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THE YEAR OF THE LIFEBOAT

Volume XLIII Number 449 Autumn 1974

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THELIFEBOAT

Autumn 1974

Contents Notes of the Quarter by the Editor

Burtonia; Largest Lifeboat Flotilla; Bristol and Ship Owners;Onedin Line; Support from Sport

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XLIII Annual General Meeting 201

Number 449 „ . r .Naming Ceremonies .. .. . . .. .. . . .. 206

Guernsey; Sennen Cove; Eyemouth; Sheerness; Hoylake;Stornoway

Chairman • International Lifeboat Exhibition .. .. .. . . .. 208COMMANDER F. R. H. SWANN, CBE, RNVR

Director and Secretary: Lifeboat Services 213CAPTAIN NIGEL DIXON, RN

Some Ways of Raising Money .. . . .. .. .. . . 219

150th Anniversary Commemorative Items .. .. .. . . 221

Book Reviews 222

Ship Halfpennies 222

Shoreline 223

Letters 224

Central Appeals Committee .. .. . . .. .. . . 227

Lifeboat Launches on Service .. .. .. . . .. .. 229Editor:PATRICK HOWARTH Inshore Lifeboat Launches on Service 330

Assistant Editor:JOAN DAVIES Index to Advertisers 232

COVER PICTURE

Dunbar inshore lifeboat returns toharbour after giving display on lifeboatday, July 20. She is a 16' D classinflatable lifeboat built by RFD. Innertubes fitted within the buoyancy tubesmarkedly improve air-holding over longperiods and reduce maintenance work.The photograph was taken by Allan S.Campbell.

All editorial material submitted forconsideration with a view to publicationin the journal should be addressed tothe Editor, THE LIFEBOAT, Royal NationalLife-Boat Institution, West Quay Road,Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ (TelephonePoole 71133). Photographs intended forreturn should be accompanied by astamped and addressed envelope.

All advertising enquiries should beaddressed to Dyson Advertising Services,PO Box 9, Godalming, Surrey (Tele-phone Godalming (04868) 23675).

Shoreline Organising Secretary: G. R.(Bob) Walton, 29a Castle Street,Salisbury, Wiltshire (Telephone Salis-bury 6966).

A year's subscription of four issuescosts 88p, including postage, but thosewho are entitled to receive THE LIFEBOATfree of charge will continue to do so.

The next issue of THE LIFEBOAT willappear in January and news itemsshould be sent by the end of October.

197

Backbone ofthe FishingTrade.

This was one that didn't getaway. One of a thousand million.

A thousand million of thereasons why every day and nightmen put out to sea in all weathersto earn their living.

A thousand million reasonswhy lifeboatmen are needed asmuch as they are.

We at Birds Eye would like tovoice our appreciation of thelifeboatmen. We are proud of ourlong association with them.

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NOTES OFTHE QUARTER

by the Editor

IN THE EARLY HOURS of November 30,1973, the motor vessel Burtonia sank offthe east coast of England with the lossof four lives. Three men were pickedup by another motor vessel and oneby Aldeburgh lifeboat. The Aldeburghand Lowestoft lifeboats were bothlaunched and they recovered threebodies. The Department of Trade andIndustry decided that a formal investiga-tion was called for, and the findings ofthis were published on July 31. Thecourt found that the Joss of life wascaused by the shifting of the Burtonia'scargo of lead concentrate and that thiswas contributed to by the wrongfulact or default of the owners. It wasstated specifically in the report 'that therewas never any criticism of the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution'.

The report did, however, deal at somelength with problems of search andrescue, and immediately after thefindings were made public the DTIannounced that action had already beentaken to bring home the lessons of theBurtonia incident to people responsiblefor SAR operations around the coasts.In particular they had been reminded ofthe need to up-date information aboutthe position and crews of casualties,especially when they are moving, and touse three-figure bearings instead ofcardinal points.

It was stated in the report that 'thesignificance of the co-ordinating role insearch and rescue is not universallyappreciated'. The question of whetherthe role of co-ordination was purelyadvisory or whether it ought to besupervisory in some respects wasconsidered, the conclusion reachedbeing: 'We consider that the true role ofthe Coastguard is that of giving the bestinformed advice available . . . It is not

necessary for the Coastguard to instructa particular lifeboat to launch. It wouldseem far more desirable to continue thepractice that the Coastguard shouldrequest a particular lifeboat authority tolaunch.'

Largest lifeboat flotillaIn the month of July the largest flotilla

of modern lifeboats ever assembled wasseen in Plymouth, and perhaps thelargest number of lifeboat supportersever to be found in one place at onetime enjoyed the hospitality of HerMajesty the Queen in the gardens ofBuckingham Palace.

The International Lifeboat Exhibitionat Plymouth was opened by the Duke ofKent, the RNLI's President, on July 19,and of the various ceremonies associatedwith it none was more moving that thatwhich took place on Sunday July 21,when the various lifeboats put out

The Queen and the Duke ofEdinburgh meet members of theCommittee of Managementduring the garden party for theRNLI at Buckingham Palace,July 16. Vice-Admiral SirArthur Hezlel and Lady Hezletare introduced to Her Majestyby Commander F. R. H. Swann;in background (centre), Mrand Mrs P. V. Mackinnon.

together and a wreath was laid on thewater to commemorate lifeboatmen ofall nations who had given their lives inan attempt to save others. Theexhibition itself has aroused intenseinterest, and a man of long experiencein the exhibition field described it asthe best marquee exhibition he couldremember having seen.

The number of active supporters ofthe RNLI is fortunately so large thatsadly but inevitably many had to beexcluded from the garden party atBuckingham Palace on July 16. Fromthose who had the good fortune to bepresent the Institution has receivednumerous letters stating how memorablethe occasion was. Among those whowere deeply moved, and to whom theevent had a very special significance,were Mrs Matthew Barber, Mrs WilliamBarber and Mrs Richard Stevens, allof whom had come up from St Ives inCornwall. All three were widows of men

Later the Queen and the Dukemoved among their guests onthe palace lawns: never beforehave so many lifeboatsupporters been found at oneplace at one time.

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A stained glass window dedicated to the lifeboat service was unveiled at the Church of Scotland,Crown Court, London, on April 21: it shows a pulling lifeboat going to the rescue of a steamtug and records the Institution's 150th anniversary.

photograph by courtesy of Thomson Newspapers

who lost their lives when the Stlifeboat capsized in 1939.

Ives

Bristol and Ship OwnersAnother major appeal has been

launched to enable the people of adistrict to provide their own lifeboat. Anew lifeboat of the 70' class known asCity of Bristol has already been formallynamed, and the people of Bristol and

district are being called upon to raise£150,000 to cover her cost. A number ofleading figures in the business world inBristol are combining together underthe chairmanship of Sir Tom Hood, andthe chairman of the working committee,John Hill, is himself a director of one ofthe oldest established shipbuilding firms.

From time to time people ask aboutthe support given to the RNLI by

shipping companies and shippinginterests generally. It is gratifying to beable to report that recently the Penin-sular and Oriental Steam NavigationCompany presented a cheque for£10,000 to the RNLI to mark The Yearof the Lifeboat'. Thirty-eight Greekshipping companies also responded to aspecial appeal with contributionsranging from £50 to £1,000 per company.

Onedin LineThe ship seen by television viewers in

the 'Onedin Line' has served to raise asubstantial sum for the RNLI. PhilipsElectrologica had the happy idea ofsending the ship, Charlotte Rhodes, athree-mast topsail schooner built inDenmark in 1904, round leading portsin Britain and charging a boarding feeof 20p, the proceeds being donated tothe RNLI.

Support from SportDuring the summer months many

sporting events have been staged byRNLI branches to mark 'The Year ofthe Lifeboat'. Of these one of the mostambitious was the pro-am golf tourna-ment sponsored by Associated TyreSpecialists, which was held at the NottsGolf Club, Hollinwell, on May 29.From this the RNLI received about£3,000. Nearly all the leading British golfprofessionals took part; generoussupporters of the Institution paid asmuch as £100 to compete; and a listof the other competitors read like aWho's Who in sport and show business.They included Bobby Charlton, HenryCooper and Gary Sobers. The individualwinner of the professional event,Christy O'Connor, on receiving hisaward from Raymond Baxter, spokemost warmly from his own personalknowledge of lifeboat crews in CountyGal way.

About £.3,000 was raised for the RNLI by the pro-am golf tournament atNotts Golf Club, May 29. Last team to tee off was Hugh Baiocchi andDuncan Lee (left) and Dr David Marsh and Henry Cooper (right).

A happy interlude when Princess Alexandra visited Stockport in March:arriving at the Town Hall for lunch, the Princess met the local branchcrew of lifeboat auxiliaries, some wearing their red stocking hats. Shetold them that when visiting Scotland, she had been given two of these hatsfor her children, but one had been lost; immediately, a crewman took offhis hat, offered it to Her Royal Highness, and it was gladly accepted.

photograph by courtesy of the 'Daily Express'

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ANNUAL GENERALMEETING

and presentation of awardsFESTIVAL HALL, LONDON, MAY 21

A BRIGHT, sunny morning; friends fromall parts of Britain and Ireland gatheringon the South Bank of the Thames readyfor the annual general meeting andpresentation of awards in this 150thanniversary year of the RNLI; and togive a wonderful start to the day, thepresentation in front of the Festival Hall,of a cheque for £100,000. It was thebiggest cheque Commander F. R. H.Swann, CBE, RNVR, chairman of theCommittee of Management, had everreceived for the Institution; handed tohim by Mr Roy Bailhache, chairman ofthe Jersey branch, to pay for Jersey'snew 44' Waveney lifeboat, it representeda memorable effort on the part of MrBailhache himself, the branch andguild and, indeed, of all the people ofJersey.

Following this happy prologue, themorning continued with the presentationof the annual report and accounts tothe governors of the Institution. Speak-ing on behalf of the Committee ofManagement, Commander Swann re-ported that operationally 1973 had beena very busy year, with over 2,600 servicesand a record number of lives saved(1,757); there had been many acts ofgreat gallantry and, happily, for thethird year running no lifeboatman hadlost his life on service. During thesummer 255 lifeboats of varying sizeswere operated at 196 locations.

Turning to the lifeboat fleet,Commander Swann continued:

'We are now beginning to benefit fromthe many developments of recent yearsand the accelerated boat-building pro-gramme we started after the Fraserburghdisaster. The second Arun boat went intoservice in 1973 and is a great success. Thethird boat is due to be launched shortly.Further boats of this class will be builtof grp. The Atlantic 21 ILB was alsofurther developed in 1973 and givena one-off self-righting capability. We haverecently launched our third 70' boat. Atthe end of last year we had 24 boatsbuilding, or on order, of which we expectto commission 10 this year and 10 in1975. We need to order over 40 boats inthe next few years to achieve our targetof virtually a self-righting-fleet by 1980.This is a formidable task which will costa lot of money and explains our currentappeal for funds.'

Commander Swann reported ex tensiveshore works in hand, including newhousing for the full-time crew at SpurnPoint, a dock for a 44' Waveney atFleetwood and a berth for a similar

boat at Whitby. The Headquarters hadbeen moved to rented accommodationin Poole, pending the building of the newHead Office, the site for which, and forthe Depot, had been cleared. The sheetpiling along the waterside boundaryhad made good progress and workwould soon start on the office building.42 and 44 Grosvenor Gardens had beenadvertised for sale by tender.

The national membership scheme with(at that time) 16,000 members of whomabout 12,600 were yachtsmen, wasprogressing well and making a consider-able financial contribution.

On the subject of finance, CommanderSwann reported a surplus at the end of1973 of £124,320. Revenue had increasedby about £700,000 (about £400,000 dueto legacies and special gifts and about£300,000 to branches and guilds) to£3.8m. Like everyone else, the RNLIwas being affected by inflation; re-current expenditure was up £0.4m at£2.57m and capital expenditure up£0.35m at £1.15m. Unfortunately theassets shown in the Institution's balancesheet had fallen to £3.1m compared with£3.9m for the previous year. This wasmainly due to a fall in the value of theinvestments of nearly £lm, partlybecause of the transfer of £323,000 tothe pension fund and partly because ofthe fall in the market. It now costnearly £4m a year to run the RNLI so itwas obvious that the free reserves, atjust under £lm at that time, werecompletely inadequate and a majorcause for anxiety.

In conclusion, before invitingquestions, Commander Swann said:

'It is impossible to forecast the futurewith any confidence because, like othercharities, we are affected by economiccircumstances over which we have nocontrol. All I can say is that the RNLI hasa clear idea of the kind of boats it wantsand how they should be deployed andoperated. The morale of its crews andsupporters is very high. The only anxietyis financial. We need a lot of money torun the Institution and carry out ourplans. We are doing our best to make thepublic aware of our needs and we hopethat there will be a good response to ourappeal.'

After some discussion of the dilemmaof the continuing inflation withregard to the assets of the Institution,Mr Gabriel Harrison (Committee ofManagement) congratulated Mr D. A.Acland, chairman of the finance com-mittee, on doing what appeared to be a

very sensible medium term operation,and the report and accounts wereadopted nem. con.

The president, HRH the Duke ofKent, was re-elected unanimously, aswere the vice-presidents.

'Mrs B. Birch (Camberley): Why dowe only have the Archbishop of Canter-bury?

The Chairman: Because the Arch-bishop of Canterbury in 1824 was one ofthe prime movers in founding the RNLI,so he has been ex officio ever since.'

The Duke of Northumberland waselected as treasurer and Mr DavidAcland as deputy treasurer, bothunanimously. The Committee ofManagement was elected and theauditors, Price Waterhouse and Co.,were thanked by the chairman for alltheir help and were re-appointed.

'Mr Needham: I should just like to sayat this time thank you to the staff ofHead Office who carried on during themove to Poole, keeping things going, inmy opinion, so well. . . .

The Chairman: Thank you very much,Mr Needham. The staff had a very busytime with this move on top of the 150th

A cheque for £.100,000, the biggest he hadever had received for the RNLI, was handedto Commander Swann by Mr Roy Bailhache,chairman of the Jersey branch: it will pay forJersey's new 44' Waveney lifeboat.

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Anniversary and I think that we are verymuch in their debt.'

Mr N. Crumble (Orpington) thenproposed a resolution from the floor,placing on record in this anniversaryyear of the RNLI, the thanks of thegovernors assembled to all officers,committee members, staff", voluntaryworkers and, most particularly, thelifeboat crews, for their devotion andcombined efforts which made possiblethe lifeboat service; the resolution wasseconded and carried unanimously.

* * *

Opening the afternoon session,Commander Swann said:

'This morning at a meeting of thegovernors of the Institution I presentedthe Institution's annual report andaccounts for last year. I did so withsatisfaction and pride, for I felt that inthe 150th year of its existence the RNLIcontinued with marked success to carryout the intentions of its founder . . .

'Sir William Hillary was a man ofvision and foresight, and one of the mostremarkable things about the pamphletwhich he published in 1823 was that itprovided in many respects a blueprintfor the RNLI as it is organised today . . .Hillary emphasized the importance oflocal committees established to conducttheir own affairs. In a world of increasingcentralisation, it is one of the greatstrengths of the RNLI that so muchcontrol is exercised locally . ..

'Our founder also stressed the impor-tance of volunteers. The voluntarysystem has served the Institution well. Ithas been maintained through two worldwars and through numerous financialcrises. It remains the essence of the life-boat service today.

'In the technical field Hillary was also afar-seeing man and as early as 1824 hepublished a plan for the building ofsteam lifeboats. The continuing advanceswe have made and are continuing to makewould, I am sure, have gladdened hisheart, and he would have found such newdevelopments as the Arun lifeboat or the

fast Atlantic inshore lifeboat a thrillingoutcome of his own inspired efforts.

'It was therefore with a feeling that theRNLI as a whole had just cause tocelebrate 150 years of voluntary serviceto people of all nations that we embarkedon the celebrations connected with "TheYear of the Lifeboat" . .'

The following medals for gallantry,awarded for services in 1973, were thenpresented by Commander Swann:

SILVER MEDALCoxswain John King, Bridling km

On April 2, Bridlington lifeboatWilliam Henry and Mary King rescuedthe crew of five of the MFV White Knight,which was dragging her anchor offHornsea in storm force north-north-easterly winds. Despite the dangers ingoing alongside in the seas prevailing,by careful manoeuvring the men weresafely transferred to the lifeboat.

Coxswain Michael Berry, St HelierOn September 18, St Helier lifeboat

Elizabeth Rippon rescued the crew ofsix of the yacht Bacchus in an area ofnotoriously dangerous rocky outcrops.There was a west-south-westerly gale anda rough sea with heavy swell. The life-boat grounded four times before clear-ing the submerged rocks and reachingthe casualty.

BRONZE MEDALCoxswain Michael Mackay, Islay (barto bronze medal)

On March 27, lifeboat Mabel MarionThompson on temporary duty at Islay,rescued the captain and crew of theNorwegian tanker Olga aground atBhride Island in a southerly gale andrough sea. Olga's crew climbed on to alifecraft and were hauled across 90' ofrough water.

Medallists all, in order of presentation. In the foreground are Coxswain John King, of Bridlington,and Coxswain Michael Berry, of St Helier, Jersey, both of whom were awarded the silver medalfor gallantry.

Helmsman John Grove, Horton and PortEynon

On July 2, Horton and Port EynonILB rescued three people attemptingto swim to the mainland at RhossiliPoint against a very strong flood tide.One of the casualties, a woman, had tobe given artificial respiration and Helms-man Grove negotiated a hazardousrocky gully to land her quickly.

Helmsman Benjamin Pearson,Crew Member Alexander Russell, NorthBerwick

On July 26, North Berwick ILBrescued a man who was in difficultiessome 20' from the rocks at East Bay,in spite of a heavy 15' swell and adangerous backwash.

