THE JOURNAL OF THE RNLI

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'olume XLIV Number 455 Spring 1976

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THELIFEBOATSpring 1976

Contents

Volume XLIVNumber 455

Notes of the Quarter, by The Editor

Henry Blogg Centenary Exhibition

Lifeboat Services

International Boat Show ...

Major-General R. H. Farrant, CB, Chairman of the Institution

111

112

113

119

120

Donaghadee: One of the Guardians of the Northern Channel, by Joan Davies 122

Chairman: Helicopter Rescue, British Airways Style, by J. D. Ferguson 125MAJOR-GENERAL R. H. FARRANT, CB

Profile of the Offshore Fleet 126

Director and Secretary :CAPTAIN NIGEL DIXON, RN Electronic Eyes and Ears, by Lieut. Ernest Gough, RN 128

Around the Coast ... ... 130

Medical Arrangements in the RNLI: Part II, Current Work and Policies,by Geoffrey Hale, MBE MB B.ch ... ... ... 131

Editor: Letters 132PATRICK HOWARTH

Lifeboat People 133Assistant Editor:JOANDAVIES Some Ways of Raising Money 134

Shoreline 136

„ , Here and There 138Headquarters:Royal National Life-boat Institution,West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset BH15 Awards to Coxswains, Crews and Shore Helpers 1391HZ (Telephone Poole 71133).

Offshore Lifeboat Services, September, October and November 1975 ... 141London Office:Royal National Life-boat Institution, 21 Inshore Lifeboat Services, September, October and November 1975 ... 142Ebury Street, London SW1W OLD(Telephone 01-7300031). Index to Advertisers 144

COVER PICTURE

Exercises at sea are part of the regularroutine of every lifeboat station. Onexercise the crew can familiarise themselveswith the boat and with her lifesaving equip-ment, and, as a team, practise manoeuvreswhich, on service, may have to be carriedout in extreme conditions. In this photo-graph, taken by Roger Jones, SecondCoxswain Peter Gibbons of Lowestoft ispreparing to fire the line-throwing gun onboard the 47' Watson class lifeboatFrederick Edward Crick.

Editorial: All material submitted forconsideration with a view to publicationin the journal should be addressed to theeditor, 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.

Next Issues: The Summer issue of THELIFEBOAT will appear in July and newsitems should be sent by the end of April.News items for the autumn issue shouldbe sent in by the end of July.

Advertisements: All advertising en-quiries should be addressed to DysonAdvertising Services, PO Box 9, Godal-ming, Surrey (Telephone Godalming(04868) 23675).

Subscription: A year's subscription offour issues costs £1.40, includingpostage, but those who are entitled toreceive THE LIFEBOAT free of charge willcontinue to do so. Overseas subscrip-tions depend on the cost of postage tothe country concerned.

109

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.

no

NOTES OFTHE QUARTER

by the Editor

THE RNLI'S ACCOUNTS for 1975 are notcomplete at the time of going to press,hut it is certain that expenditure willhave exceeded income. In other wordsthere w i l l he a deficit which w i l l have tohe made good.

The reason for this deficit is inf la t ion,and not any fal l ing off in support forthe R N L I . Contrary to some people'sdoubts and fears the branches andguilds did not in any way lessen theiractivities in 1975 following the big drivemade throughout the country to raiseextra funds for'The Year of the Lifeboat'in 1974. There has been a gratifyingincrease in money received from legacies,and Shoreline continues to flourish andexpand. But with the cost of newlifeboats ranging from £100,000 to over£200,000 a deficit was hardly surprising.The RNLl ' s Committee of Managementtherefore decided on two courses ofaction. One was to control expendituremore sharply s t i l l , even to the point ofslowing down the boat building pro-gramme. The other was to launch a newcampaign to obtain new money fromfrom new sources.

