

12.47 p.m.2. 0 p.m.3. 0 t>.m.f *~*

10.15 p.m.

4.30 p.m.

10.15 a.m.

11.45 p.m.

rescued fromshipwreck.

A ship's boat of motor vessel Heather Pet. Berwiok-on-Tweed Life-boat stood by boat.

Yacht Temptress, of Glasgow. Rosslare Harbour Life-boat saved

S S. JE. Rose, of Yarmouth. Lowestoft Life-boatYacht Iris, of Colchester. Clacton-on-Sea Life-boat saved yacht.Small motor boat Angora. Montrose No. 1 Life-boat rendered

assistance.Motor yacht Sea Hawk. Worthing Life-boat saved yacht and

rescued . .Fishing boat Young Cecil, of Brighton. Newhaven Life-boat ren-

dered assistance.Yacht Pamela, of Southampton. Southend-on-Sea Life-boat stood

by vessel.S.S. Oliva, of London. Campbeltown No. 1 Life-boat . . . .Motor fishing yawls Isabella and jBuentide, of Holy Island. Holy

Island No. 1 Life-boat stood by boats.Fishing boats Protect Me and Sceptre, of Scarborough. Scar-

borough Life-boat stood by boats.Schooner Bracldey, of Wicklow. Kilmore Life-boat . . . .Yacht Jimbet, of Ramsgate. Hastings Life-boat saved vessel and

rescuedSteam trawler Darwen, of Fleetwood. Cresswell Life-boat rendered

assistance.S.S. City of Lancaster, of Liverpool. Southend-on-Sea Life-boat

stood by vessel.Steam trawler Kilgerran Castle, of Swansea. Galway Bay Life-

boat stood by vessel.Motor ketch Nelly Mary, of Bideford. Lynmouth Life-boat .Ketch Ivy, of Falmouth. Torbay Life-boat stood by vessel.Motor fishing boat Fulgens, of Yarmouth. Great Yarmouth and

Gorleston Life-boat saved boat and rescuedSt. Mary's Life-boat took a sick girl to hospital at Penzance.Small boat Gem. New Brighton No. 2 Life-boatHopper Iron Duke, of Barrow. Piel (Barrow) Life-boatMotor drifter Fisher Lass, of Fraserburgh. Great Yarmouth and

Gorleston Life-boat rendered assistance.H.M. Drifter Lunar Bow. Aberdeen No. 1 Life-boat assisted to

save vessel.H.M. Drifter Lunar Bow. Aberdeen No. 2 Life-boat landed 2.Schooner Hanna, of Poole. Dungeness No. 2 Life-boatS.S. Mona, of Antwerp. Penlee Life-boat stood by vessel.Ketch Ivy, of Falmouth. Torbay Life-boat rendered assistance.S.S. Gap. Coverack Life-boat . . .Barge Florence Scholey, of London. Ramsgate Life-boat saved

vessel and rescuedCutter Kate, of Ballinagoul. Helvick Head Life-boat stood by

vessel*The fishing fleet of Gourdon. Gourdon Life- boat stood by fishing

fleet.Motor fishing coble Mary Eose, of Whitby. Whitby No. 2 Life-

boat escorted coble into harbour.

38

3

15

4

2

2

3

32

4

6

3


PersonsTime of rescued from

1928. Launching. shipwreck.Nov. 6. 8.10 a.m. S.S. Solway Firth, of Glasgow. Margate Life-boat 10

„ 8. 10. 0 a.m. Eight motor fishing cobles of Staithes. Staithes Life-boat stood bycobles.

„ 14. 8. 0 p.m. Two fishing boats. Poolbeg Life-boat 10„ 15. 8. 0 a.m. Schooner Oosterschelde, of Amsterdam. Hythe Life-boat stood by

vessel.,, 16. 12 noon. Motor trawler Test, of Brixham. Torbay Life-boat saved vessel

and rescued 2Tug Heros, of Hamburg, and a floating dock. Torbay Life-boat

stood by vessels.„ 16. 12 noon. Fishing cobles Unity and Doris, of Flamborough. Flamborough

No. 1 Life-boat stood by cobles.„ 16. 1. 0 p.m. S.S. Kentish Coast, of Liverpool. Plymouth Life-boat . . . . 7„ 16. 1.45p.m. Ten fishing vessels of Bridlington. Bridlington Life-loat stood by

„ 16. 1.50 p.m. Motor fishing boat Elsie, of Kirkcudbright. Kirdcudbright Life-boat 1

„ 16. 6. 5 p.m. Schooner Mary Barrow, of Barrow. Ramsgate Life-boat . . . 6„ 16. 8.50 p.m. S.S. HurUerfield, of Leith. Southend-on-Sea Life-boat stood by

vessel.„ 16. 6.40p.m. Barge Ethel Everard, of London. Margate Life-boat . . . . 11„ 17. 5. 0 a.m. Barge Ethel Everard, of London. Margate Life-boat assisted to

save vessel.,, 17. 7.20a.m. Schooner Mary Barrow, of Barrow. Eamsgate Life-boat assisted

to save vessel.„ 20. 8.30 p.m. Steam trawler Tynemouth Castle, of North Shields. Cresswell Life-

boat landed 9.„ 21. 11.20a.m. Four fishing vessels of Montrose. Montrose No. 1 Life-boat stood

by vessels.,, 21. 11.45a.m. The fishing fleet of Gourdon. Gourdon Life-boat stood by fishing