Helmsman Keith Willacy, MorecambeOn August 4, Morecambe ILB

rescued two people from a sandbanknear the Western Valleys wreck. With agale force south-westerly wind blowingagainst the ebb tide in an area ofdangerous surf, conditions wereextremely hazardous.

Coxswain William Holmes, AngleOn August 5, Angle lifeboat stood by

the oil tanker Dona Marika which hadgone aground at Wooltack Point.Although the tanker's crew eventuallygot ashore over the rocks, the lifeboathad persistently tried to rescue them,going alongside, despite a rise and fall ofabout 20', seven times.

Helmsman Dennis Faro, EastneyOn August 5, Eastney ILB rescued

the crew of two of the yacht Jo of Rydethree miles south south west of EastneyPoint in gale force winds. The bow ofthe ILB was put alongside the yacht invery dangerous conditions.

Coxswain John Fox, Shoreham Harbour(bar to bronze medal)

On August 5, Shoreham Harbourlifeboat Dorothy and Philip Constantsaved the yacht A Ibin Ballad and hercrew of three. A tow line was success-fully passed, it being considered toodangerous to take off the exhaustedcrew. There was a south-south-westerlygale with 25' waves breaking over theyacht.

Helmsman Donald Jones, RhylOn August 7, Rhyl ILB rescued two

boys clinging to a perch between Rhyland Prestatyn. Helmsman Jones had toput the bow of the ILB against theperch in a westerly gale and throughwaves 6-8' from trough to crest.

Assistant Mechanic Keith Richardson,Crew Member Jack Barrett, Walton andFrinton

On August 15, Walton and Frintonlifeboat Edian Courtauld rescued fivepeople from a speedboat awash on PyeSands in a moderate to fresh easterlywind and a choppy sea. As the lifeboat

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'From the time that lady sold her flag orarranged her coffee morning to raise funds—that was when this rescue started . . .':Coxswain Derek Scott of The Mumbles movedthe resolution of appreciation to lifeboat crewsand voluntary workers.

had grounded a little over one cablefrom the casualty, Assistant MechanicRichardson and Crew Member Barrettvolunteered to wade and swim in verydangerous waters to re-assure and assistthe people on board the speedboat, whowere up to their waists in water, untilthe lifeboat refloated.

Acting Coxswain Thomas Rowley,Scarborough

On September 29, Scarborough life-boat J. G. Graves of Sheffield saved theex-HDML Eun Mara an Tar andrescued her crew of four in a stormforce north-north-westerly wind and avery rough sea. A tow line was passedsuccessfully, it being thought too danger-ous to take the crew off. The tow lineparted three times before reachingharbour.

Coxswain Arthur Farrington, SeahamOn November 11, Seaham lifeboat

The Will and Fanny Kirby rescued 18anglers cut off on the drum head ofNorth Pier, which was being swept byheavy seas. Although frequently thrownclear by the surge of confused seas andswell, the lifeboat was taken into the'corner' formed where the drum headjoins the main pier while the anglers,two or three at a time, jumped into thelifeboat. Coxswain Farrington requiredsix stitches to a head injury sustainedduring this service. He also broke awrist.

Doctor Paul Barclay, MC, TD, CromerOn November 15, medical help was

needed for an injured crew memberaboard the trawler Boston Jaguar. Asthere was no other local doctor he couldask to go, Dr Barclay, the stationhonorary secretary, went himself in thelifeboat The Good Hope, on temporaryduty at Cromer. There was a strong galeforce north-westerly wind and a veryrough sea. Although suffering fromsevere seasickness, he boarded the

tanker in very dangerous conditions toattend the injured seaman.

Coxswain Albert Brown, WorkingtonOn January 27, the lifeboat City of

Edinburgh on temporary duty atWorkington rescued the crew of sevenof the fishing vessel Kia-Ora in a stormforce south-south-easterly wind and avery rough sea. Kia-Ora was draggingher anchor and out of control and thelifeboat was held alongside while all thecrew were taken off.

After the presentation of awards forgallantry, the following resolution wasmoved by Coxswain Derek Scott, BEM(The Mumbles):

'That this meeting fully recognising theimportant services of the Royal NationalLife-boat Institution in its national workof lifesaving, desires to record its heartyappreciation of the gallantry of thecoxswain and crews of the Institution'slifeboats, and its deep obligation to thelocal committees, honorary secretariesand honorary treasurers of all stationbranches; to all other voluntary com-mittees and supporters and to thehonorary officers and thousands ofvoluntary members of the financialbranches and the ladies' lifeboat guildsin the work of raising funds to maintainthe service.'

In moving this resolution, Mr Scott said:

'One hundred and fifty years ago whenour founder member, Sir WilliamHillary, laid down the basis of what wasto become the oldest national sea-rescueservice in the world, its principal aim wasquite clear, namely, the preservation oflife from shipwreck at sea. Over the lastcentury and a half men have died inupholding that tradition, but, ladies andgentlemen, the one thing that has neverchanged in all that time has been thehand in need of help in the water.'

Mr Scott looked at the lifeboatservice through a lifetime's experiencein his own village of Mumbles. Inparticular he remembered the majesticrecord of Coxswain William Gammon,and the loss of the Mumbles lifeboat,with Coxswain Gammon and all hiscrew, when, in 1947, they were trying torescue the crew of a ship called Santambain hurricane force winds:

'The blow to our little community wasabsolutely shattering, but like other life-boat stations that had suffered such atragedy, I do not believe the thought evercrossed our minds that there would neverbe another Mumbles lifeboat. It seemed sonatural for us to form a new crew asquickly as possible, because it seemed tous that for a village to lose its lifeboatwas like losing its identity.'

Coming up to the present day Mr Scottsaid:

'Over the years this Institution of ourshas had to change, not in its purpose, butas regards its ideas to keep abreast ofmodern times. We have more modern

boats at present which are faster thanpreviously. Some of them are slightlybigger and they are far better equippedand we also have, as most of you haveseen outside, a fleet of inshore rescueboats. . . .

'The crews have also changed. Nolonger do we have an abundance ofinshore fishermen to call on, but in manyboats such as my own you will find agreat cross-section of crews. They comefrom all walks of life. I have, for instance,a bricklayer, a draughtsman, a painterand decorator, and a headmaster of aschool, to name just a few. I find this is agreat advantage because they apply theirindividual talents to the handling ofdifferent types of equipment that wecarry in these boats today. It is not allheroism in lifeboats. It is hard work,training and a state of readiness thatmakes a good lifeboat crew. However, allthis can become a little tedious and it issometimes broken by the lighter-heartedmoments that you come across from timeto time.

'I remember one beautiful occasionwhen I was asked by the Coastguardrepeatedly, "What is your position?" Wewere being thrown around really badlyat the time. He said it again and before Ihad a chance to answer him the mechaniclooked up and he said: "I don't knowwhat his position is, but ours is bloodydesperate!" . . .

'. . . I have always believed that acoxswain is only as good as his crew.When you are setting off in the blacknessof night into gales force 9, into Godonly knows what, the feeling of unitybetween a lifeboat crew is inexplicableand no matter how frightened you feelyou know that the crew of the ship whoare waiting for you are a great dealmore frightened than that. Then, maybeafter hours of battling through heavyseas and being beaten to death you arriveand you are wet and cold and thinking,"What on earth am I doing here?" andthen you see the casualty which can be aa terrifying situation where life is hangingby a thread, but this is the moment thatwe have all been prepared for. From thetime that lady sold her flag or arrangedher coffee morning to raise funds—thatwas when this rescue started, not when themaroons were fired. Anybody who worksfor or supports this Institution in someway is responsible for the preservation oflife at sea. If you could share with meand see the look on a survivor's face atthe moment of rescue, and share thatmarvellous feeling with the lifeboatmenwhen they are coming home in the boatand the job has been done, then you wouldall know that this last 150 years has beenmore than worthwhile.'

Since the last AGM the Committeeof Management has awarded threehonorary life governorships and 12gold badges to honorary workers forlong and distinguished service. Pre-sentations were made at the FestivalHall by Commander Swann to all butMr Knox, Mrs Martin and Mrs Wright,who were unfortunately unable to bethere:

HONORARY LIFE GOVERNORMr R. N. CrumbieChairman of Orpington and District

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Mr R. N. Crumbie, Lady Olwen Carey Mr H. Biggs,Orpington and CAC. Evans, DBE, South Broadstairs.

Caernarvonshire.

MissL. Dally, Barry. Mrs A. Duttson,Fareham.

Mrs A. Hamerton,Attleborough.

Mr D. C. Hill, TD,Nottingham andDistrict.

Mrs C. W. Keeble,Sidcup.

branch since 1948: chairman CentralAppeals Committee since 1970.

A most enthusiastic worker for theInstitution, Mr Crumbie is prepared togive his time and energy to help theservice in any possible way. In additionto being the chairman of a very success-ful branch, he has been chairman of theCentral Appeals Committee, responsiblefor fund-raising activities on a nationalscale, since its formation.

Lady Olwen Carey Evans, DBEPresident and chairman of SouthCaernarvonshire guild since 1941.

Lady Olwen has been an official of amost active and productive guild for thepast 33 years. Her leadership has beenan inspiration to everyone.

Mr W. R. Knox, CBE MM JPHonorary secretary of Portrush stationbranch from 1938 to 1973 (except forwar years).

Mr Knox's record of service, spanninga period of over 40 years, is knownthroughout Northern Ireland. In hiscapacity as a vice-president of theRoyal British Legion, he had someinfluence on their decision to providea new lifeboat for the Institution in 1972.

GOLD BADGE

Mr H. BiggsHonorary secretary of Broadstairs branchsince 1952; honorary collector 1950 to1952.

A tireless worker throughout his 23years with the Broadstairs branch, MrBiggs has been largely responsible for itsfinancial success. He was instrumentalin organising a new ladies' lifeboatguild in Broadstairs, and has also under-taken many speaking engagements onbahalf of the institution.

Miss L. DallyHonorary secretary of Barry guild from

Mrs J. Macpherson, Mrs P. H. Megson,Oban. Romiley.

1942 to 1959; chairman since 1959.Miss Dally has been the mainstay of

the Barry ladies' guild for the past 32years. She is a most enthusiastic andloyal worker.

Mrs A. DuttsonJoint honorary secretary of Farehambranch from 1947 to 1960; honorarysecretary since 1960.

Mrs Duttson has worked enthusiastic-ally for the lifeboat service for over 26years. She organises the annual collec-tion throughout the whole of the verylarge Fareham Urban District where,through her efforts, the financial returnhas risen steadily each year.

Mrs A. HamertonHonorary secretary of Attleboroughbranch from 1950 to 1954 and since 1957.

Mrs Hamerton has given many yearsof outstanding service to the RNLI. Sheis constantly on the lookout for fund-raising ideas and the revenue of herbranch has maintained a steady rise dueto her untiring energy.

Mr D. C. Hill, TDHonorary secretary of Nottingham andDistrict branch since 1950.

Since 1950 Mr Hill has workedsteadfastly towards the maintenance of asuccessful financial branch. His energyhas been instrumental in establishing acontinuing high income which in latteryears has surpassed £3,000, and hisinfluence has spread throughout thecounty of Nottinghamshire.

Mrs C. W. KeebleAssistant LBD organiser (Epsom) 1948;LBD organiser (Bromley) 1950; assistanthonorary secretary of Sidcup branchfrom 1960 to 1966; honorary secretarysince 1966.

Devoting considerable time andenergy to the lifeboat service, MrsKeeble has supported the RNLI invarious capacities for 25 years and has

Lady Norton. MBE, MrsJ.C.F.Prideaux-CentralLondon. Brune, Padstow.

helped the Sidcup revenue to riseappreciably.

Mrs J. MacphersonHonorary secretary of Oban guild since1949.

Mrs Macpherson has been honorarysecretary of Oban for almost 25 years.Although often handicapped by illness,she has given her time most unselfishly.

Mrs D. R. MartinHonorary secretary of Renfrew guildfrom 1950 to 1967; president since 1967.

An official for the past 23 years, MrsMartin's enthusiasm and leadership arevery well reflected in the guild'sfinancial return. She is also a mostgenerous supporter of the Institution ina great many ways.

Mrs P. H. MegsonHonorary secretary of Romiley guildfrom 1953 to 1972; assistant honorarysecretary since 1972.

Mrs Megson has been a member ofthe guild since it was formed by hermother, Mrs W. J. Kinsey, in 1927. Shehas been an outstanding worker forover 46 years and the Institution owes agreat debt to her family for theirinvaluable support.

Lady Norton, MBEMember of Central London women'scommittee from 1957 to 1961; chairmansince 1962.

Lady Norton's very hard work forthe service through the Central Londonwomen's committee, and enthusiasticchairing of their innumerable successfulfund-raising events, is amply reflected inthe annual revenue figures: they havealmost doubled since 1968.

Mrs J. C. F. Prideaux-BrunePresident of Padstow guild for more thana quarter of a century.

President of the Padstow guild for

204

over 25 years, Mrs J. C. F. Prideaux-Brune has devoted considerable timeand energy in support of the lifeboatservice.

Mrs E. WrightHonorary secretary of Kelty guild since1947.

Mrs Wright has been a most energeticand industrious honorary secretary forthe past 26 years. She has put great

personal effort into the office which isreflected in the steadily increasingrevenue from her area.

The meeting ended with a vote ofthanks to Derek Scott moved byCommander D. H. F. Armstrong, DSCRD RNR, the immediate Past Master ofthe Honourable Company of MasterMariners.

1973 ACCOUNTS SUMMARY

.^thousands

InspectorateCrews and

DependentsPensions

Lifeboats andInshore Lifeboats

Station andRunning

Income

LegaciesSubscriptions/DonationsMiscellaneousRestricted Funds

Expenditure

OperationalTechnicalAdministration/Fund RaisingCapital

Net Surplus

£000's1,7001,515

166479

3,860

£000's1,075

542962

1,157

3,736

124

How expenditure wasapportioned in 1973.

EOOOs4,000

The pie chart on the left depicts theInstitution's expenditure for the year1973. The diagram has been apportionedinto four main divisions, to enable acomparison of the volume of expenditurebetween capital, operational, technicaland administration items. Each maindivision, where applicable, has beenfurther sub-divided to give a fullerinterpretation of expenditure.

The histogram below reveals theincreasing cost of the lifeboat serviceover the past ten years. Each columnshows the four main areas of expenditureand a surplus or deficit for the year,whichever applies.

Ten years at a glance.

KEY

AREAS OFEXPENDITURE

Technical

Administration

Capital

Operational 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973

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NamingCeremonies'May God bless them andall who sail in them . . .'

Sir William Arnold, Guernsey's new 52' Arun lifeboat,was named by HRH the Duchess of Kent at St PeterPort on May 23; it was the first visit made by theDuchess to Guernsey—on a day of sun and showersshe was warmly welcomed by the islanders. Arrivingfor the naming ceremony, the Duchess was met by thecrew and local branch officials and was presented with abouquet and souvenir programme by daughters of crewmembers. Following the handing over of the boat to theGuernsey branch by Commander F. R. H. Swann, CBE,RNVR, chairman of the RNLI, and a short service ofdedication, the Duchess brought greetings to the stationfrom her husband, President of the RNLI; in payingtribute to the lifeboat people of the island, specialmention was made to the work of the Arun appealcommittee which has raised over £55,000 towards thecost of the new boat. After the naming ceremony, ascrew members let off maroons from the shore, CoxswainJohn Petit turned the Arun on her axis, a most impressivedemonstration of her manoeuvrability, bringing her bowon to the quay for the National Anthem.

Next morning the Duchess of Kent was taken out inSir William Arnold (left) and clearly enjoyed everyminute of her trip.

•

After opening the Lifeboat Exhib-ition at Plymouth on July 19,HRH the Duke of Kent flew byhelicopter to Sennen Cove, Conwall,to name Diana White, Semen's new37' 6" Rather lifeboat. Nigel WaringtonSmyth, OBE, a vice-president of theRNLI, delivered the boat to the careof the Sennen Cove branch, and she wasaccepted by the honorary secretary,Captain W. B. Harvey. The namingceremony over, and before taking teaand meeting the lifeboat people ofSennen, the Duke accepted an im-promptu offer of a trip in the lifeboat;he went to Lands End, steering some ofthe course himself. About an hour afterthe Duke finally left by helicopter, thetreacherous Cornish sea mist crept in,trapping in Sennen Cove the memoryof a splendid royal occasion.photograph by courtesy of

H. G. Welby

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Members of the crew of the new Eyemouth, Berwick-shire, 44' Waveney lifeboat, named Eric Seal inmemory of the late Sir Eric Seal, KBE, CB, a formervice-president of the RNLI and chairman of the CivilService and Post Office Lifeboat Fund; she is the 36thlifeboat provided by this fund. The ceremony wasperformed on August 3 by Lady Seal, whose son, theReverend Philip Seal, took part in the service ofdedication. (Below) Jeanette Dougal, daughter of thecoxswain, presented a bouquet to Lady Seal.

The new Sheerness, Isle ofSheppey, 44' Waveney lifeboat Helen Turnbull was namedon May 18 by Mrs R. D. Leigh-Pemberton, wife of the vice Lord Lieutenant of Kent.A legacy from the estate of James Bissell Turnbull, together with donations from MedwayLions Club and Medway lifeboat appeal, defrayed the cost of this lifeboat. Admiral SirEdmund Irving, KBE, CB, a vice-president of the RNLI, delivered the boat to the careof Sheerness branch, on whose behalf she was accepted by honorary secretary CaptainDavid Gibbons. photograph by courtesy of J. P. Morris

(Above) After her naming ceremony atShoreham on Thursday, May 2, by LadyEgremont, president of the ladies' lifeboatguilds, Mary Gabriel, 37' 6" Rather Class,was taken to her station, Hoylake, inCheshire. A service of dedication was heldthere on June 20, when the lifeboat crew madetheir own presentation, of a silver salver, toMajor Osman Gabriel.