Boat building programmeIn 1970 the RNLI decided to double

the rate of its boat building programme.The aim was to raise the average numberof new offshore lifeboats completed ina year from five to ten. When thispolicy was announced Admiral SirWilfrid Woods, who was then theRNLI's chairman, stated unequivocallythat it was an act of faith and that therewere not the financial resources availableto the Inst i tut ion at that time to ensurethe achievement of this programme. Sofar as the support of the general public-was concerned this act of faith wasjustified. What no one could reasonablyforesee in 1970 was that the cost of anew lifeboat would be tripled withinabout five years.

The R N L I has at present eleven new

The Duke of Atholl, a deputy chairman ofthe RNLI, visited six lifeboat stations in thesouth west of England on January 14 and 15:Salcomhe, Torhay, Exmonth, Lyme Regis,Swanage and Poole. He aha took part infund raising discussions and is seen here withmemhers of Brixham Indies guild, Dart-mouth, Brixham, Paignton and Totnesbranches and Ton/nay branch and guild.Standing on the Duke's left (centre front) isValerie Wood, assistant organising secretary,south west.photograph by courtesy of West of England

Newspapers.

lifeboats under construction which areexpected to be completed this year.This is a rate of bui ld ing which cannotnow be sustained because of inflation,and the R N L I plans to order only twonew Rother lifeboats this year. If thefinancial situation of the Ins t i t u t ionimproves appreciably the number ofnew lifeboats w i l l be increased, but inany event 42 new lifeboats wi l l have beencompleted since 1970, giving an averageof seven new lifeboats per year.

When the new boat building pro-gramme was announced in 1970 it wasstated that the aim was to have a self-r igh t ing fleet of lifeboats by 1980.Despite the proposed pause in the newconstruction programme the aim is s t i l ll ikely to be ful f i l led because of thenumber of existing boats in the fleetwhich wi l l have been modified andaltered to give a self-righting capability.It wi l l s t i l l be true to say that, apartfrom the three Clyde class lifeboatswhich were never intended to have aself-righting capability, by 1980 alloffshore lifeboats in the ac t ive fleet w i l lbe able to right themselves in the eventof a capsize.

An outstanding example of sup-port from one of Great Britain'sleading companies is the action ofBritish Petroleum in making acovenanted donation of £100,000to the RNLI towards the cost of anew 54' Anin class lifeboat to bestationed at Aberdeen. She will becalled BP Forties.

This news was announced onFebruary 20 by Mr t'raser Cook,BP's chief representative in Scot-land, Mr Tony Kirk by. GeneralManager BP Petroleum Develop-ment Ltd. and Sir Charles\tcGrigor, Convener of the Scot-tish Lifeboat Council.

Sir Charles also announced thatstudents at Aberdeen Universitywotdd he presenting the RNLI with£7,000 to provide electronic equip-ment for the new lifeboat.

New moneyAs part of its drive to raise new money

the R N L I organised a series of meetingsin November 1975 of a new kind. TheInstitution's advertising agents, LintasLtd, k ind ly offered the use of a receptionroom on their premises in which a smallexhibition of models of new lifeboatswas staged. Small groups of influentialpeople in the City of London wereinvited and were given an audio-visualpresentation of the RNLI 's presentfinancial problems. On one eveningthose present were bankers, on anotherthey were drawn from the oil industryand on another from shipping. Solicitorsand trustee bankers, people associatedwith the RNLl's City of Londonbranch, representatives of overseasinterests and the press and televisionprovided the guests on other evenings.

The sympathetic interest shown by allthe R N L I guests on these evenings, allof whom were people of standing andauthority, was extremely encouraging,and there is already evidence ofincreased financial support. Oneexample in particular may be cited,although the decision was taken beforethe meetings held in Lintas House. Thiswas the action of the Board of BritishPetroleum as reported in the adjacentcolumn.

Other appeals are being made toother sections of the community. It ishoped, too. to increase the interestshown in the work of the RNLI byimmigrant communities. Other plansare also under consideration, and thefund raising committee, whose chairmanis Admiral Sir Peter Compston. w i l l beglad to learn of any other suggestionsfor raising new money in new ways.