fleet.„ 21. 10.30 p.m. Steam trawler Tynemouth Castle, of North Shields. Cresswell Life-

boat landed 9.„ 22. 4.15p.m. Two fishing boats of Bembridge. Bembridge Life-boat saved boats

and rescued 4,, 23. 9.0a.m. Herring drifter Battling Jack, of Clovelly. Clovelly Life-boat . 2„ 23. 10.15 a.m. Three fishing boats of Southwold. Southwold Life-boat stood by

boats.Fishing boats Betsy and Vigilant, of Southwold. Southwold Life-

boat saved boats and rescued 6„ 23. 10.17 a.m. The fishing fleet of Newbiggin. Newbiggin Life-boat stood by

fishing fleet.„ 23. 10.45 a.m. Fishing cobles Jock, Oeoffery, Pelican, Kingfisher and Eagle, of

Scarborough. Scarborough Life-boat escorted cobles intoharbour.

„ 23. 11.20a.m. The fishing fleet of Bridlington. Bridlington Life-boat stood byfishing fleet.

,, 23. 11.45a.m. Fishing boats Dorothy, Ida and Ted, of Deal. North Deal Life-boatsaved boats and 6

,, 23. 11.53a.m. Fishing boat Allright, of Deal. Ramsgate Life-boat saved boat andrescued 2

„ 23. 12 noon. Fishing coble Doris, of Flamborough. Flamborough No. I Life-boat stood by coble.


1928.Nov. 23.

Time ofLaunching.12.14p.m.

„ 23. 12.15 p.m.

„ 24.„ 24.„ 27.„ 27.

Dec. 6.

„ 7.

„ 10-11.„ 11.„ 11.

„ 18.„ 20.

7.45 a.m.10.40 a.m.5.30 a.m.

11.15a.m.

9.30 a.m.

3.25 a.m.

8.20 a.m.6.42 a.m.1.20 p.m.

1.45 p.m.

10. 0 a.m.

6.15 a.m.10. Oa.m.

22. 7.40 a.m.

25.26.

8.30 p.m.1.16a.m.

26. 1.45 a.m.

„ 27.„ 28.

„ 30.

„ 30.

„ 30.

11.15p.m.4. 0 p.m.

11.15 a.m.

11.40a.m.

4.40 p.m.

23

11

Personsrescued from

shipwreck.Fishing boat Sparkling Sea, of Deal. Ramsgate Life-boat saved

boat and rescued 2Three fishing boats of Arbroath. Arbroath Life-boat stood by

boats.

S.S. Emile Ddmas, of La Rochelle. New Brighton No. 2 Life-boat

S.S. Chislehurst, of London. Fishguard Life-boat stood by vessel.

Motor fishing boat Our Girlie, of Port Isaac. Padstow Steam Tug

Motor fishing boats Pilot Me and Remembrance, of Whit by. Whit byNo. 2 Life-boat escorted boats into harbour.

Small boat Florrie, of Aberystwyth. Aberystwyth Life-boat savedboat and rescued

Boat of S.S. Corcrest, of London, and ketch Kate, of Gloucester.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Life-boat rescued . . . .

S.S. Celtic, of Liverpool. Ballycotton Life-boat stood by vessel.

Schooner Thursonian, of Wiek. Cromer No. 1 Life-boat .

Nine motor fishing boats of Whitby. Whitby (Motor) Life-boatescorted boats into harbour.

Motor fishing boats Remembrance and Guide Me, of Whitby.Whitby (Motor) Life-boat escorted boats into harbour.

Coble King Fisher, of Scarborough. Scarborough Life-boatescorted coble into harbour.

Steam trawler Chimaera, of Grimsby. Montrose No. 1 Life-boat .

Six fishing boats of Whitby. Whitby (Motor) Life-boat escortedboats into harbour.

S.S. Duris, of Newcastle. Waltou-on-the-Naze Life-boat savedvessel and rescued 14

Ketch Henrietta, of Kilkeel. Moelfre Life-boat landed 3.

The East Goodwin Lightvessel. Ramsgate Life-boat stood byvessel.

Schooner Orne, of Svendborg. Teesmouth Life-boat stood byvessel.

Schooner Mountblairy, of Plymouth. Moelfre Life-boat landed 4.

Motor fishing boat Diligence, of Whitby. Whitby (Motor) Life-boat escorted boat into harbour.

Motor fishing coble Dorothy, of Filey. Filey Life-boat stood bycoble.

Five motor fishing cobles of Scarborough. Scarborough Life-boatescorted cobles into harbour.

Steam trawler Elnet, of Ymuiden. Lowestoft Life-boat stood by

8

„ 31. 1.25 p.m. Schooner Jane Banks, of Fowey. Torbay Life-boat . . . . 5

Total lives rescued from shipwreck by the Life-boats in1928, in addition to which the Life-boats saved, or assistedto save, 52 vessels and boats 446

Life-boats also took 84 persons off vessels as a precau-tionary measure and either landed them or transferredthem to other vessels.

Rewards were also granted by the Institution in the sameperiods for rescuing from Shipwreck by means of Fishingand other Boats, etc 145

Total for 1928 591

THE LIFEBOAT....leaking and i dangern , driftin eightg miles fro Dungenessm A whol. e gale was...

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Transcript of THE LIFEBOAT....leaking and i dangern , driftin eightg miles fro Dungenessm A whol. e gale was...