On May 29 Stornoway's new 48' 6" Solentlifeboat (left) was named Hugh WilliamViscount Gough in memory of the late LordCough, a regular fishing visitor to the island,by his widow, the Viscountess Gough. Thelifeboat was provided by a gift from theViscountess and her son, the present ViscountGough. W. F. G. Lord, BL, a member of theCommittee of Management and vice-chairman of the Executive Committee of theScottish Lifeboat Council, delivered the boatto the care of the St or noway branch, onbehalf of whom she was accepted by honorarysecretary Captain A. Mackay.

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Plymouth bound: Fleet often international lifeboats in company with HMS Ajax off Portland. photograph by courtesy of HMS Osprey,Portland.

INTERNATIONAL LIFEBOATEXHIBITION

Plymouth, July ig-August 17: For a month the R.N.L.I, wasat home to the world

PLYMOUTH, JULY 19. A brilliant day withthe sun beating down on a cluster ofwhite marquees in West Hoe Park, closeby the sea; an atmosphere of cheerfulexpectancy; flags flying; the RoyalMarine Band breaking into the gaiety of'Celebration'. Then 'The Year of theLifeboat' reached its climax as, at noon,HRH the Duke of Kent, President ofthe RNLI, accompanied by the LordMayor of Plymouth, Councillor F.Johnson, disembarked from Plymouth'snew 44' Waveney lifeboat at the RoyalWestern Yacht Club of England andwalked up through cheering crowds tojoin the guests assembled for theopening ceremony of the first-everInternational Lifeboat Exhibition. TheDuke had already met British and over-seas lifeboat officials and crews inMillbay Docks; there he had embarkedin Plymouth's new boat, Thomas Fore-head and Mary Rowse II, and he hadbeen escorted into Plymouth Sound bythe whole fleet of 11 visiting lifeboats,dressed overall, with Plymouth's 18'McLachlan and an Atlantic 21 as well.

Very fittingly, the opening ceremonyincluded the presentation of a bronze

medal for gallantry to Coxswain JohnDare of Plymouth for a service inappalling weather last January,described on page 213. The Dukewelcomed the representatives and crewsof overseas lifeboat services and thankedthe citizens of Plymouth for all thesupport they had given and, declaringthe exhibition open, he said:

'I hope the exhibition, which lasts for

four weeks, and is accompanied by a greatvariety of other events mostly of amarine flavour, will be visited by manythousands of our own citizens, by peoplefrom overseas, by the young and by theold. Apart from the valuable revenue thiswill bring to the Institution, I think it isimportant that the achievements andcapability of the lifeboat service shouldbe known as widely as possible—particularly of course to anybody whouses the sea in any way, whether for

Going aboard Thomas Fore-head and Mary Rowse II inMillbay Docks, the Duke ofKent met Captain T. G.Hornsby (left), chairmanPlymouth branch, RaySainsbury, honorary secre-tary, and Coxswain JohnDare.

photograph by courtesy of'Western Morning News'

208

business, sport or recreation. To all ofthem the exhibition will, I believe, conveya message of hope for humanity andbelief in the highest ideals of selflessservice to others.'

The tour of the exhibition whichfollowed took rather longer than hadbeen expected, such great interest didthe Duke take in the stands. Then, afterattending a reception in the entrancehall, he left to lunch with the LordMayor in his Parlour before flying byhelicopter to perform the namingceremony of Sennen Cove's new boat,Diana White.

By now the doors had been thrownwide and the public was flowing in toenjoy all that had been prepared forthem. There were stands depicting everyaspect of the RNLI's history andorganisation; stands showing somethingof the lifeboat services of other lands, inparticular the USA, the Netherlands,France, the Federal Republic of WestGermany and Canada; stands displayingthe work of other bodies concernedwith coastal waters and the saving oflife at sea, the Royal Navy, Royal AirForce, HM Coastguard and TrinityHouse; and finally exhibits from anumber of boatbuilders and manu-facturers who supply equipment to theRNLI.

Two over-riding impressions remain:the closeness of the exhibition to thesea, and its vitality. There was too muchto be contained within the canvas wallsof the main site marquees; it over-flowed on to The Hoe, into the Sound,into the docks. It touched reality at somany points; an ILB had picked up acanoeist who was in trouble at themouth of Millbay Docks, just as theDuke of Kent was embarking in ThomasForehead and Mary Rowse II; the firstrescue demonstration off The Hoe,planned for Saturday afternoon, had tobe cancelled because, just as it shouldhave started, the maroons went off andlifeboat, helicopter and Atlantic 21 (inPlymouth for these demonstrations)were away in earnest to search for twoboys overdue from a fishing expedition.Ragni Berg, the smaller Norwegian life-boat, had even stood by a Dutch yachtin trouble off Esbjerg on her passagefrom Norway.

Before the curtain had risen atPlymouth, there had been a prologueat Poole when, for the first time, theRNLI welcomed visitors from overseasto its new Headquarters. The six foreignlifeboats on passage to take part in thePlymouth exhibition were met at PooleBar on Sunday afternoon, July 14,by five British lifeboats (including thepresent and future Poole boats) andescorted up harbour to moor, threeabreast at the quay. It was a majesticprocession. Poole Harbour was in oneof her most dramatic moods: the sunshinging from among dark clouds: bluestretches of sky, lively green water, andthe Purbeck hills in the background.Through yachts and pleasure boats theyglided, in stately line astern, the visiting

A welcome for the Duke from thecrowds as he walked up to theexhibition site with the Lord Mayorof Plymouth, Councillor F.Johnson(right) and Captain Nigel Dixon,Director RNLI. . . .photograph by courtesy of

'Western Morning News'

. . . and (right) a welcome fromCommander Peter Sturdee, OBERN, exhibition co-ordinator.

(Below) A royal contribution to thelifeboat service.

lifeboats predominantly white, theBritish dark blue and orange, to come torest quietly alongside a quay crowdedwith spectators. The Mayor and Sheriffof Poole, with the Chairman, Directorand other RNLI officials, were aboardthe leading British lifeboat, the new 70'Clyde City of Bristol.

The visitors were welcomed by theMayor to a vin d'honneur aboardMV Bournemouth Queen that eveningand the next afternoon were taken for acoach run round Dorset.

A gale blew up that Sunday night, butwind and rain did not deter a steadystream of people from taking this uniqueopportunity of seeing round ten of themost modern, most splendid lifeboats ofthe world. From Germany there was the26.6 m rescue cruiser with daughter

boat, Arwed Emminghaus and AlteLiebe; from France, the 15.5 m 'allseasons' lifeboat Patron Emil Guyot;from Norway, the 80' cruiser type life-boat R.S. Platou and the 45' patrol boatRagni Berg; from Poland was a 21.09 mrescue cruiser Monsun, and from Swedenthe 78' patrolling steel lifeboat, SigurdGolje. Great Britain was represented byfour of her newest boats, all on trialsbefore going to station: City of Bristol,the 70' Clyde trawler-type lifeboat to bestationed off Clovelly; Civil Serviceand Post Office Fund No. 37, the thirdArun, 54' with rounded transom;Rotary Service, the prototype of the50' steel Thames class; and AugustineCourtauld, the 44' Waveney class life-boat which will be stationed at Poole.The fifth RNLI lifeboat on show atPlymouth, /. Reginald Corah, 37' 6"Rother, did not join the main fleet forthe passage to Plymouth.

On Tuesday morning, July 16, thefleet, under the orders of CommanderPeter Gladwin, set sail for Plymouth.The wind had moderated to force 5-6,but the gales of the previous day hadleft behind seas turbulent enough forthese boats, many of them only recentlylaunched, to enjoy impromptu trials,and it was an unparalleled opportunityfor their crews to see the performance of'the other man's boat'.

Round St Albans Head—and pretty

209

t

. i

• •

Moored alongside Poole Quay, on passage toPlymouth: (left to right) City of Bristol(70-003), Monsun (Poland) and RotaryService (50-001).

photograph by courtesy of J. P. Morris

(Below) Berthed in Millbay Docks: (left toright) Arwed Emminghaus (Federal Republicof Germany), Sigurd Golje (Sweden), City ofBristol and R. S. Platou (Norway).

tunity to welcome aboard members ofBrixham Rotary Club. After a shorttrip round the outer harbour to have acloser look at the foreign lifeboats, theRotarians entertained the crew to dinnerat the Northcliffe Hotel.

With the wind off the land, the seawas quiet for the last leg of the passage.Once again the boats sailed at their ownspeeds—anything from 10 to 24 knots—to a position off Gara Point. Theywere all there in good time to take uptheir formation again, ready to ren-dezvous with HMS Walkerton for thefinal run in to Plymouth. It would be ahard man who did not appreciate thegrandeur of that gentle, dignified fleetsailing through waters steeped inhistory to make its own quiet mark onthe passage of time. Thomas Foreheadand Mary Rowse II and the two ILBs allcame out to greet them and, soon afterthey reached their berth in MillbayDocks, they were followed in by threeUS Coast Guard cutters, Duane, Chaseand Ingham, which were to stay inPlymouth for a few days, representingthe United States at the opening of theexhibition.

The overseas lifeboats stayed inPlymouth until the beginning of thefollowing week; the British boatsthroughout the four weeks of the

rough it was—then on towards a positiontwo miles east of the Shambles Light-vessel where the fleet took up a forma-tion in two columns behind the flagshipCity of Bristol, ready for a rendezvouswith HMS Ajax at 1300.

Breaking formation again, the life-boats surged over and through thesparkling, white-topped waves roundPortland Bill with a wild, joyous gaietyand set course for the long haul acrossLyme Bay. With Arun 54-03 and ArwedEmminghaus at their head, the high-speed boats had soon romped over thehorizon, while the rear was brought upby the more stately Monsun in companywith City of Bristol.

All the boats reached Brixham by1900, where Torbay lifeboat crew had awelcome waiting. Not only did theyarrange a party at Brixham YachtClub in the evening, but they were theresoon after 0600 next morning to fetchthe crews from their hotels and ferrythem out to the boats. For the crew ofRotary Service, to which the RotaryClubs of Britain and Ireland havecontributed, there had been the oppor-

The fleet approaching Plymouth, HMS Walkerton at its head: (left to right) Patron Emil Guyot (France), Arwed Emminghaus, Sigurd Golje,Monsun, City of Bristol and R. S. Platou.

210

exhibition. They were a constant sourceof interest, their crews showing visitorsround and answering innumerablequestions as the most was made of thechance to discover something about allthe technical detail that goes into amodern offshore lifeboat. The six boatsfrom France, Germany, the Netherlands,Norway and Sweden will be more fullyillustrated and described in our winterissue.

So, by Wednesday evening, the life-boats had arrived. By Thursday eveningthe delegates and their wives from over-seas were there, too. They came fromAustralia, Belgium, Canada, Chile,Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,India, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland,Sweden and the USA to join the lifeboatservice of Britain and Ireland in thecelebration of its 150th anniversary.

On Friday evening, the RNLI enter-

tained the foreign delegates, theirwives and the lifeboat crews to dinner.Proposing the toast of the RoyalNational Life-boat Institution, Com-mander Ch. van de Zweep, RNN,representing the Netherlands lifeboatsocieties, said that, although the worldwas indebted to many countries in thedevelopment of lifeboat design, nonehad contributed more than Britain,because she had had to find answers tothe many problems posed by her veryvaried coastline.

Saturday was another full day. Theyachtsmen who had assembled for theRNLI rally set off from the RoyalWestern Yacht Club for a race roundEddystone Lighthouse and East RuttsBuoy. Thirty-five boats started in threeclasses, and the winners were:

Division 1Class A: 1, Double O Too (R. L. Hay).Class B: 1, Duchess (J. Burton).

Division 21, Squirrel! (Cdr E. McK.ee).

The prizes were later presented at aSeafarers' Evening in the Guildhall.Meanwhile, after an informal meetingin the morning, the delegates, theirwives and the crews were invited by theLord Mayor and Lady Mayoress to areception at noon at the Council House.

The last formal event was an open-airinterdenominational service of thanks-

Coxswain John Dare read the les-son at the service of thanksgivingand dedication.

At informal gathering of delegates,Mr Mikko Mannio, Finland, pre-sents cut-glass bowl and flag toCommander Swann. On table, scrollprepared by French delegation onbehalf of many of the world'slifeboat services, and 100-year-oldcopper, candle-lit lamp fromDenmark. Germany, Norway andPoland presented medals; Swedena picture; and presentations to bemade later this year were an-nounced by othet countries.photograph by courtesy of

'Western Morning News'

giving and dedicatioc for the work of theRNLI and of the lifeboat services of allnations at Princess Royal Pier, MillbayDocks, on Sunday morning, at whichthe lesson was read by Coxswain Dare.As it ended, those present embarked inthe lifeboats and set out to sea for a shortwreath-laying ceremony in memory oflifeboatmen of all nations. CommanderF. R. H. Swann, CBE, RNVR, chairman ofthe Committee of Management, was onboard City of Bristol, from which thewreath was laid. The other lifeboatsand some of the yachts followed herout to sea and took station astern of her.From the more distant boats it was notpossible to hear all the service, but someparts rang across the water: the lastpost and reveille, and, startlingly clear,the words:

'Neither death, nor life, nor angels, norprincipalities, nor powers, nor thingspresent, nor things to come, nor height,nor depth, nor any other creature, shallbe able to separate us from the love ofGod, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.'All this time, and until August 17,

visitors continued to enjoy theexhibition, which was full of things tosee and things to do. The central featureof the show, on the grass between thetwo tents, were more boats: the Whitbylifeboat, Robert and Ellen Robson, builtin 1918 and one of the only two pulling

RNLI lifeboats still in existence; TheElliott Gill, one of the Liverpool life-boats, displayed on her own carriage;an Atlantic 21 and a 16' inflatable ILB.The old boats evoked both interest andaffection, but it has to be admitted that,for children, the great joy was a tractorclose by the boats; two or three of themcould be found 'driving' it at any timeof the day.

Coming down in size, there was awealth of models to be seen, both on theBritish and overseas stands; even amodel tractor and wheel carriage, heli-copters (RN), air-sea rescue craft(Fairey Marine) and a model of abreeches buoy rescue (Holland).Thirteen models illustrated British life-boat development, from the 'Original*and early pulling and sailing boats likethe Norfolk and Suffolk, right up to theThames and the first Clyde.

There was a beautifully-made modelof an Atlantic 21 on the stand showingILB development. This was anotherfavourite spot for children as the standincluded two Atlantic 21 consoles onwhich they could sit, investigate thecontrols—and let imagination have fullplay ('You can go out first.' 'No needfor you to come, there's only one wreck.''Yes, I'm coming, too—there're twoships out there ' And off they went tosea, two would-be coxswains in com-mand of their boats).

Continuing round the show the visitorcould study a mock-up of an Arunwheelhouse, complete with instruments,chart and log. Then on to the designsection, where there was a workingmodel test tank with a lifeboat beingsubjected to simulated seas, and anothermodel lifeboat undergoing perpetualself-righting trials. For those interestedin design detail there were plenty ofboat plans to study; further on in theexhibition they would be able to studyplans showing the evolution of the life-boat station, displayed by Lewis andDuvivier.

The Depot, among other exhibits,had on show a fine display from therigging loft. Here was all the poetry of

211

There was a wealth of models at the show—and a wealth ofknowledge for all who liked to ask

photograph by courtesy of 'Western Morning News'

Aboard Arwed Emminghaus a few technical details areexplained by her captain, Rolf Hoffman.photograph by courtesy of the Central Office of Information

Older lifeboats had an honoured place: The Elliott Gill (left), one of theLiverpool lifeboats, and Robert and Ellen Robson, the ex- Whitby pulling boat.A launching tractor nearby was a constant joy to children.

Chay Blyth signed copies ofTHE LIFEBOAT souvenir pro-gramme while visiting theexhibition.

the language of the sea: veering line,scrambling net, drogue, heaving line,bow pudding.

Shoreline, busy enrolling newmembers, were showing one of the threeshort films that could be watched. Theothers were on the USA stand (showingthe training of student coastguards, andsome spectacular shots of 44' lifeboatsin the heavy surf of the eastern seaboard)and on the Canadian stand (showingthe range of its rescue craft, frompatrolling cutters to shore-based hover-craft).

On the German stand, as well as somefine colour photographs and models,was a chart of her coastline with differentcoloured lights, controlled by push-buttons, showing the positions of herlifeboat stations and the different typesof boat at each. A chart of stations andlifeboats was included in the Frenchdisplay, too.

There were telephones on the Coast-guard stand. Pick one up and you couldhear the messages that pass between theCoastguard and rescue services from thetime a member of the public dials 999and asks for 'Coastguard' to report aboat in trouble until the rescue is com-plete. The telephone call sequence was

illustrated by a series of lighted cartoons.So much to see and so much to learn,

with photographs and information ofall sorts. There were marine engines(Leyland Thornycroft, MermaidMarine, General Motors and EnfieldIndustrial Engines); photographs ofBrooke Marine's range of high-speedcraft; inflatable dinghies (UniversityMarine and Avon Rubber Co.); astation winch engine (Hendy-Lennox);hovercraft self-righting equipment(British Hovercraft Corporation); re-suscitation equipment (British OxygenCo.); a selection of grp mouldingsamples (Halmatic); electronic naviga-tion equipment (Kelvin Hughes andDecca Radar); and a beverage dispenser(Drinkmaster).