Storm damage on January nightWidespread damage to RNLI installa-

tions was caused by the exceptionalgales during the weekend of January 2to 4. On the north-west coast ofEngland the 1LB house at Blackpoolwas completely demolished. The ILBherself was recovered from the wreck-age, and although she was not seriouslydamaged the boat and engine had to be

1 1 1

High seas healing up against Scarborough hoatliouse doors in the January storms.photograph by courtesy of Dennis Dobson.

withdrawn to the depot and replaced.The lower section of the lifeboat housedoors at Fleetwood was stove in. TheCouncil slipway used to launch the 1LBat Morecambe was completely carriedaway, but another slipway some 300yards away was brought into service.

In Wales the boathouse doors atBarmouth were stove in and the ILBhouse at Aberystwyth lost its roof. Onthe Isle of Man there was considerabledamage to the slipway at Peel and the

McLachlan lifeboat was temporarily offservice. In the south west of Englandthe worst damage was to the slipway atWeston-super- M are.

A number of places on the east coastof England were also seriously affected,although the early reports in newsbulletins that the lifeboat slipway atWells had been carried away werefortunately incorrect. Some damage was,however, done to the runway outsidethe boathouse. At Sheringham half the

boathouse door was stove in. Oneboathouse door at Cromer was smashedbeyond repair. The boathouse doors atScarborough also suffered damage.

Reports of lesser damage werereceived from Aberdovey, Runswick,Seaham and Walton-on-the-Naze.

At the time of going to press the fullcost of repairs and restoration is not yetknown, but it will clearly be appreciable.

Last depot partyThe last of the traditional Christmas

parties at the RNLI depot in BorehamWood, when a midday meal is servedand some members of the staff volunteerto wait on others, was in certain respectsa sad affair. Many of those present, itwas known, were unable to make thetransfer to Poole for various reasonsand others were about to retire. Never-theless the party revealed once again theclose fellowship of this important partof the RNLI.

The Boreham Wood depot was builtin 1939, and during the last war itserved as the RNLI headquarters. Fornearly 40 years the Boreham Wooddepot has provided a standard of serviceto volunteer workers, both those whoserve in lifeboats and those who raisefunds, in the highest traditions of theRNLI. The tradition, which no doubtthe new depot at Poole will sustain,dates back to 1882 when the RNLIopened a store yard at Poplar. In thosedays the store yard was used both torepair lifeboats and as a base for theRNLI's reserve fleet.

At the lunch some of those presentwere pensioners who had worked in thestore yard before 1939.

Henry BlotjyCentenary Exhibition

Born on February 6, 1876, HenryBlogg served in Cromer crew from1894 and was coxswain from 1909 to1947, through two world wars. Hewas awarded three gold medals forgallantry and four silver

Five Cromer lifeboatmen who werein the crew when Henry Blogg wascoxswain were at the Cliff House Hotelon February 6 when Patrick Howarth,public relations officer of the RNLI,opened the Henry Blogg CentenaryExhibition; they were George Rook,Dick Barker, 'Tuna' Harrison, JackDavies and Henry Blogg's nephewHenry 'Shrimp' Davies who was himselfjust on the point of retiring as coxswainafter 45 years service in the lifeboats.

R. A. Oakley, former RNLI navalarchitect, was to have opened theexhibition but he was unfortunatelyprevented by illness.

Although the exhibition was onlyopen for three days (from noon to10 pm) in the depth of winter whenthere were virtually no visitors to

Cromer, it was estimated that between4,000 and 5,000 people saw it. Theexhibition itself was extremely interes-ting and well prepared, and immensetrouble had been taken in its prepara-tion by the local branch.

The following tribute was receivedfrom the Rt. Hon. Edward Heath, MP:

'/ gladly pay my tribute to the lifeboatservice and those who man it. All over thecountry coxswains and crews give of theirutmost in living up to the great traditionsof Henry Blogg and others who haverendered outstanding services, sometimesleading to the sacrifice of their own lives,in trying to save those in distress.

' We who sail gain confidence from thefact that the lifeboat service is there in caseof need. At the same lime it places onevery one of us the responsibility forensuring that we respect the sea in all itschanging moods and know what we areabout when we put out upon its waters.

'/ welcome the initiative of the Cramerlifeboat committee in staging this exhibi-tion to commemorate the centenary ofHenry Blogg's birth and commend it to allthose who go down to the sea in ships.'

A memorial service was held inCromer parish church on Sundaymorning, February 8.

A Henry Blogg display is beingstaged at the National Maritime

Museum in Greenwich this year;opening day was February 16. This is inaddition to fine exhibition of modellifeboats on permanent display at themuseum.

National Maritime Museum

The National Maritime Museum hasaccepted several hundred drawings madefor lifeboats built between 1918 and1933. The drawings were formerlystored at the RNLI's head office at 42Grosvenor Gardens.

In accepting them the museum askedwhether there were any drawings forlifeboats built before 1918. No suchdrawings are in the RNLI's possession,but if any reader knows of any theRNLI and the National MaritimeMuseum will be interested to hear.

Change of address

The address of the City of Londonorganising secretary, R. C. Pope, is now40 St Mary Axe, London EC3 (Tel.01-283 4680, extension 325).

112

South Eastern Division

Storm-disabled sloopTHE DUTY OFFICER at the Needles Coast-guard saw a red distress flare to west-ward, estimated two to three milesdistant, at 0108 on Sunday, September14, 1975. The honorary secretary ofYarmouth, Isle of Wight, lifeboatstation was requested to launch, theassembly signal made, and at 0122 the48' 6" Oakley The Earl and CountessHowe slipped her moorings.

Wind direction and force at the timeof launching, as recorded by HM Coast-guard, was 010°T, force 9. Tide was twohours flood setting 082°T at a rate of1.2 knots. It was raining very heavilywith visibility under one mile.

At 0147 further red flares were sightedby the Coastguard and it was notedfrom the bearing obtained that thecasualty was drifting fast to the south

Awarded the silver medal forgallantry: Coxswain! MechanicDavid Kennett, Yarmouth, Isle ofWight.

MFV St Patrick, taking water into her engine room, was towed into harbour on November 12,1975, by the 44' Waveney lifeboat 40-001, on temporary duty at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.The lifeboat was under the command of Coxswain J. Bryan.

photograph by courtesy of Great Yarmouth Press Agency.

The lifeboat was advised, therefore, to setcourse 217°M once past the South WestShingles Buoy.

Meanwhile, The Earl and CountessHowe, under the command of-Coxswain/Mechanic David Kennett, was makingbest possible speed through the NeedlesChannel in conditions which hadworsened to force 10 wind with veryrough confused seas and heavy swell.Visibility continued to be reduced tounder one mile by heavy rain. Thelifeboat was shipping heavy seas, somefilling the wheelhouse.

At 0212 the radar display aboard thelifeboat failed after an exceptionallylarge sea was taken aboard. At 0240 redflares, further south than previously,were sighted by Needles Coastguard. At0256 HMS Solent, an RN minesweeper onpassage, reported sighting a red flareseven miles to the south of her positionand that she was heading towards it.She sighted Yarmouth lifeboat at 0322,closed her and remained in companyduring the remainder of the service.

Despite torrential rain, at 0332 thelifeboat crew sighted a further flarealmost dead ahead, distance about onemile. Parachute flares were set off to

D74°TOk.

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help find the casualty and at 0341 a 28'disabled sloop was seen under jib sailand making about 4 knots southward.The wind had now backed to due northand continued to be Beaufort 10, stormforce. The sea was very rough andconfused with wave height estimated at25 feet; the tide was setting 074T° at arate of 1.0 knots.

Coxswain Kennett closed the movingyacht and quickly realised that, with ajammed sail and the violent motion ofboth boats, it would be too dangerous touse the breeches buoy, and there wouldbe little likelihood of success. He wouldhave, therefore, to lay the lifeboatalongside while underway in an attemptto transfer the yacht's crew of five.