As the visitor entered the exhibitionhe could see a display of paintings fromWest Country children's competitions;on Duckham Oils stand were the prize-winning entries of a South Londonschools' art competition; and on theway out there was the IllustratedLondon News exhibition of lifeboatpictures taken from that journal'sarchives. Finally, the visitor came to astall packed with RNLI souvenirs.

Throughout the duration of theexhibition, as well as regular rescuedemonstrations off The Hoe involvingthe RNLI, Royal Navy, Royal AirForce, HM Coastguard and BritishSub-Aqua Clubs, there were a numberof special events: a fireworks display(it rained—but no matter, people stillcame): Beat Retreat by HM RoyalMarines on The Hoe; performances ofthe 'window ladder' by the Royal Naval

display team, and a field gun com-petition. There was also an exhibition bythe Royal Society of Marine Artists inthe City Museum.

A number of well-known personalitiescame along to the exhibition to give theRNLI their support. Chay Blyth wasthere on the first Saturday; and onsubsequent days Keith Fordyce, PeterPurves of 'Blue Peter', and Ed 'Stewpot'Stewart.

One way and another, it was a veryfull month. A great many people hadworked very hard in many differentways to make it possible. The City ofPlymouth was wholehearted in itssupport, a number of its leadingcitizens serving on the various organis-ing committees. The show was mannedthroughout by voluntary helpers, mostlyfrom Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall,but people also came from all over theBritish Isles, giving up their holidays totake part. The team of RNLI helpers inthe staging of the show had grown asthe exhibition approached; but it wasCommander Peter Sturdee, QBE, RN,with his original crew of Lieut-Com-mander Richard Little, RN, AngelaWillis, Valerie Wood and AndrewGould, who bore the full burden of theday and to whom much of the praisemust go for the great success of thisprincipal event in 'The Year of theLifeboat'. But an exhibition succeeds orfails primarily because of the quality ofits design. The RNLI was indeedfortunate in having the services asdesigner of Frank McNichol. His wasthe creative talent and his, therefore, thetriumph.—J.D.

212

South Western Division

Danish coastercapsizedRAME HEAD Coastguard reported toPlymouth deputy launching authority at1403 on January 16 that the Danishcoaster Merc Enterprise was in seriousdifficulties 23 miles south of Plymouthbreakwater, and that her crew wereabandoning ship. Salcombe lifeboat hadbeen advised to launch but weatherconditions prevented her crossing thebar. Helicopters were taking off fromRNAS Culdrose.

Plymouth DLA agreed to launchprovided the coxswain did not considerweather conditions too severe. A mostintense storm was blowing from thesouth west, with winds of hurricaneforce 11 to 12. It had been building upfor hours and was now blowing againstthe full run of the ebb tide. There was avery rough sea inside the Plymouthbreakwater and visibility was half amile. The sky was overcast with driving,squally rain. Seas of phenomenalcharacter could therefore be expectedas soon as the lifeboat left the com-parative shelter of the breakwater.

Immediately he was informed of thesituation, however, Coxswain JohnDare requested the maroons to be firedand, 10 minutes later, at 1417, with afull crew on board, Plymouth lifeboatThomas Forehead and Mary Rowse, a52' Barnett boat, left Millbay Docks.

As the lifeboat cleared the easternend of the breakwater at 1435 she metthe full force of the hurricane. ThomasForehead and Mary Rowse was con-tinually swept by heavy breaking seas asshe crossed Tinker Shoal, and CoxswainDare found himself and the crew up totheir waists in water in the wheelhouse.He ordered all the crew into the shelterof the after cabin.

The crew confirm that they have neverimagined such seas and Coxswain Dareand Motor Mechanic Cyril Alcock bothadmitted that they themselves werefrightened.

At this time Coxswain Dare receivedan anxious enquiry from the DLA as towhether he thought the weatherconditions were too bad for him tocontinue. His unhesitating and blunt

reply was 'Negative, we are continuing'.Two minutes later Rame Head

Coastguard told the lifeboat that thecasualty had capsized and the heli-copters were recovering survivors.Another message came at 1520 to saythat the helicopters had picked upseven survivors and a Russian trawler,Leningrad, was in the area.

At 1627 the lifeboat received newsthat Leningrad had recovered four moresurvivors but that seven were stillmissing. On being informed threeminutes later by the Coastguard thatthe helicopter crews were reportingconditions in the area were so bad thatthey advised the lifeboat to return,Coxswain Dare replied, 'As there arestill seven missing we are continuing'.

The Coastguard passed definite recallorders to the lifeboat at 1643, sayingthat these had come from DLA andthe inspector. Coxswain Dare had nowarrived in the area of search, 26 milesdue south of Rame Head, and, seeingno signs of any survivors, and assumingthat the inspector referred to in theCoastguard's message was the inspectorof lifeboats, he decided to comply withthe recall and return to base. The searchwas officially called off at 1720.

Thomas Forehead and Mary Rowseescorted Leningrad with her survivorsto the safety of Plymouth Sound andthen stood by while the pilot was putaboard, at 1940. The lifeboat thenentered Millbay Docks and, afterrefuelling, returned to her moorings at2020.

Coxswain Dare states that this wasthe worst sea he has ever experienced,and the same statement was made bythe skipper of the Russian trawler.The lifeboat crew included three reservemembers and Coxswain Dare reportsthat all the crew bore themselves withdistinction throughout, as, indeed, didthe lifeboat herself.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to CoxswainJohn Dare. Medal service certificateswere presented to Motor MechanicCyril Alcock, Assistant MechanicPatrick Marshall, Crew MemberMichael Keane and Reserve CrewMembers David Dinham, Frank Parkerand Douglas Jago.

South Eastern Division

Hurricane launchNEWS THAT MV Merc Texco had abadly injured man to be landed led tothe launching of the Dungeness lifeboat,Mabel E. Holland, a 42' Watson beachclass, at 1658 on February 11.

The wind was south south westhurricane force. The sky was overcastand visibility poor. It was 2i hours afterhigh water. The seas breaking on thebeach were very large and the launchershad to be roped together when placingthe skids to prevent their being washedaway.

Coxswain John Dare, Plymouth, receivedhis bronze medal from the Duke of Kentduring the opening ceremony of the Inter-national Lifeboat Exhibition.

On reaching the water's edge the life-boat was between waves and stuck in theshingle. The next enormous wavebroached her; however, as the sea ranback it swept the stern seawards.Coxswain Tom Tart put the engines fullastern and started to move off. The nextwave again broached the lifeboat, throw-ing her heavily on to the beach; againthe receding wave turned the boatallowing the coxswain to put the enginesahead and drive off. Course was thenset for the casualty which was bearingnorth east.

At 1726 the lifeboat signalled MercTexco to follow her closer inshore asthe seas were enormous. It seemedthat she was not able to comply, and soPeter Thomas, the first aider, volun-teered to try to board. The wind was nowin excess of 70 knots and the seas 50 to60' high. The tide was setting north eastat 1.5 knots.

Coxswain Tart ran the lifeboat along-side the lee of Merc Texco and PeterThomas managed to scramble aboard.The ship's head was paying off the wholetime, making it even more dangerousfor the lifeboat which had alreadysuffered some damage to stanchions andbulwarks.

The stretcher was passed and Cox-swain Tart decided to lie off until thepatient was ready to be lowered. Afterinstructing the captain to ensure thathis ship's head remained south east,Coxswain Tart again managed to placethe lifeboat alongside. All members ofthe crew then helped to receive theinjured man on board. The patient wasstrapped down in the cabin and heldby three members of the crew as thelifeboat was taking a severe buffeting inthe appalling weather conditions.

At 1928 the lifeboat was beached atDungeness and the patient handed overto the doctor and ambulance staff.

For this service, the silver medal forgallantry was awarded to Coxswain TomTart, the bronze medal to AssistantMechanic Peter Thomas and the thanksof the Institution inscribed on vellumaccorded to Second Coxswain Albert

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Haines, Motor Mechanic Alec Clementsand Crew Members William Richardson,Colin Haines and Arthur Oilier. Thethanks of the Institution inscribed onvellum were also accorded to 'TheLaunchers and Shore Helpers', some ofwhom were women, for their efficiencyand dedication to duty under appallingconditions; a certificate was presented toeach launcher and helper.

South Western Division

Storm towHARTLAND POINT Coastguard informedlifeboat 70-001, Charles H. Barrett(Civil Service No. 35), at 0210 onFebruary 6 that a trawler was sinking281°T 26 miles from the Point. Thelifeboat was under way by 0220 and12 minutes later copied a mayday relayfrom Ilfracombe Radio to all shipswhich had been received by VHP atHartland; it reported flooding, withthe trawler's pump unable to cope, andgiving a Decca position of the trawler,St. Pierre, which was on a coursenorth.

Staff Coxswain Michael Houchen, incommand of 70-001, plotted this positionand, allowing for St. Pierre's course ofnorth, he set a course 290°M fromHartland Point at 0305 to intercept.

The wind on slipping from the moor-ings at Clovelly had been westerly force6, but within an hour it had increased toforce 8 and had veered slightly to west bynorth. The tide was in the third hour offlood and was setting the lifeboat backby about 1 knot, while the wind and sea

accounted for another reduction ofabout 11 knots. Thus, at full speed, thelifeboat was making good over theground about 8| knots.

Various messages were exchangedwith the trawler, through HartlandCoastguard, until at 0435, when sixmiles west south west of SouthLundy, 70-001 sighted a red flare fromSt. Pierre just forward of her starboardbeam. She altered course towards it.Quarter of an hour later another redflare from the trawler was sighted andanswered with a white parachute flare.Then 70-001 switched on her searchlightto show St. Pierre her position, at thesame time making VHP contact withher.

At 0515 the lifeboat sighted thetrawler. She was slightly smaller than70-001, being 54' overall and of about20 tons, registered. She was headingabout north by east with the wind slightlyforward of her port beam, and appearedstill to have plenty of freeboard and notto be in any immediate danger of sinking.

By now the wind had reached force10 to 11 and had veered slightly furtherto west north west accompanied byviolent hail storms, and Staff CoxswainHouchen decided it would be a mosthazardous operation for St. Pierre'screw if he attempted by any means toembark them in the lifeboat. With theobject of trying to get the strickentrawler into the lee of Lundy Island,therefore, he prepared a tow, heaving-towhile the lifeboat's mizzen was struckto get it out of the way.

At 0540, with the tow prepared, 70-001approached St. Pierre from her weatherside and Boat Mechanic Ivor Young

fired a rocket line. It was a perfect shot,falling right across the trawler, but hercrew were not able to reach it quicklyenough to lay hold of it and the line slidclear of the rigging to be lost over theside.

Staff Coxswain Houchen nowappreciated that it was going to bedifficult for the crew of the casualty tohelp, so he decided to make anapproach on her lee side, as close as hedare go, and endeavour to throw aheaving line into the hands of the crew.He therefore passed across St. Pierre'sbow, turned starboard and approacheddirectly upwind on to her starboardquarter. Although this would make thethrowing of the heaving line a Herculeantask, it was the only prudent and sea-manlike approach with the lifeboat,having a higher profile, making moreleeway than the trawler.

At the last moment it was realisedthat the crew of St. Pierre were notready to receive the tow line, and so theapproach had to be cut off and made allover again. As the lifeboat turned awayand lay off while awaiting preparationson board the casualty, the crew noticedthat when both boats were in troughsof the very heavy seas St. Pierre wascompletely disappearing.

At 0600, 70-001 approached again.With first-class ship handling StaffCoxswain Houchen brought her bowsto within a few feet of St. Pierre'squarter and, with both boats ranging agood twenty or more feet, FleetMechanic Peter Crofts threw the heavingline hard into the wind; the waitingcrew of St. Pierre had no difficulty incatching it. A warp (70 fathoms of 4j"

at/. 987 CHAttfS. V. BARGSTT

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nylon) was now passed and the longtow began at 0620, making good about4 knots.

Lundy lay about eight miles to theeast south east and so course was set topass round the north end of the island.The tide had turned by this time and wasstarting to run against the wind. St.Pierre had lost the use of her engines,but did not appear to be making a largeamount of water although her crewreported that she was leaking.

All went without incident until about0800 when the tow entered the northernfringe of the Lundy Race. Here thetide was now setting about 4 knotsagainst the wind, which was stillblowing force 10 to 11; the combinedresult was a phenomenal sea. Thewaves were high and precipitous, about40' with very steep sides, so that at timesStaff Coxswain Houchen was actuallystanding with his feet on the forwardbulkhead of the wheelhouse as he triedto steer 70-001 down the face of a wave.Huge, vicious seas stove in the transomof the trawler and one wave brokecompletely across the lifeboat from portquarter to starboard bow so that jets ofwater spurted through the top of thewheelhouse door and soaked all within.The lifeboat crew believe that it wasonly their tow which saved them frombroaching-to and, likewise, the lifeboat'spull on the bows of the trawler that heldSt. Pierre from a similar fate. The staffcoxswain said that had the tow partedat this point, it would have been the endfor the trawler and her crew because hewould have been powerless to save them.

However, the tow held and the leeside of Lundy was reached by about1000. Anchor was let go in Lundy Roadsand at 1030 St. Pierre was broughtalongside for pumping. By 1330 she wasabout 75 per cent pumped out and itwas then discovered that the hoseconnections for the salvage pumpsuction hose were in fact leaking air, sothat suction was impaired.

The wind had now moderated toabout force 8 west north west and, theBBC TV weather forecast and synopticchart having been seen on the lifeboat'snew TV set, Staff Coxswain Houchendecided that it would be possible tocontinue to Ilfracombe with the tow.

Anchor was weighed and the tow gotunder way at 1420, arriving atIlfracombe without further incident atabout 1700. St. Pierre was towed towithin heaving line distance of the jettyand the tow was slipped at 1715, bothboats being secured alongside by 1730.

At 1825, however, 70-007 havingparted two mooring lines, lost onefender and damaged the rubber Dfender belting, Staff Coxswain Houchendecided to leave and return to anchoroff Lundy once again to shelter fromthe now north west gale which was stillforce 8 gusting 9.

For this service a bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to Staff CoxswainMichael Houchen. Medal servicecertificates were presented to Boat

From deck of 70-001 as, shortly after dawn on February 6, she and St. Pierre approached raceoff north of Lundy: wind, force 10 to 11, tide setting about 4 knots against wind. As 70-001begins descent down front of wave, tow line, almost bar taut and horizontal, is seen disappearinginto crest. St. Pierre's rigging is just discernible above wave.

photograph and note by courtesy of John Leech

Mechanics Ivor Young and John Leech,Fleet Mechanic Peter Crofts andAssistant Mechanic Peter Braund.

North Eastern Division

Tug on rocksAN ENGINE breakdown just as she hadcast off her tugs on her final trialsresulted in the oil exploration vesselOregis going aground at the entrance tothe Tyne. It was 1530 on Sunday, March10. Tynemouth honorary secretary wastold of the incident by HM Coastguard,but advised that lifeboat help was notrequired.

One of the ILB crew saw the ground-ing and went to the boathouse inanticipation of a possible call-out. Therehe found another member of the crewand they cleared the boathouse doors inreadiness.

Three tugs returned to help Oregis.One, Northsider, was seen by the twoILB crew, Trevor Fryer and FrederickArkley, to run towards the casualty topass a line; but, pooped by a large sea,she was driven past Oregis on to therocks. Although it was clear to the twoILB crew that there was little they coulddo for Oregis, they considered that thetug was now in a dangerous position.So, while Fred Arkley telephoned thehonorary secretary, Trevor Fryer pre-pared the ILB, and at 1543, with TrevorFryer at the helm, she launched. Withbreaking seas and a 4' rise and fall, itwas a most difficult operation. The windwas easterly force 6 with a rough sea

and heavy swell; it was one hour beforehigh water.

The ILB motored outside the BlackMidden Rocks to assess the situation.The tug, well ashore on the rock end,rolling heavily and continually swept bythe seas, was being driven furtherashore and her position was potentiallydangerous. Her crew indicated thatthey would like the ILB to close them;they had a young boy aboard andwanted him taken off. The ILB circledNorthsider three times, observing theaction of the sea and the rolling of thetug, before going alongside. It was adaunting prospect, with heavy swellbreaking over the stern of the tug andheavy seas breaking on the rocks.

Running in on these seas and turningalongside required great boat-handlingskill and judgement; both were shownby Helmsman Fryer. Not only did hehave to contend with the sea; there wasalso the risk of the ILB being drivenunder by the heavy fendering of the tug.

The boy was passed down to the ILBsuccessfully and taken back to theslipway where Fleet Mechanic Davieshelped him ashore; the boy was almostswept off the end of the slip but AlanDavies managed to hold him.

It was now 1557 and maroons hadbeen fired, and by the time the ILBreturned to the scene of the incidentthe lifeboat, launched at 1610, wasalready helping.

At 1625 the tug Alnmouth told theILB that the crew of the strandedNorthsider had asked to be taken offimmediately. She was now well in underthe cliffs, rolling heavily with seas

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breaking all the way in from the rockend to the cliffs, and she was in realdanger of breaking up.

Timing their approach, two attemptswere made at running in before the seas,but at the third attempt the rightcombination was achieved; the ILB wentalongside and took the three crew offthe tug.

The ILB weathered some very heavybuffeting on the run out and, on theadvice of the coxswain of the stationlifeboat, put the survivors aboard apolice launch; it was 1635. She remainedin the area ready to give further helpuntil the engine showed signs offaltering, probably due to the severedrenching it had undergone, when shereturned to station, arriving at 1725.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to HelmsmanTrevor Fryer and Crew MemberFrederick Arkley.

over 9 knots. Netta Croan was burningfiercely over the whole after end and 12crew members were on the forecastlehead unable to stop the engines or steerthe vessel. The rig tender Smit Lloyd 47and the BEA S61 rescue helicopter hadbeen with the burning trawler for sometime but had been unable to effect anyrescue because of the flames and theerratic course.

Coxswain Albert Bird continued tochase Netta Croan without being ableto catch her, but as she started to circleto starboard the opportunity was takento cut across her turning circle and closeher starboard side. On the near approachto the casualty Coxswain Bird handedover the wheel to Mechanic Ian Jack,a man experienced in closing movingvessels after several years on the pilotboat, and stationed himself at the portwheelhouse door where he could seeboth the casualty and the helmsman.

A thank you for Aberdeencrew from men taken fromburning Netta Croan.Photograph by courtesy of

the 'Daily Express'.

Hilton Briggs was taken alongside theforward end of the main deck still atfull speed and all survivors were takenoff and the lifeboat cleared, all withinone minute. It was about 2300. Thisoperation was helped by the helicopterflying overhead and illuminating NettaCroan throughout.

During this whole manoeuvre, carriedout at speed, Hilton Briggs was in veryreal danger from the flames, the possi-bility of exploding fuel tanks and thepossibility of the trawler sheering andputting the lifeboat under her bows.

It was now established that a furthercrew member had some time previouslyattempted to jump into a liferaft towedastern of Netta Croan and had slippedinto the water. A search was mountedbut it was broken off to land thesurvivors at Aberdeen at 2330. Thelifeboat returned and searched until0200, and returned to station at 0300.

For this service a bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to CoxswainAlbert Bird and Motor Mechanic IanJack. The thanks of the Institutioninscribed on vellum were accorded toAssistant Mechanic George Walker andCrew Members F. Cruickshank andA. Walker.

IiMoat Service /3"/?/m

2300/ir pan i/esse/s sfeairr/mj

Scotland Northern Division

Fire at seaA TRAWLER on fire, not under control,but under way about four miles northeast of Aberdeen: that was the messagereceived from HM Coastguard at 2055on Saturday, April 13, by the honorarysecretary, Aberdeen. The crew werecalled by telephone and at 2130 thereserve lifeboat Hilton Briggs, a 52'Barnett built in 1951, slipped her moor-ing. The weather was fine with a slighthaze, there was little or no wind and alow easterly swell. It was 2J hours afterhigh water.

The lifeboat arrived in the vicinity ofthe trawler, Netta Croan, within halfan hour, but was unable to catch her asshe was sailing an erratic course at

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South Western Division

Leap overboardTORQUAY POLICE informed BrixhamCoastguard at 1537 on October 5, 1973,that a girl was in the water off MeadfootBeach and asked for the help of the ILB.The message was passed to Torbaydeputy launching authority, the maroonswere fired at 1540 and the ILB slippedher moorings ten minutes later mannedby Coxswain Kenneth Gibbs andStation Mechanic Barry Pike.

The wind was south south east force7 and the tide was in the third hour ofebb. Visibility was good and the weatherfine, but the wind was steadily fresheningand the ILB encountered rough seas bythe time she was half way across the bay.

A radio conversation with BrixhamCoastguard on the way over had giventhe ILB crew the distinct impressionthat there was every hope of saving thegirl. It was extremely frustrating forthem, therefore, when they reached theMeadfoot Beach area (within eightminutes) to find that sea conditionsprevented the ILB from being takenclose inshore where the casualty wasthought to be. Very large waves werenow breaking among masses of looseseaweed, and the bottom at that pointis treacherously rocky; the 8' breakingwaves would have smashed the boat onto the rocks immediately. As it was,Coxswain Gibbs needed all his skill tohold the boat into the breakers just onthe edge of the minimum depth to avoidthe rocks as the ILB began her search.

A number of people had gatheredalong the top of the sea wall, at the footof which was a policeman directing theboat to the approximate position of thecasualty.

Suddenly, as the coxswain used hisengines to negotiate an exceptionallylarge sea, Motor Mechanic Pike, stand-in the stern and looking aft towards thebeach, saw the body of a woman appearin the trough. She was just out of reachand, without a moment's hesitation orthought for his own safety, he leapedoverboard. The coxswain saw this withhorror as he glanced quickly over hisshoulder; he feared he might not be ableto prevent the next wave from hurlingthe boat back on top of Barry Pike andthe casualty.

Barry Pike almost succeeded in gettinghold of the woman, but, though he swamas hard as he could with the en-cumbrance of his full clothing and life-jacket, he was slowly overcome bythe waves breaking over him and theentangling seaweed. As he was at lastthrown on to the shore and then draggedout again by the undertow, the police-man managed to grab him and pull himclear of the pounding surf. The constablereported that, even at this stage, BarryPike was already in an overcomecondition, having taken in much seawater.

He would not rest longer than wasessential to regain his breath, however,

insisting on going back into the waterto try to bring the woman ashore. Shewas now floating face down about 10yards off the beach, with the ILB beingheld head-to-sea just beyond her.

The beach is steep, and so Barry Pikewas soon out of his depth and againstruggling against the huge breakers andthe dense seaweed. Once more he lostthe battle and was driven back to thebeach.

Three or four times Barry Pike threwhimself back into the sea, in a steadilyweakening condition, before he finallymanaged to grasp and hold on to thewoman. Fortunately, before he wentinto the water the last time, the police-man had secured a line to him, otherwiseit is probable that he himself would havesuccumbed before he could have gotback to shore.

As it was, rescuer and victim werehauled ashore together and the exhaustedBarry Pike collapsed beside the bodyof the woman on the ramp by the seawall. He was barely conscious andrecalls opening his eyes to see the silverbraid of a superintendent of policeleaning over him and anxiouslyenquiring whether he was all right. Thenhe learned that the woman had beenfound to have a severe head injury andhad, in fact, been dead from thebeginning.

For this service a silver medal forgallantry was awarded to MotorMechanic Barry Pike and the thanks ofthe institution inscribed on vellum toCoxswain Kenneth Gibbs.

Eastern Division

Yacht in shoalwaterRED FLARES were sighted to seawardsouth of the harbour by LowestoftCoastguard on the morning of April 13.The honorary secretary, informed at0448, gave instructions for maroons to befired and the reserve lifeboat CanadianPacific, a 46' Watson built in 1938,slipped her mooring at 0511 and set offat full speed on a southerly course. Thewind was north east force 5 to 7 andthe weather cloudy with showers. Highwater at Lowestoft was predicted at0213.

At 0514 more red flares were sightedon a bearing of 195°M, about five milesaway. Some 20 minutes later the 41'Bermudan-rigged yacht Sarina wassighted five cables east of Benacre Ness.The lifeboat closed the yacht at 0548 andattempted to go alongside. Sarina waslying head to tide, at anchor, and touch-ing bottom in the breaking seas. Sailshad been roughly furled but the mainwas causing considerable windage whereit had blown away from the ties. Thecrew of two men and"two> women wereall exhausted.

The wind was now north east, force6 to 7 with 13' breaking waves caused

by wind against tide. It was still cloudywith frequent showers.

At this point it was noticed that thelifeboat port engine was only operatingat 500 rpm and Coxswain ThomasKnott assumed that the propeller hadfouled in the shallow water. In order togo alongside, Canadian Pacific wastaken to westward of the yacht and,turning to port, a downwind approachwas made during which the lifeboat tookthe ground twice.

Coxswain Knott stationed SecondCoxswain Peter Gibbons at the bowand instructed him to board Sarina assoon as possible. As the boats closed,a large sea lifted the lifeboat and rolledthe yacht to port and Coxswain Knottthought he might have struck the yacht'sbow. He put both engines full asternand as the lifeboat moved clear PeterGibbons jumped across the 6' separatingthe two boats.

Second Coxswain Gibbons was toldby Sarina's crew that while on passagefrom Dover to Great Yarmouth infreshening winds the yacht had beenanchored one mile off the shore; as thewind increased the anchor dragged,since it was only on 40 fathoms of rope.The main anchor chain was then securedto the rope and all 100 fathoms ofchain paid out. Second CoxswainGibbons tried to cut the chain with ahacksaw, but when the blade brokehe asked the lifeboat to close the yachtagain and he parted the chain with theaxe. He then secured a towline from thelifeboat's bow to the yacht's rudder head.The yacht was fitted with an auxiliaryengine but this was broken down.

The towline was secured at 0615 andCanadian Pacific went astern towingSarina stern first south south east todeeper water. The lifeboat cockpit wascontinually filled with water and,as the yacht's cabin hatch could not beclosed, the speed of tow had to be keptvery low.

At 0635 the lifeboat moved ahead ofthe yacht, Second Coxswain Gibbonstransferred the towline and re-securedaround the mast and forward cleats, andCoxswain Knott set course for LowestoftHarbour, arriving at 0723. The lifeboattook Sarina to a secure mooring inHamilton Dock before returning to herberth at 0800.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to Coxswain/Mechanic Thomas Knott and SecondCoxswain Peter Gibbons. Medal servicecertificates were presented to AssistantMechanic J. Stoddard and CrewMembers W. Leith, R. O'Halleron andF. White.

South Western Division

Disabled fishing boatTORBAY LIFEBOAT Princess Alexandra ofKent, a 52' Barnett class built in 1958,slipped her moorings at 1950 on

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December 16, 1973, in response to amayday call received by Berry HeadCoastguard from the Norwegian vesselBuenavista. She was standing by theoverdue Guernsey fishing vessel PetitMichel 200° 32 miles from Portland Bill,38 miles from Torbay. She had launchedher own lifeboat in an attempt to takeoff the sole occupant but was unable todo so because of the state of the weather.

The wind was west south west force3 to 4 at the time of the lifeboat'sdeparture, but it was freshening andwithin an hour the sea was becomingrough as the tidal set was directlyagainst the wind.

At 2245 the lifeboat establishedcommunication with Buenavista andWyke Coastguard on 2182. The windwas still freshening and had now reachedforce 6 to 7. At about 2340, when some10 miles from the casualty, CoxswainKenneth Gibbs saw the loom of lightsfrom Buenavista and was able to home-in on these, arriving at 0045. The wind,now force 8 to 9, had veered to westnorth west.

The disabled boat was lying starboardbeam to the wind, bows south, withBuenavista lying off to leeward andplaying a searchlight on her. The life-boat further illuminated the scene withparachute flares as she crossed underPetit Michel's stern and surveyed herleeward side.

Coxswain Gibbs decided that hewould have better control of the situa-tion with less chance of collision of thesuperstructures of the two vessels if heapproached Petit Michel's windwardside. So he passed around her stern andcame up on her starboard bow withtwo heaving lines ready.

One heaving line was used to pass alifejacket to the man aboard thecasualty. The lifeboat crew shoutedinstructions for him to put it on and tosecure the heaving line to himself, andthen to secure the other heaving line tothe end of a wire cable which he hadlaid out on deck for towing.

Coxswain Gibbs ordered storm oilto be sprayed as he made his circuitand went alongside and reports thatit was very effective in reducing thewave crests. He kept his starboardengine running ahead and his portengine going astern as he came up tothe fishing boat's bow, and says thatthis gave him positive and steadycontrol of his boat throughout the finalapproach.

Such were Coxswain Gibbs' skill andseamanship that, in spite of the veryheavy seas running and the violentrolling of the two boats as they lay beamto sea, the survivor was able to jumpand be pulled safely aboard the lifeboaton the first attempt. The coxswain thenwent full astern taking the fishing boat'swire with him. It was secured to thelifeboat's nylon rope for towing, but assoon as the lifeboat tried to begin thetow and the strain came on the wire itpulled away from on board Petit Michel.

The weather was too bad to try to

A sick keeper is winched offFastnet Rock into waitinghands (below) of CoxswainC. Collins and the youngcrew of Baltimore lifeboat,Sarah Tilson. March 20:wind and sea moderate.photographs by courtesy of

'The Cork Examiner'

put a crew member aboard to re-securethe tow, and so Petit Michel wasabandoned and the lifeboat set coursefor station. The voyage home wasuneventful and the lifeboat returned toher moorings at 0700.

For this service the bronze medalfor gallantry was awarded to CoxswainKenneth Gibbs. Medal servicecertificates were presented to MotorMechanic Barry Pike, AssistantMechanic Stephan Bower and CrewMembers M. Kingston, M. Davies,P. Burridge and J. Huskin.

North Western Division

MFV helps MFVWHILE MFVS Welsh Lady II, Barraguttand Rossina were fishing about a mileoff Towyn at about 1630 on January 16,

the light south westerly wind turned tostrong north westerly gusting to force 9as the storm passed over. Welsh Ladyand Rossina pulled in their nets butBarragutt, unable to follow suit,abandoned hers and all three boats,setting a south-easterly course, made allpossible speed towards Foryd Harbourin strong following winds and a rapidlyincreasing sea. Visibility was poor indriving rain and spray.

The entrance to Foryd Harbour ismarked by seven perches, numbered 1to 7 from landwards, with the channelclose to their west. Perches 1 to 5 are ontop of a training wall; perches 6 and 7,at the outer end, show where the trainingwall, now breached and derelict, used tobe. A sand bar runs east-west to seawardof perch 7, and there is a second sandbar between perches 4 and 5 and almostup to the training wall; the navigationchannel at this point is only 10 to 15yards wide, close up to the training wall.With strong north-west to north-eastwinds the seas over these bars are soonwhipped up and become short, steep,very confused and boiling. The sea areabetween perches 5 and 7, although roughand confused, is not so bad as thatcovering the bars, and the sea area fromthe harbour entrance to perch 4 isfairly sheltered and calm.

On approaching perch 7 Welsh Lady'sengine began to overheat. Her skipper,John Povah, asked Barragutt, whichwas following astern, by radio to keepan eye on her as her engine might fail.In the seas at the bar there was constantfear of pooping and the possibility ofbroaching-to; the drogue was not beingused.

Welsh Lady successfully navigated thechannel and was within a few yards of

continued on page 229

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Some

Flag days have been beating allrecords in this 'Year of the Lifeboat'.Here are just a few results: On Londonlifeboat day, March 19, £69,355 wascollected, nearly £9,000 more than in1973. For the flag day of the little inlandtown of Ruthin in North Wales, oneman, Reg Jones, collected no less than£104.87, and his daughter Susan yetanother £18. Despite the fact that theirflag day was on the same Saturday asthe F.A. cup final, Shoreham beat theirtarget figure of £700 by some £38.Emsworth, on July 13, achieved the fineresult of £200.38. Tynemouth, with aflag week in March, passed last year'stotal by £300, collecting £977.

Flowers have played their part, too,in this anniversary year. The flower club

and ladies' guild in Scarboroughcombined to present a three-day festivalof flowers in St Mary's Church; the 53arrangements were all linked tohistorical aspects of the lifeboat service,and a total profit of £700 was achieved.Well over 1,000 people visited thethree-day festival of flowers held duringJuly at Hyde Chapel, Gee Cross, Hyde,which ended with a service of thanks-giving on the Sunday evening; with thisspecial effort Hyde branch raised £450.

Top marks for a new idea from thesenior class of Harris County PrimarySchool, Fulwood, Lancashire; theyorganised a sponsored spell, raising£20.20 for the Fulwood and Broughtonbranch—and no doubt doing theirspelling a power of good!

From the Goodwins Sands andDowns branch comes news of a con-siderable feat achieved by the ladies'sewing guild, known as the WednesdayClub of Deal; £500 towards the cost of abulldozer for Walmer lifeboat stationwas raised by a knitting contest.

J. S. Andrews and his family, ofTarbert, Argyll, wanted to do somethingspecial for 'The Year of the Lifeboat'.So, while cruising off the west ofScotland in their 9-metre catamaranAku-Aku in July, rather than just

Prizewinners in Skelton and District schoolsart competition, held during a fund-raisingcampaign, went to sea with Redcar lifeboaton June 15. (Left to right) Andrew Bodinner,11, Amanda Green, 10, Joy Parkin, 8, andAnthony Treen, 11.

making a round donation, they putsmall amounts in the lifeboat box onboard whenever they sighted things ofinterest or had out-of-the-ordinaryexperiences. Multihulls sighted, oddbirds and sea creatures rated 5p; foreignor unusual yachts twice that; gales at

Aerial view of a 52' Barnett ?No, a close-up detail of aworking model made by R.Sellwood of Reading andDistrict branch. It took 3,000hours to build and is used toraise funds, both at shows andin the Reading garage whereMr Sellwood works. So far ithas brought in over £.50.

A replica of Greathead's 'Original' lifeboat made of flowers was usedby Lowestoft ladies' guild at the RNLI anniversary ball and Churchservice in March. The guild raises over £3,000 annually for branchfunds.

photograph by courtesy of R. W. Moore

From St Albans and District comes news of the opening in July ofSalisbury Hall by its owner, Walter Goldsmith, in aid of the RNLI.In foreground (below) two of display of five lifeboat models madeby John Gilbert, and a doll raffle prize dressed by Mrs Sheila Crouch.Over £70 was made by the event.

photograph by courtesy of 'Herts Advertiser'

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A lifeboat queen . ..: 16-year-old Jane Wilson was crowned by RonnieHilton at Flamborough ladies' guild gala in July. With her are threeof her attendants, Pat Wilkinson and Bridget and Andrea Waud; thefourth attendant, Stephanie Robertson, was further to the left.Pageboy Jeremy Waud bore the crown.

photograph by courtesy of Bridlington Free Press

A happy 'lifeboat' crew! May lands Infants' class 6 (4% to five years)adopted the RNLI as their project for a term. They organised araffle, a fair, a sponsored walk round the playground and even com-posed a song. £160 was donated to Boxmoor and Hemel Hempsteadbranch.

photograph by courtesy of 'Watford Evening Echo'

. . . and a lifeboat princess: seven-year-oldAlison West sold 38,500 penny tickets to winthe title in a competition organised by Seatonand Beer branch. Eight girls took part andachieved an amazing £568. The honorary sec-retary's husband, Captain Roy Harding,trials officer RNLI, crowned Alison on Beerseafronl in June; she will take part in lifeboatevents throughout the year.