One moment the yacht was toweringabove the lifeboat on the crest of a25-foot wave; the next she was wallowingin a trough of equal depth. Thus at0343, with superb timing and exceptionalseamanship, Coxswain Kennett drovethe lifeboat alongside the starboard sideof the plunging yacht and maintainedperfect position long enough for hiscrew to snatch and hoist in board threeof the survivors. Going astern, thecoxswain, again with excellent timing,waited until the yacht was on the crestof a wave and drove alongside a secondtime. Coxswain Kennett's superb boat-handling made these manoeuvres appearrelatively easy when, in fact, the aftconning position with 40' of boat aheadmade the task of judging the correcttime and laying alongside with littledamage a very difficult one. On thesecond occasion the yacht's motion wastoo violent to avoid her stern damagingthe port forward bulwark.

With considerable difficulty CoxswainKennett again managed to hold thelifeboat alongside the yacht long enough

113

for the two remaining survivors to besnatched from the yacht. One of them,who still had his lifeline attached to theyacht, fell between the two boats, butprompt and determined action byAssistant Mechanic Robert Cookeprevented this man from being crushedbetween the two hulls. Robert Cookequickly cut through the lifeline with aknife and, with what was clearlytremendous effort, hoisted the man rightover the guardrail and on to the engine-room canopy.

At 0400 Coxswain Kennett advisedNeedles Coastguard that all the occu-pants had been taken off the yacht,Chayka of Ardgoiir, which was to beabandoned; the lifeboat was returningto station in company with HMS Solent.

Wind and sea did not abate on thereturn to station; thus it was a long haulback to Yarmouth against a big head seawith the five survivors and seven crewall exhausted, cold and soaked. Cox-swain Kennett remained at the helmthroughout. At 0645 The Earl andCountess Howe arrived back atYarmouth and at 0730 was returned toher moorings, refuelled and ready forservice.

For this service the silver medal forgallantry was awarded to Coxswain/Mechanic David Kennett. The thanks ofthe Institution inscribed on vellumwere accorded to Assistant MechanicsRobert Cooke and Nicholas Chandlerand Crew Members Keith Hopkins,Stuart Pimm, Mark Rushton andAndries Postma. Letters of appreciationsigned by Captain Nigel Dixon, thedirector, were sent to the CommandingOfficers, HMS Solent and HM Coastguard,Needles.

Western Division

Stranded on rocksON HEARING FROM BARRY COASTGUARD,

at 2220 on Saturday, September 13,1975, that red flares had been reportedto the west of Brean Down, the honorarysecretary of Weston-super-Mare gaveinstructions for the maroons to be fired,and at 2231 the McLachlan ILB A504was launched; her crew were Helms-man Julian Morris and Crew MembersBernard Watts and Ian Watts.

The wind was north by east force 9and the sea rough. It was a very darknight with overcast sky and squallyshowers. The visibility was good butmoderate in showers. It was three hoursbefore high water and the tidal streamsetting northwards at about 2 knots,aggravating the rough sea state withwind against tide.

Before launching, the honorarysecretary had instructed the helmsmanto go to a point mid-way along the northside of the Brean Down peninsula andsearch westward. The ILB set coursedown wind at maximum speed andwheii half a mile off the Down anirregular flashing light was sighted closeinshore about one point on the port bow.

The time was 2241. Course was alteredand the ILB closed to within 60 to 70yards and, with the aid of the Aldislamp, it was established that the lightwas from a local motor boat stranded onrocks.

The boat was lying bows east withseas breaking over her. People could beseen standing in the water and on arocky ledge 5 feet above sea levelbehind the boat, at the base of a sheercliff. Using the Aldis lamp and a para-chute flare it was seen that the boat wasashore in a small cove bounded bysheer cliffs that offered no escape route.It was estimated that the tide would riseabout 14 feet and that those ashore werein grave danger of being drowned.Helmsman Morris decided to attempta rescue

The sea close inshore was rough andconfused due to the backwash from thecliffs. An eddy tidal stream was runningwestwards at about 1 knot. The ILBwas taken in to within 10 yards of thecasualty; people ashore could be heardshouting for the boat to stand offbecause of submerged rocks and shefrequently took the ground in the rough,confused breaking seas. The ILB wasturned round and stood out to sea.