Window display shown during RNLI-Observer exhibition at Rooms Store,Upminster, June 7 to 22. Upminster branch,manning a souvenir stall, collected £.187.

anchor and square-rigged ships weremore again; a gale under way or alifeboat rated very high, and a small coinwas put in for every lighthouse passed.Finally, £2 for a safe and happy returnhome—and £1 fine for failing to beback in Tarbet for lifeboat day! It alladded up to £12.20.

East Grinstead branch held theirfirst ball, to commemorate the 150thanniversary of the RNLI, at WorthAbbey in May. It was an evening muchenjoyed and, with the help of localtraders who gave 400 valuable prizes forthe tombola, a grand profit was made of£1,216.82.

The RNLI is greatly indebted to alarge number of people who make greatindividual efforts: people like MrsM. Merry, of Wolverhampton, who hasmade 1,500 knitted rabbits, which sellfor about £1 each; and Ellis Jones who,selling RNLI souvenirs in his small,but busy, fish and chip shop in Criccieth,made over £550 in 1973 and had passed£400 by July this year; or 76-year-oldMrs Catherine Edwardson, a member

of Tynemouth ladies' guild, whosecoffee mornings have raised more than£1,000—this year, with the regular saleof home-made toffee and shortbread anda coffee morning in July, she has raised£200; and Mrs D. Davison, of Worthingladies' guild, who set herself an 150thanniversary target of £300, and reachedit within six months.

Pewsey Zixex Club, Wiltshire, aregreat supporters of the local RNLIbranch, and in four recent sponsoredrows have raised nearly £500 for lifeboatfunds. In April they set out to break theexisting record of 47 hours for the 112miles from Pewsey to Westminster. Thismarathon, which not only meant rowing,but also 26 portages and the navigationof 40 locks, was completed in 34| hoursnon-stop (except for meal breaks) and agrand total of £200 was raised.

Another marathon row, round theLondon waterways, was undertaken ina whaler by four crews from RedWatch, Paddington Fire Station. Settingoff at midnight on Friday, May 24, thewhaler arrived alongside the RNLIstand at the Boat Afloat Show inLittle Venice at 1630 on Saturday, May25, bang on time after some 48 miles,23 locks and two tunnels. When theoutboard engine of the escort boat,obligatory for the navigation of the twotunnels on the final stage, broke down,the ILB on show at Little Venice wasdespatched for escort duty. The rowwas in aid of both the RNLI and theMultiple Sclerosis Society, and theRNLI received a cheque for £1,500; themoney came solely from the sale of lOpprogrammes and donations received.

Two more sponsored rows, aboutwhich more details will be given in ournext issue, have been undertaken bylifeboatmen: one by the crew andlaunchers at Walton and Frinton, andthe other, round the Isle of Wight, bymembers of Lymington ILB station.

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Undeterred by 'typical lifeboatweather', 100 people completed a 10-mile sponsored walk arranged bySutton Coldfield ladies" guild and raised£688; two dogs were among thosesponsored and they certainly helped tokeep the pace up. Another sponsoredwalk was planned by Anne Sutherland,daughter of the honorary secretary ofHerne Bay branch; she and 11 of heryoung friends walked 10 miles as theirown special effort for the year, andthereby added no less than £70 to thebranch account.

Hair-growing can be sponsored, too.Eion MacGregor, landlord of the GreenMan, Great Braxted, Essex, grew hishair for six months for the RNLI; therewas a grand ceremony in the saloon barwhen his locks were lopped off, and£260 was credited to Witham andDistrict branch. After a sponsoredbeard-grow by six 'regulars' of the InnPlace, Bickington, North Devon, thelandlord, Barry Grover, presented atankard containing £311 to CaptainLowry, chairman of the Appledorebranch, for Appledore lifeboat.

Mike Pilkington, a committee memberof Frodsham branch, Cheshire, tookpart in the novelty section of the Black-pool-Isle of Man race. He entered athree-piece suite, complete with tele-vision set, mounted on two pontoonfloats. Winning first prize, he donated£100 to his branch funds.

Pupils of Southlands ComprehensiveSchool, New Romney, Kent, supportedby members of staff, hold a fete eachyear in aid of different charities. TheRNLI was chosen for this 'Year of theLifeboat' and £237.27 was donated tothe local branch.

Good FriendsBarclays Bank International and the

RNLI, both relative newcomers toPoole, are now near neighbours. InJune Barclays International made a mostgenerous donation of £1,000 to theMayor of Poole's lifeboat fund, launchedto provide money towards Poole's new44' Waveney lifeboat.

From an old friend, Schermuly andPains-Wessex, has come a welcomecheque for £1,200, raised over twoseasons by a royalty scheme whereby apercentage of the profit on every set ofyacht distress flare packs sold by thecompany was donated to the RNLI.

Bacofoil PromotionAluminium Foils Ltd are staging a

new promotion with the aim of pro-viding an ILB. Over a period in earlyautumn, for every Bacofoil pack endsent in by the public a donation of 5pwill be made to the RNLI. All those whosend the pack ends in will receive anattractive wall chart with pictures offamous British ships.

Silver.• A solid silver, partly gilt, lifeboatbowl is being made by Aurum Designsin conjunction with the RNLI to com-memorate the 150th anniversary. A

... and Porcelain• Worcester Royal Porcelain areproducing two pieces to commemoratethe 150th anniversary of the RNLI.The 8" vase (right), in a limited editionof 150, is bone china decorated incobalt blue and gold. The obversedepicts in sepia monochrome a lifeboatrescue off the mouth of the Tyne in 1864.The handles, foot and knob of the coverare illuminated in pure 22 carat gold.

The 10" plate (below) is limited to 500.It is bone china with a cobalt blue rimilluminated in 22 carat gold, and thecentre design features the same Tyne-mouth rescue.

The vase costs £69.56, the plate £34.14.Both are supplied in silk-lined presenta-tion boxes. The RNLI will receive adonation for each one sold. Descriptiveleaflet and order form from: RNLI, 21Ebury Street, London, SW] OLD.

frame of deeply embossed, stylisedstorm waves encircles a scene in highrelief, chosen as a tribute to Sir WilliamHillary, showing the St George rescueat Douglas, Isle of Man, in 1830. IanRibbons (left), who sculptured the scene,himself visited Douglas and also didthorough historical research to ensurethe accuracy of his work.

The bowl weighs 11 oz (10 oz Troy),is 1J" high and 1\" diameter. Only750 are being made and the RNLI willreceive a donation for each one sold.Some are still available. Order forms canbe obtained from RNLI, 21 Ebury Street,London SW1W OLD. Price £116 eachor £230 a pair.

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REVIEWS• A. F. Mumble's The Rowing Life-Boats of Whitby (Home and Son,Whitby, £1.63—including postage), hasbeen produced with much scholarshipand care. Mr Humble, who is actinglibrarian of the Whitby Literary andPhilosophical Society, is himself adescendant of a boat builder whoshowed a model of a lifeboat in theGreat Exhibition of 1851.

In relating the early history ofthe Whitby station, A. F. Humbleemphasizes the importance of the factthat so many people on the north eastcoast of England had actually seen shipsbeing wrecked with no means of savingthe survivors. He also calls attention tothe spirit of independence which hascharacterised Whitby committees andcrews. This caused them to resist firmlyattempts made by the Board of Trade toexercise some control over their stationand also delayed the ultimate union ofthe Whitby station with the RNLI.

Much of the book is understandablydevoted to the disasters of 1861 and1877, to their consequences and to theproblems of providing relief for widowsand orphans.

The administration of the disasterfunds, which were wholly outside thecontrol of the RNLI, was the subject ofa recent play by Peter Terson whichcaused something of a stir. The centralcharacter in Mr Terson's play wasFrancis Haydn Williams, an eccentricopen-air preacher who readily indulgedin litigation and abuse. Williams'charges that the relief funds weremaladministered provided the substanceof the play. Mr Humble rather

Ship HalfpenniesThe RNLI has a plan for raising

money through export, for a particularpurpose, of ship halfpennies. Its suc-cess must depend on the number ofhalfpennies collected. Anyone who isinterested is asked to write to:

Captain C. C. Lowry, RN,Buckleigh House,Westward Ho!Bideford, North Devon,

not later than October 31, statingapproximately how many halfpennieshe or she may be able to provide.

surprisingly does not mention MrTerson's play, but he has little doubtabout the veracity of Williams:

'In the face of so long a series of errorsand blunders', he writes, 'it is impossibleto accept any statement by Williams,unless it is supported by reliable inde-pendent evidence.

'As far as the Life-boat Relief Fundsare concerned, no such evidence has beenfound.

'The published abstracts of accountsindicate that all the funds were honestlyadministered; in a ten-year campaign ofcalumny and invective Williams com-pletely failed to prove anything to thecontrary.'

—P.M.

• Many different disciplines contri-bute their skills and wisdom to thecommon cause of saving life at sea, notleast among them medicine, and theRNLI has been fortunate that for manyyears it has been able to count as itsmedical adviser Dr Geoffrey Hale, MBE.A near neighbour, practising as a GP inPimlico, he has given unstinted helpboth with committee work and in thepractical testing of ideas and equipment.He has served on the medical andsurvival committee, of which he ischairman, since 1952, and on theCommittee of Management, of whichhe is a vice-president, since 1964. Nowretired from general practice, Dr Haletogether with co-author Nesta Robertsrecalls a lifetime of medical advance inA Doctor in Practice (Routledge andKegan Paul, £2.50). The reader willlearn much of the development, andproblems, of the profession during 40years, revolutionary both in scientificknowledge and social administration;and members of the RNLI will alsocome to know more closely an old andtrusted friend.—J.D.

• Blue Peter Eleventh Book (BBC,70p) is sure to be a very popularchildren's present this Christmas—thesort of present the whole family enjoyson the quiet, too. It is packed withthings to do, intriguing information,stories and such delightful illustrationsas Hargreaves' portrayal of MichaelBond's Paddington bear. An article onthe RNLI recalls not only the historyof the lifeboat service, but also twoincidents this year of particular interestto 'Blue Peter' viewers: Peter Purves'

360° ride in a Waveney lifeboat on self-righting trials, and the awards forgallantry made to the North Berwickcrew of ILB Blue Peter ///.—J.D.

• Another first-rate Christmaspresent, this time for offshore yachtsmen,is the fourth edition of Channel Harboursand Anchorages by K. Adlard Coles(Nautical Publishing Co., £5.75). Ithas been exhaustively revised and re-written to bring it up to date withnavigational changes since previouseditions, metric soundings are now usedthroughout, and a change has been madeto the new Admiralty chart datum.

As a boat is in greatest potentialdanger when she leaves or approachesland, Adlard Coles' authoritativepilotage books should be on the book-shelf of every yacht on passage.—J.D.

0 Celebrating the 150th anniversary,three more booklet histories of stationshave recently been published:

The Story of St David's Lifeboats byDesmond G. Hampson, assistanthonorary secretary, and Dr George W.Middleton, chairman of St David'sbranch, includes photographs rangingfrom the station's first lifeboat andcoxswain, 1869, to present-day heli-copter and lifeboat exercises. FromD. G. Hampson, The Pharmacy, CrossSquare, St David's, Haverfordwest,Pembrokeshire, price 25p.

Isles of Scilly Lifeboats, a historicalsketch book with a brief but factualtext compiled by the local ladies' guild.From Mrs M. Soar, honorary secretary,Isles of Scilly ladies guild, 6 HarbourView, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, price25p (postage and packing 8p extra).

Fifty Years of Yarmouth I.W. Life-boats by Geoffrey E. Cotton, a detailedhistory available at bookshops locally,through the ladies' guild of the Islandor direct from the author, Rose Villa,Ommanney Road, Yarmouth, Isle ofWight, 50p (postage and packing 8p).

• Other than in Wales it is probablethat few people are aware that Angleseywas the cradle of a hardy race ofmariners or that ship building was athriving industry in the little port ofAmlwch. The fascinating maritimehistory of the island is told by AledEames in his book Ships and Seamen ofAnglesey, published by the AngleseyAntiquarian Society (£3.50). It is sad tonote that owing to the change in theboundaries there is no longer anAnglesey County Council to sponsorthe remainder of the planned series, ofwhich this is the fourth volume.

This is a splendid, scholarly bookwith meticulous documentation and afine, seamanlike air which does justiceto the courageous mariners whoseactivities are recorded, but does nothide the fact that there were sometendencies to indulge in profitableventures which were not strictly legal.

The tiny vessels which sailed from

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little ports like Amlwch and Cemaescarried all sorts of cargo to all sorts ofplaces, including copper ore from thelocal mines to Swansea and St Helens,and later found ready employment inthe slate trade. The appalling conditionsin which emigrants to America werecarried, stowed amongst the slates,must have been almost unbearable andmany of the hopeful passengers hadalready travelled from Ireland to

Liverpool in cattle boats at a fare of Isor Is 6p a head.

Of considerable interest to lifeboatsupporters and enthusiasts is the chapteron Anglesey wrecks and rescues, parti-cularly the boundless energy and sterlingwork of James Williams and his wifeFrances, who were the mainstay of theAnglesey Association for the Preserva-tion of Life from Shipwreck. JamesWilliams was an active participant

in rescues and was awarded theInstitution's gold medal, continuing hissupport after the RNLI assumedresponsibility for the Anglesey lifeboats.

Here is a moving saga of a littleknown aspect of sea life and times and,strictly on the basis of value for money,a very good buy. Both as compellingreading and as a very fully indexed bookof reference it is an important volumefor the shelves of a sea library.—E.W.M.

ShorelineSection

WITH LITTLE publicity, Shoreline is nowmaking a major contribution to theInstitution's funds and it is hoped thatthis year enough will be raised to pay

the cost of an offshore lifeboat.Membership is now well over 18,000

and about 100 new members are enrolledevery week. With everybody's help,where would we set the limit ?

We are now recruiting help from manyof the branches and guilds. So far,however, information about Shorelinehas not spread as rapidly as it might.There must be many people who wouldlike to help the RNLI, who do not haveenough time to take part in localactivities, but who would be happy tojoin Shoreline.

Everyone who joins is credited to thebranch or guild that recruits the member,not just for the first year but for eachyear that membership continues. Withan annual loss of only just over 2 per

Enrol a new member,and help Shoreline toback up the men whoput to sea.photograph by courtesy

of The Observer'

cent of membership, who could thinkof a better way to boost the funds of abranch or guild? After initial enrolling,all paperwork and correspondence istaken over by the Shoreline office.

Could we earnestly request all ourbranches and guilds to help us inrecruiting Shoreline members, thusensuring a steady income to the RNLI,and also increasing their own totals?

The Shoreline office, 29a CastleStreet, Salisbury, Wiltshire (telephone:Salisbury 6966) will readily supplyforms, dispensers, display boards andassistance, should you require it.

What is Shoreline?Shoreline membership of the Royal

National Life-boat Institution (RNLI)is the way to become closely associatedwith and help the gallant work of thelifeboat crews in their constant fight tosave life at sea.

Why Shoreline?As a Shoreline member you enter into

the spirit of the lifeboat service andcontribute directly towards the savingof lives at sea.

Be recognised as a member by wearingor flying the attractive insignia available,and, by doing so, advertise the member-ship scheme to others.

Don't forget that if you are aregistered member of a branch or guild,you are automatically an associatemember.

To: SHORELINE, RNLI, WEST QUAY ROAD, POOLE, DORSET, BH15 1HZ.I should like to be a part of such a worthwhile voluntary cause by becoming a SHORELINE member of the lifeboat service

and joining the Institution as:

A Life Member and Life Governor: minimum donation £60,including journal

A Member and Governor: minimum annual subscription £10,including journal

An Offshore Member: minimum annual subscription £3,including journal

An Associate Member: minimum annual subscription £1.50

Total subscription

Below are the variousitems you are entitled towear or fly as a memberof SHORELINE:Members' tie (Terylene) £1.50Lady's brooch £0.50Metal car badge £1.55Pair of cuff-links £1.758" hoist flag £1.2512" hoist flag £2.00Dinghy burgee £1.25

Insignia payment

NAME / enclose P.Oj cheque j cash for £

ADDRESS Date

Signature

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Speedboat on Pye Sands• It was with very great interest that Iread of the gallantry awards to membersof the crew of Edian Courtauld for theirsuccessful rescue of a speedboat'scomplement on August 15, 1973 ('Life-boat Services', spring 1974 issue). Thisparticular event will be remembered bymy family as being one that addeddrama and tension to the end of ourholiday and underlined something ofthe inherent dangers of our chosenpastime. We were, in a sense, involved,and it happened in this way.

Three yachts, all members of ColneYacht Club, were returning to Bright-lingsea from Ostend. They were theWesterly Longbow Sagitta of Colne,abeam of her on starboard was IanMcGregor's sloop Blue Contessa whileour own Westerly Renown Tei Tetuakept station to port. The total comple-ment was six adults, numbering amongthem the secretary of the HemelHempstead branch of the RNLI, plusseven children. Having been at sea since0645 we were greatly looking forwardto picking up our moorings and catchingup on sleep.

My log recalls the fact that TrinityBuoy was left close abeam on starboardat 2016 and course was altered to bringus heading down King's Channel.Sundown brought us one of those quietbut clear evenings when the sky lackssome of the grandeur that may some-times accompany banks of illuminatedcloud, but I recall the chill that set inonce the sun had dipped below thehorizon. On went thick sweaters andone by one navigation lights appeared onthe vessels within visual range. We had arelatively calm sea and modest breezewhich enabled us to maintain a steady4£ knots on course. All in all, theevening was well suited to our return.

In the gathering darkness, the tidecarried us towards home, and thechildren were pleased to see the shorelights of familiar places welcoming usback. A merchantman, reading ourlights, made a course alteration to passto port of us as he made for the BarrowDeep and for a while our attention wason him. We sent him a briefly expressedmessage of thanks by signal lamp, andreceived his reply and watched him onhis way.

It was 'about 2200', my log tells me,when a light on our starboard beamdrew our attention. It was not the first,

but as it burned out brightly my sonsaid, 'Dad, that's a parachute flare!' Asit faded we realised the truth of hisobservation. Earlier sightings had notbeen noted in the log, as we each of usagreed that we had thought them to bea shore light 'or something'.

Tension mounted rapidly. Sagitta ofColne had hauled so far ahead that shewas only a white light in the distance,but Blue Contessa said she would makeradio distress calls and hurry on toBrightlingsea to raise assistance. TeiTetua hove to and kept a listeningwatch on 2182 kHz, maintaining awatch for further flares, but heardnothing except Blue Contessa''s maydaycall, repeated several times.

Tei Tetua, now under engine, putabout from a position about 1 mile eastof West Gunfleet Buoy and headednorth in the general direction from whichthe last flare was seen. Several times wethought we saw lights and on twooccasions believed we saw a 'flare up'at sea level which we supposed mighthave been burning rags from the wayin which the light intensity rose and fell,We rapidly ran out of water and foundourselves at one time with less than 6"beneath our keel.

Unable to cross the Gunfleet, weshut down the engine and strained ourears to catch any sounds of distress.Twice we heard the sound of voices, orso we thought. We signalled by lamp,but there was no reply. How far wewere from the speedboat I cannot tell,perhaps eight miles, and so it is purespeculation as to whether we had heardthem or not. However, at the time wehad believed the flares to have come froma point near Wallet No. 4 Buoy.Having made several attempts to find away across Gunfleet Sand into theWallet without success, we had toadmit defeat and made for Brightlingseato report our sightings.

We arrived at 0200, soon after theother two yachts and HM Customsinvited us to use their office to make thenecessary telephone calls.

It was in a very relieved frame of mindthat we returned to our boats about halfan hour later. The children were stillawake, waiting anxiously for news, andwe were very glad to be able to tell themthat, thanks to other people's watch-fulness, the lifeboat had successfullyrescued five people from off Pye Sands.Seven children went to sleep, happierin the knowledge that, even if we had

not been of any help, thanks to theRNLI another crew was safe.

It is our sincere hope that we shallnever have need of the lifeboat service,either through press of circumstances orfrom our own shortcomings, but wedraw comfort from having lifeboatmenat hand and from this example of theirvigilance. From the combined crews ofSagitta of Colne, Blue Contessa andTei Tetua may we send our warmestcongratulations to those whose gallantrywas on this occasion noted and rewardedand an equally warm greeting to allwho serve in the boats of the RNLI.—D. j. MORL, 709 Lodge Road, Writtle,Chelmsford, Essex.

Thanks from father andson• I am writing to thank you onbehalf of my wife, family and myself,for the rescue your crew made of myson Martin Wilmot and his friend, whentheir canoe capsized off Aberdoveybeach. But for your prompt attendancethe incident could have had seriousconsequences of which we are veryaware.

I am enclosing a cheque for your fund. Iwould ask you to accept it as a token ofour gratitude.—KENNETH j. WILMOT, 130Mount Road, Penn, Wolverhampton,Staffordshire.

% Thank you for helping to save mylife last Saturday. I am sorry to havetroubled you but we have been canoeingon the bar for many years and havenever known it to be so rough. I haveenclosed a postal order for your funds.—MARTIN WILMOT.

When a visitor reported several canoeistsin trouble just off Aberdovey Bar on July20, both Aberdovey and Borth ILBs werelaunched to search. Borth ILB found twoyoung boys in the water, took them aboard,gave exposure treatment and landed themat Aberdovey where a doctor and ambulancewere waiting to take them to TowynHospital. One of the boys was 12-year-oldMartin Wilmot, and T. A. Morris,honorary secretary, Borth ILB station,was very pleased when, subsequently, hereceived these letters of thanks from bothMartin and his father.—THE EDITOR.

The Mumbles ?• I read Commodore C. A. S.Colburn's letter published in the summerissue of THE LIFEBOAT regarding thefact that you refer to Mumbles as TheMumbles. You are quite correct inwriting it as The Mumbles because thatis the way it is known to all local people.

I am 78 years of age and was born inSwansea Valley and have lived there allmy life. I have never known it to becalled anything but The Mumbles.

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The Mumbles was very popular withus and on most holidays Valley peopleused to go down there as well as toSwansea sands. If anybody was heardreferring to it as Mumbles we knewthem as strangers to the locality.—D. H. WILLIAMS, Maesyfelin, 128 Gelly-gron, Pontardawe, Swansea SA8 4SJ.

Sir Winston and the RNLI% From my earliest days I was alwaysa tremendous admirer of Sir WinstonChurchill and, whenever possible, Iwould attend a meeting where he wasspeaking. This year, as well as being the150th anniversary of the RNLI, alsohappens to be centenary of his birth:November 30, 1874. The name of thisgreat man will always be linked withthe lifeboat service in a number of ways.

Soon after I joined the staff of theInstitution, I spent a few months atHead Office in Grosvenor Gardens. Oneday I was browsing through theInstitution's journals, going back over anumber of years, when my eye alightedon one for the year 1924; it contained afull report of the centenary banquet atthe Hotel Cecil, London, and seeing MrChurchill's name I read on with zest.

Mr Winston Churchill, as he was then,was one of the principal speakers andproposed the toast of the Royal NationalLife-boat Institution and the lifeboat-men of Great Britain.

Shortly after reading his speech, onMarch 12, 1954, I attended a dinner atPenzance to mark the 150th anniversaryof the formation of the Penlee lifeboatstation and I was given the task ofproposing the toast of the ladies' guild.I was fairly new to this sort of thing andso I thought I could not do better thanto bring into my fairly short address asection of the speech Mr Churchill hadgiven in London. The passage wasperhaps the most moving part of what is,surely, inspired Churchillian rhetoric:

'It (a lifeboat) drives on with a mercywhich does not quail in the presence ofdeath, it drives on as a proof, a symbol, atestimony, that man is created in theimage of God, and that valour andvirtue have not perished in the BritishRace.'

I was very glad I did so becausePatrick Howarth was present at thisfunction—at which the late Marshal ofthe Royal Air Force Lord Tedder wasthe guest of honour—and I think it wasthe first time the Churchill speech hadbeen brought to his attention. As myvery happy time with the Institutiondraws to its close. I would like to saythat it is particularly gratifying to methat Mr Howarth has since made useof this most telling portion of the speechin various ways.

Toward the end of the war I happenedto have the opportunity of having ashort talk with Jan Masaryk, thenCzechoslovak Foreign Minister. It was

shortly after listening to one of therousing Churchill speeches over thewireless, and I was saying to MrMasaryk how wonderfully inspiring itwas. He wholeheartedly agreed andremarked, 'The world will never realisewhat it owes to the vocal cords of thatman'.

In conclusion, might I allude toa particularly happy episode of SirWinston's life, namely his engagement toMiss Clementine Hozier, because it sohappens that this has an associationwith the RNLI. Miss Hozier wasstaying with Sir Godfrey Baring—for33 years Chairman of the Institution—and Lady Baring at Nubia House,Cowes, when she received an invitationfrom the Duke of Marlborough to stay atBlenheim. She went, and it was therethat Winston Churchill proposed to herand was accepted — A. R. (BOB)DICKINSON, District Organising Secre-tary, South West.

Present, 1924 and 19749 The picture of lifeboats on theThames at the centenary of the RNLIin 1924, published in the summer issueof THE LIFEBOAT, interested me verymuch. The leading boat is William andKate Johnston. My wife and I are thepresent owners of this vessel, which isnow in commission as a yacht, Jymphany,home port Dartmouth. We were presentwith the boat at the opening of theLifeboat Exhibition at Plymouth.—L. w. LAW, Falaise, Castle Road,Kingswear, Dartmouth, Devon, TQ6 OBT

A Skill to be learnt0 From my observation of the boatingbehaviour of a large number of people, Iam sure that at least some of the increasein calls on the ILB service during thesummer months is due to sheer ignoranceon the part of many who put to sea inmotorboats and motor cruisers,mistakenly thinking that these craftrequire less skilful handling than sail-ing boats. I recently had occasion to goto the aid of a man whose engine hadbroken down, and whose boat wasdrifting on to a bank in a strong tide.When I shouted to him to anchor, hemade the alarming discovery that,although he had an anchor, there was nocable attached to it.

This is the kind of stupid situationwhich simply should not arise, but sinceit so often does—at, I am sure, greattrouble to the lifeboat service—I thoughtyou might be interested to know of theefforts the Lomer Motor Cruiser Schoolis making to counteract the lack of basicknowledge of seamanship.

Since August 1968, I have beenrunning five- and seven-day courses inboat handling, safety at sea, generalseamanship and coastal navigation,and mine was the first motor cruiserschool to be recognised by the Royal

Yachting Association. The courses aredivided between instruction given in ourclassrooms at Beech House, and onboard our single screw Christina andtwin screw Weymouth in the coastalareas between Chichester and Ports-mouth. We also run advanced courses,covering the syllabus for the RYAyachtmaster's certificate, and havestarted a small craft training centre forwaterskiers and other users of smallfast boats.

The aim of the school is to promotesafety at sea. I hope that readers of THELIFEBOAT, who, after all, share the sameconcern, will help us to achieve our aimby spreading the message that boathandling is a skill to be properly learnt;that one cannot just jump into a motor-cruiser and speed off round the Britishcoastline, or over to France; and thatignorance of the basic rules of seaman-ship COStS lives.—ROGER E. J. LOMER,Lomer Motor Cruisers Schools Ltd,Beech House, Rowlands Castle, Hamp-shire, PO9 6DP.

Stolen Yacht• Reading the report on the stolenyacht Susie Wong ('Lifeboat Services',spring 1974 issue), I wonder if you areaware of the ownership of this yacht?She is owned by Baden Davies, whoserved a total of 42 years as a crewmember of Aberystwyth lifeboat, 11of those years as coxswain.

Baden, now aged 74, is a familiarfigure in Aberystwyth and still acts asharbour pilot for larger boats wishingto enter this difficult harbour. Livingalone in a small house overlooking theharbour, he is often consulted aboutsailing matters by beginners and moreexperienced sailors, and his tales of hislife at sea fascinate all who are sofortunate as to know him well enoughto persuade him to relate them.

The holder of two vellums, one forbravery, awarded for his successfulrescue in gale force winds of the MFVPen-cwm on July 29, 1954, and one forlong service, Baden has served in fourlifeboats: John and Naomi Beattie,pulling and sailing, Frederick Angus,Lady Harrison and Aquila Wren.

At 13 years old, in 1913, Baden ranaway to sea, joining a three-mastedschooner, sailing out of Runcorn, asordinary seaman and cook, pay 30s amonth. Later he signed with Cunard,shipping as quartermaster on a Mediter-ranean trader.

Although no longer actively engagedin lifeboat work, Baden still helps withfund raising and is fascinated by themodern ILB. He regards her as 'ahandy craft, faster than any previousboat and very good for inshore work',adding 'She is going to prove a marvel-lous boat—I wish we had had one whenI was coxswain. You need to be aseaman and a technician to sail one ofthem.'—MATTHEW GILMORE, 60 LawnClose, Oldham OL8 2HB, Lancashire.

225

How even a non-swimmer can savesomeone from drowning

r

I

Join Shoreline now. Why Shoreline ? Last year the RNLI saved *over 1,750 lives. This year we expect to save even more. In orderto maintain the service we need £^n\ every year.

But as we're a voluntary organisation we have to raise fundsfor all our work through the generosity of our friends old and new.Flag days, gifts and fund-raising events all help, but they're notenough, nowadays we need a regular source of income.

That's why we started Shoreline. Increasingly, Shoreline isgoing to become more important.

This, our i5Oth anniversary year, saw the start of theprogramme to build 49 self-righting lifeboats of the latest design.And that's going to cost a lot of extra money, £6m in fact, whichis over and above the ^4m.

Please help us.

I wish to join Shoreline, enclosed is my cheque for:(Please tick appropriate box)

An "Off Shore" Member (annual subscription £3including journal).A Member and Governor (minimum annual subscription £10including journal).A Life Member and Life Governor (minimum donation £60including journal).

I enclose P.O./Cheque/Cash for £Total Annual Subscription - _

Name i

Address

Please send me details of Shoreline insignia.Post coupon to The Director, RNLI,West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH15 I HZ.

226

CentralAppealsCommittee

EXCELLENT SUPPORT has continued thisquarter for the various projects of theCentral Appeals Committee. CaptainPhelps, master of John Biscoe of theBritish Antarctic Survey, on arrival atSouthampton handed over more than£31 collected at a social dance in theFalkland Islands—the prime moversbeing, 1 understand, the brothersCrockford who are also members ofTenby lifeboat crew.

Your attention is drawn to a note onpage 222 outlining a scheme to raise asubstantial sum from Golden Hindhalfpennies. Coins, old or foreign, canoften make money for the Institution,so if you have any, please pass them onto your local branch or district office.

More about the knit-ins. Our twovice chairmen report that very greatinterest is being shown all over thecountry, and, with darker evenings nowcoming upon us, what about gettingknitting? The total raised by this meanshas now shot up. How about arrangingan evening's knitting now to ensure thatthe target is reached by January 1975?

It cannot be too strongly stressed thatas much help and support as possibleshould be given to the Scouts in theirventure 'Operation Lifeboat'. Tremen-

Two sponsored lunch-hour knit-ins by RNLl Headquarters staff at Poole raised £44. One washeld near the caravan on the quay; the other, due to rain, in the office. Knitters were sponsoredby other members of staff and their families; passers-by added their bit, too.

photograph by courtesy of Times-Herald Newspapers

dous preparations are being made bythe Scouts themselves, and anything tomake life easier for them to reach theirtarget is to be encouraged.

The Guides, Brownies and Rangers,under the good auspices of the GuideFriendship Fund, have already raisedmore than £4,000 of their target, £5,000for an Atlantic 21 ILB. With manyresults still to come, the organisers thinkit may be possible to purchase thetrailer as well as the boat.

The 'Link with a Lifeboat' scheme isat present under careful consideration.It should be very popular as it will givethe opportunity of feeling, and, in fact,being linked with a particular lifeboat.We hope to give details soon.

The CAC are always ready and willingto receive any of your suggestions forways of raising money. Please send themto the office at 126a High Street,

National sponsored swim 197II72 made£20,286for RNLl funds. On May 10 NormanCrumble, chairman CAC, presented aplaque to Ernest Warrington, MBE, presidentASA, in gratitude for the generous supportof the Amateur Swimming Association andaffiliated associations and clubs.

Orpington, Kent (telephone: from outsideLondon, 0689 38209; from inside theLondon area 66 38209).—D.M.R.

Lifeboat Jubilee RoseJohn Sanday (Roses) Ltd, who

developed the Lifeboat Jubilee Rose,have been awarded the Queen MaryCommemoration Medal by the RoyalNational Rose Society, 'for theiroutstanding contribution in the raisingof new roses by British hybridists'.

Lifeboat Jubilee Rose bushes are stillavailable, price 80p each (carriage andpacking 35p). Order forms can beobtained from RNLl, West Quay Road,Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ.

Lifeboat PeopleIt is with deep regret that we announce

the death on June 3 of C. G. Freke, CIE.Mr Freke joined the Committee ofManagement in 1953 and was elected avice-president in 1962. He served onvarious sub-committees and was chair-man of the general pusposes andpublicity committee from 1957 to 1967.He was elected a life vice-president in1972.

On November 19, 1933, Longhope lifeboat went to help Icelandic trawler Geysir of Reykjavik,grounded on Torness Point, Pentland Firth. Among 15 people rescued was 19-year-old SigridurJohannesdottir, daughter of one of the boat's owners. Forty years later, in gratitude for thesaving of the crew and the warm welcome given to them, Mrs Johannesdottir has given 20Icelandic woollen blankets to the lifeboat stations of Orkney: Longhope, Stromnessand Kirkwall.Mrs Johannesdottir (below) hands over the blankets to Gunnar Fridriksson, president, NationalLife-Saving Association of Iceland, and Hannes Th. Hafstein, managing director.

227

Automatic PilotTo hold a set coursein most conditions

Repeater CompassFor easy readingand optimum siting

Electric CapstanPush-button controlof 650 Ibs pull

Anchor Windlass1,600 Ibs pull from12-220 volt D.C. supply

Dinghy HoistsFor dinghies, etc.,up to 1.500 Ibs lift

IndicatorsFor Rudder Angle,Battery State

NECO MARINE LTD.Walton Rd., Eastern Rd., Cosham, Portsmouth,

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By Appointment (oHer Majesty The Queen

Peit Control & Timber PreservationServices* Products

An admittedlymodest

quid pro quoYou save lives. We save buildings.

Including, we're pleased to say, manyR.N.L.I. stations.

We are proud to serve you in oursmall way-just as you, in your bigway, serve others.

KENTOKIL fi,guards your property

Felcourt, EastGrinstead, SussexRHl9 2JY.

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228

Lifeboat Services(jrorn page 218)

the harbour entrance when she receiveda message from Barragutt saying thather steering gear had broken down andshe was wallowing in the navigationchannel between perches 6 and 7. Whencrossing the first bar the wire connectingthe rudder to the wheel had parted,the rudder jamming hard over to port.The engine was put into neutral andBarragutt came to an uneasy rest beamon to wind and seas. The emergencytiller was not on board and the sweepoar could not be used to steer with thetiller jammed hard over. Just aftersending her message, Barragutt's radiowas dashed to the deck in the violentrolling and smashed.

Welsh Lady turned about in thechannel, fired off a distress flare onbehalf of Barragutt and returned upchannel to give help. She had to crossthe inner bar against the full force ofthe wind, now estimated at north westforce 9 to 10, sea state 4, while Barraguttwas maintaining her position andholding herself off the training wall byusing her engine. Welsh Lady crossedBarragutt's stern and tried, unsuccess-fully, to pass a tow rope. She thenturned to starboard, crossed ahead ofBarragutt and between her and thederelict training wall and managed topass the tow rope. The tow rope wasmade fast, Barragutt's bow pulledstarboard and the two boats slowlycrossed the second bar. Barragutthelped Welsh Lady by going ahead onher engine, and she also streamed herdrogue. The two boats secured to theirmoorings at about 1715.

For this service a framed letter ofappreciation signed by the Chairmanof the Institution, Commander F. R. H.Swann, CBE, RNVR, was sent to JohnPovah.

Lifeboat launches onservice during themonths March, Apriland May, 1974Aberdeen, AberdeenshireApril 13.Aldeburgb, SuffolkMarch 11.Angle, DyfedMarch 15, 28, April 13 (2) and 14.Anstruther, FifeMarch 16.Appledore, DevonshireMay 1 and 14.Arklow, Co. WicklowMarch 10 (2) and 26.Baltimore, Co. CorkMarch 16, 19, 21, April 12, 13 (2), May 20.Barmouth, GwyneddApril 1 and 26.Barra Island, Outer HebridesApril 9 and 17.

Barrow, CumbriaMay 27.Barry Dock, South GlamorganMarch 21, April 6, 7, 18, 26, 27, 30, MayBeaumaris, GwyneddMarch 17,Bembridge, Isle of WightApril 24, May 22 and 30.Berwick-upon-Tweed, NorthumberlandMay 28.Bridlington, HumbersideApril 13.Broughton Ferry, AngusMarch 16 and 30.Buckie, BanffshireMarch 30, April 9.Calshot, HampshireMarch 30, April 23, May 3, 30 (2).Clacton-on-sea, EssexMarch 24, May 18 and 28.Cloughey-Portavogie, Co. DownMarch 11.Clovelly, DevonshireMarch 5, 23, May 22.Courtmacsherry Harbour, Co. CorkMarch 18.Cromer, NorfolkMarch 2.Donaghadee, Co. DownMay 12 and 16.Dover, KentApril 28, May 15 and 19.Dunbar, East LothianMarch 23.Dungeness, KentApril 23.Dun Laoghaire, Co. DublinMarch 18, 24, 29, May 23.Eastbourne, East SussexApril 17, May 15.Exmouth, DevonshireMay 7.Falmouth, CornwallMarch 2.Flamborough, HumbersideMarch 3, 15, 23, May 12.Galway Bay, Co. GalwayMarch 21, April 14, 21, May 22.Girvan, AyrshireMay 12.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkMarch 8, April 21, 27, May 28Harwich, EssexMay 11.Hastings, East SussexMarch 8, April 23, May 5.Holyhead, GwyneddMarch 10.Howth, Co. DublinMarch 6.Hoylake, MerseysideMay 18.Humber, HumbersideMarch 4, April 21, May 5 and 11.Kilmore, Co. WexfordMay 8 (2).Kirkcudbright, KircudbrightshireMay 18.Kirkwall, OrkneyMarch 8, April 8 (2), May 5.Llandudno, GwyneddMay 26.Longhope, OrkneyMarch 3.Lowestoft, SuffolkApril 13, May 25.Lytham-St Anne's, LancashireMay 22.Macduff, BanffshireMarch 30, April 28.Margate, KentApril 13, May 4, 30 and 31.Moelfre, GwyneddMarch 5, May 2.

Mumbles, West GlamorganMay 28.New Quay, DyfedApril 27, 28 and 30.North Sunderland, NorthumberlandApril 4.Penlee, CornwallMarch 22, April 11 and 13.Peterhead, AberdeenshireMay 9.Plymouth, DevonshireMarch 23.Poole, DorsetApril 10, 14, May 3 and 4.Porthdinllaen, GwyneddMarch 15 and 24, April 16.Portrush, AntrimApril 18.Port St Mary, Isle of ManMarch 3, May 5.Pwllheli, GwyneddApril 13 and 26, May 27.Ramsey, Isle of ManMay 9.Ramsgate, KentMarch 3.Rosslare Harbour, Co. WexfordMay 8 and 31.Runswick, ClevelandApril 14, May 11.St Helier, JerseyApril 6, May 5.St Ives, CornwallMarch 5, April 1, May 5 and 29.St Mary's, Isles of ScillyApril 2 and 7, May 21.St Peter Port, GuernseyMarch 23 and 27, April 26, May 5 (2), 7,

16 and 27.Salcombe, DevonshireApril 14.Seaham, DurhamMarch 19, May 26.Selsey, West SussexMarch 16, April 5, May 11 and 25.Sennen Cove, CornwallApril 15.Sheerness, KentMarch 10, 11, 15 and 22 (2), April 6 and

13, May 1, 8, 20 and 23 (2).Sheringham, NorfolkApril 27.Shoreham Harbour, West SussexMarch 12 and 22, April 30, May 1 and 16.Skegness, LincolnshireApril 2 and 30.Stromness, OrkneyMay 9.Swanage, DorsetMarch 8, 18 and 26, April 27, May 1 and

25 (4).Teesmoutn, ClevelandApril 8, 28 and 30.Tenby, DyfedApril 11, 15 and 16, May 1, 2, 19, 26,

28 (2) and 30.Thurso, CaithnessMarch 3.Troon, AyreshireMay 2 and 10.Tynemouth, Tyne and WearMarch 10(2), 11 (3), and 31.Valentia, Co. KerryApril 12.Walmer, KentMay 22.Weymouth, DorsetMarch 2, 9 and 30, April 14 and 15,May 1 (2), 15 and 30.Whitby, North YorkshireMarch 3, April 23, May 6.Wick, CaithnessMarch 8.

229

Wicklow, Co. WicklowApril 27 and 28, May 16.Workington, CumbriaMarch 13.Yarmouth, Isle of WightMarch 16.Youghal, Co. CorkMay 28.On PassageMay 1 and 25.

ILB launches on serviceduring the monthsMarch, April andMay, 1974Aberdovey, GwyneddApril 12 and 28, May 12.Abersoch, GwyneddApril 7, 13 and 26, May 7 and 17.Aberystwyth, DyfedApril 1, May 12 (2) and 19.Arran (Lamlash), ButeshireApril 13.Atlantic College (St Donats), South

GlamorganMarch 7, April 12, 14 and 26, May 5,

18 and 25.Barmouth, GwyneddMay 28.Barrow, CumbriaApril 5 and 7.Beaumaris, GwyneddApril 22, May 1, 13 and 16.Bembridge, Isle of WightMay 17 and 22.Blackpool, LancashireApril 5, 7 and 8, May 27.Borth, DyfedApril 26, May 31.Brighton, East SussexApril 14 (2), May 22 and 29.Broughty Ferry, AngusMarch 3, May 5, 7, 20 and 21.Burnham-on-C rouch, EssexApril 13 and 26, May 9.Burry Port, DyfedApril 23, May 7, 12 and 30.Cardigan, DyfedMay 8.Clacton-on-Sea, EssexApril 28, May 5, 11, 21 and 28.Conway, GwyneddMarch 23 and 24, April 14.Criccieth, GwyneddApril 13.Crimdon Dene, DurhamApril 21.Cromer, NorfolkMay 29.

Cullercoats, Tyne and WearApril 25.Dunbar, East LothianMarch 23.Eastbourne, East SussexMay 15, 21 (2) and 25.Eastney, HampshireMarch 6 and 14, April 13, 20 (2), 21 and

24, May 11.Exmouth, DevonshireMay 7 and 30.Filey, North YorkshireMay 19, 20 and 26.Fleetwood, LancashireMay 4, 8, 10, 12 and 31.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkMarch 9 and 24, May 6 and 11.Hartlepool, ClevelandApril 8.Harwich, EssexApril 6, 9 and 24.Hastings, East SussexApril 21 and 23, May 26 and 31.Helensburgh, DunbartonshireMarch 9, April 4, 20 and 29, May 17, 22,27 and 28.Horton and Port Eynon, West GlamorganApril 18 and 24.Humber Mouth (Cleethorpes), HumbersideMay 27.Kippford, KirkcudbrightshireMay 24 and 26.Largs, AyrshireMarch 24, April 26 and 28, May 3 and 19.Littlehampton, West SussexMarch 10, 21 and 23, April 5, May 1, 2,

6, 14, 19 and 26.Littlestone-on-Sea, KentMarch 16 and 31, April 23.Llandudno, GwyneddApril 27, May 12, 18 and 26.Lyme Regis, DorsetApril 7, 13, 14 and 27, May 11 and 25.Lymington, HampshireApril 13(2), Hand 18, May 28.Lytham-St-Anne's, LancashireMay 5.Margate, KentMay 15, 19, 20, 25 (2) and 31.Minehead, SomersetApril 4, 16 and 23, May 19 and 30.Moelfre, GwyneddApril 28 (2), May 15, 26 and 30.Morecambe, LancashireMarch 24, May 4 and 12.Mudeford, DorsetMarch 31.The Mumbles, West GlamorganMay 3.New Brighton, MerseysideApril 17, May 9, 17, 26 and 27.Newquay, CornwallApril 7 and 18.North Berwick, East LothianMay 26.

North Sunderland, NorthumberlandApril 15 and 29.Pill, AvonApril 14 and 28, May 8.Plymouth, DevonshireApril 13 and 15, May 15 and 28.Poole, DorsetMay 1.Porthcawl, Mid GlamorganApril 12, May 20.Port Isaac, CornwallMarch 31, April 9 and 19.Port St Mary, Isle of ManMay 5 and 27.Port Talbot (Aberavon Beach), West

GlamorganApril 14, May 19.Pwllheli, GwyneddMay 24.Queensferry, West LothianApril 8, 14 and 15.Redcar, ClevelandApril 14.Rhyl, ClwydApril 14, 26 and 27, May 15, 16 and 27.Rye Harbour, East SussexApril 13, May 26.St Agnes, CornwallApril 8, Band 15.Selsey, West SussexApril 5, 11, 13 and 20, May 5 and 21.Sheerness, KentApril 6 and 13, May 1, 3, 10 ,20, 29 and 30.Shoreham Harbour, West Sussex.March 31, April 14, 28 and 30, May 1 (2),

4,5, 12, 16 and 28.Southend-on-Sea, EssexMarch 15, April 28.Southwold, SuffolkApril 12(2), May 30.Stonehaven, KincardineApril 25, May 31.Sunderland, Tyne and WearMay 29.Tenby, DyfedMay 2 and 26.Torbay, DevonshireApril 5, 16, 21 and 28, May 1, 11, 19, 21,

26 and 30 (2).Tre-Arddur Bay, GwyneddApril 4 and 24, May 25.Tynemouth, Tyne and WearMarch 10, 26, 27 (2), 28 (2), April 6, 7, 8,

23 and 28, May 26.Walmer, KentApril 29, May 19 and 25.West Mersea, EssexApril 13 and 27, May 1, 8 and 28.Weston-Super-Mare, AvonMarch 10, April 28, May 26, 27 and 30 (3).Whitstable, KentMarch 3 and 24, April 6 and 11, May 4

and 14.Yarmouth, Isle of WightApril 21.

LAUNCHES AND LIVES SAVED BY LIFEBOATS AND INSHORE LIFEBOATS

January 1, 1974 to June 30, 1974: Launches 923, lives saved 456

134 station lifeboats

THE STATION FLEET(as at 30/6/74)

119 inshore lifeboats operating in the summer

LIVES RESCUED 98,872

from the Institution's foundation in 1824 to June 30, 1974

230

Mermaid Marine Engines LtdTHAMES MARINA THAMES DITTON SURREYTelephone: 01-398 6802 and 6159

Twin MermaidType 595 TPTURBO-PLUS

Marine Dieselsnow installedin this craft.To be followedby similarinstallations innew 44 footSteel Lifeboats

Mermaid

"Who keepsJABSCO

bronze pumpsoircutet/ng?"

O£6WOKW WAKING

If you have a circulating pumpproblem, get in touch with CleghornWaring. Their technical advice service issecond to none, with 20 years experienceof Jabsco to draw on. And they have thestock and the staff to give help fast.

Shown above is the Jabsco bronzepump 4900-200, with neoprene impellerand jin BSP outlets. Stainless steelshaft. Just the job for a circulating pump.

BRONZE PUMP4900-200£14.44 VAT

Please send further details of the JABSCO bronze pump 4900-200

I am also interested in pumps for

Name

Address

CLEGHORN WARING ft CO (PUMPS) LTDREALLY KNOW THEIR JABSCO!

31 HITCHIN STREET, BALDOCK. HERTS. TEL: BALDOCK 2071

231

Index to AdvertisersBirds Eye Foods

Brooke Marine Ltd

L. J. Bushnell & Partners

Cleghorn Waring & Co. (Pumps) Ltd

Coastal Radio Ltd

Cogswell & Harrison Ltd

Fairy Marine Group

198

Inside Front Cover

228

231

232

228

Outside Back Cover

Gardner Engines (Sales) Ltd

David Jolly

Mermaid Marine Engines Ltd

Neco Marine Ltd

Rentokil

RNLI Shoreline

C. P. Witter Ltd . .

Inside Back Cover

232

231

228

228

226

232

CLASSIFIEDADVERTISEMENTS

FOR SALEAdvertising pencils, superb ball pens, combs,brushes, each gold stamped Lifeboat name,etc., raise funds, quickly, easily. Bran TubToys: samples from, Northern Novelties,Bradford 2 (BD2 3AF).

INSURANCE

FOR ALL INSURANCE, Phone, call orwrite J. A. Harrison (Brokers) Ltd,"Security House", 160-161 BromsgroveStreet, Birmingham B5 6NY. Telephone:

021-692 1245 (10 lines). For keenest rates,service and security.

TROPHIES

For all types of Trophy Cups, Medals,Medallions, Shields & Statuettes. SportsPrizes, Fancy Goods, Carnival Hats,Balloons, Novelties, Fund-raisers. Allrequirements for CHILDREN'S CHRIST-MAS PARTIES supplies. ALSO NOWAVAILABLE TO CLUB MEMBERS,Lounge, Dining & Bedroom Suites, Carpets.All types of Light Fittings and Shades, etc.ALL AT WHOLESALE TRADE PRICES.Send for our 64 page catalogue:SWINNERTONS LTD., Dept 'L', UNIONSTREET, WALSALL WS1 2HJ.

RACE SETS—MAINSAILS—DINGHYS—CUPS. W. & E. Astin, 7 Westerley Lane,Shelly, Huddersfield. Kirkburton 2368.

FUND RAISINGFund raising with 200% PROFIT ONOUTLAY! Send stamp for catalogue ofimprinted ball-pens and 20 other quick-sellers. Provincial Supplies, 1 GardenfieldLane, Berkhampstead, Herts.

WANTED

Interesting film, any gauge, black and whiteor colour, of Lifeboats or rescue at sea.BBC TV, Box 774, c/o RNLI, West QuayRoad, Poole, Dorset, BH15 1HZ.

THE ORIGINAL

TILLER MASTER

AUTOMATIC STEERING on a.COMPASS COURSE

For craft 20-45ft. over 10plbs.thrust. Self-contained unit with

simple 2-hole installation. Quicklydisengaged. ^ amp. average drain.Ocean proved. £196 ex VAT

Sole importer:

DAVID JOLLY3 Little Russel, Lytchett Minster, Poole,Dorset BH16 6JD. Tel.: 020 122 2142

-the instant communication andprecise navigation equipment thattakes the rough with the smooth

Coastal Radio Limited, Westway,Chelmsford, Essex CM 1 3BH.

Telephone: (0245) 65533.—C19"A Marcon! Marine Company

TOWINGBRACKETS

Approved by car manufacturers and issued withfitting Instructions. Also shock absorbersstabiliser and couplings.

Please save a little for the people whosave a lot—giVe generously to theR.N.LI.

C. P. WITTER LTD. CHESTER Tel: 0244-41166

CLASSIFIEDADVERTISEMENTS

Readers are reminded that THE LIFEBOAT, witha print run of 40,000 copies, is an attractive mediumfor classified sales and wants advertisements. Classifiedrates are 15p a word; panels £15.00.

All enquiries to:Dyson Advertising Services,PO Box 9, Godalming, Surrey.

Designed and Printed in Great Britain by Ditchling Press Limited, Ditchling, Hassocks, Sussex

232

durability

Dependable Marine diesel engines 110-230 b.h.p.

GARDNER ENGINES (SALES) LTDPATRICROFT, ECCLES, MANCHESTER M30 7WA. Tel: 061-789 2201

LONDON: 130 Brixton Hill, London SW2 IRS. Tel: 01-671 0978/9GLASGOW: 124 St. Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5ER. Tel: 041-221 0887

IWaveney 13 4mSelf-rightingLifeboat sr

craft for the total coastguard conceptTracker 19 6mAir-Sea Rescue Launch

Manager Military Sales,Fairey Marine Group, Hamble, Southampton,Telephone: Hamble 2661 Telex: 47546