Helmsman Morris anchored the ILB20 to 30 yards off the casualty, up-tide,and veered down with both enginesraised but running. As the boat set toofar westward, the anchor was recoveredand dropped further to the east. Thesecond attempt was more successful.The ILB, felt to be striking the rocksquite frequently, was veered to within20 feet of the casualty and a heaving linethrown ashore to the survivors. Instruc-tions were passed for the line to besecured around the waist of a survivorand he was pulled into the water andtaken aboard. Four men were rescuedin this way; the fifth man, the owner ofthe boat, managed to wade out to theILB.

All the survivors were safely on boardby 2305. The boat was pulled out,

H.

engines lowered and anchor recovered,and Barry Coastguard were advised thatthe survivors would be landed at theFerry Stage, Uphill. The ILB enteredthe River Axe and the five men were putf.shore at 2320; they were met by thelocal Coastguard. Five minutes later,after re-securing the boat's gear, theILB set out, at reduced speed, intothe rough seas and a strong head wind.

Difficulty was experienced in recover-ing the ILB because of the very roughweather and because direct communica-tion was impossible between boat andshore helpers. It was unsafe for thehelpers to stand on the slip, andmessages had to be passed via BarryCoastguard to the boathouse. The ILBwas eventually taken out of the water at0020 and re-housed by 0035.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to HelmsmanJulian Morris. The thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Crew Members BernardWatts and Ian Watts.

Eastern Division

Fast on West BarrowA RED FLARE was sighted in the vicinity ofSouth West Swin Buoy by MV Hounslowat 0110 on Saturday, August 16, 1975.Two minutes later a second flare wasseen and reported to Warden PointCoastguard via Warden Radio, thePort of London control station in thesame building. A request to launch wastelephoned to the honorary secretary ofSheerness lifeboat station; maroonswere fired; and at 0128 the 44' Waveneylifeboat Helen Turnbull slipped hermoorings.

The wind was south west force 6, withrough, short seas. The weather was finewith good visibility. High water atSheerness was predicted at 0813 and lowwater at 0154.

.SMALL COVE

EOCK.S

BREAN J10WN

114

Once clear of Garrison Point HelenTurnbull set out at full speed downMedway Channel and headed for WestBarrow Buoy, passing abeam at 0210.Lights of a small vessel could be seennorth-eastward and the GLC vesselNewham was stemming the tide at NorthEast Mouse Buoy, ready to offer help ifrequired. Firing a parachute flare toalert the casualty, Coxswain/MechanicCharles Bowry manoeuvred the lifeboatclose northward of her as she lay on herport bilge, fast on the West BarrowBank with seas breaking over her stern.

By now the wind was gusting force 7,with confused rough seas and heavybroken water over the bank. Predicteddepth of water on the bank at this stateof tide was about one foot.

In her position athwart tide and wind,Helen Turnbull was rolling her wheel-house deck edge under water andCoxswain Bowry realised that he coulddo little to assist in that state; and if hehad placed the boat head to sea, shewould have been parallel to the bankedge with little chance of maintainingher position safely close to the casualty,a 30' motor sailing yacht, Eladnid.

Coxswain Bowry therefore man-oeuvred south-westward and anchoredin 15' of water, veering the cable untilHelen Turnbull was in a position some65' north of the yacht, which Newhamwas illuminating by Aldis lamp.

A man was seen clinging precariouslyto the cabin top and, after conversationthrough the loudhailer, CoxswainBowry understood that nine people wereaboard. He realised that the man was inno situation to tend a gun line, so heshortened cable to westward and pre-pared the inflatable dinghy for launch-ing.

Crew Members Malcolm Keen andColin Washford boarded the dinghy,made fast lifelines and were veereddownwind. At the first attempt theywere carried out of reach of the yachtand had to be heaved back to the life-boat. After manoeuvring the lifeboat'sengines to re-position the boat thedinghy was again veered astern and,although frequently filled by seas,reached the yacht safely and the twocrew members scrambled aboard. Theyfound that there were, in fact, fivepeople on board; two were adultssuffering from seasickness and twowere children aged 8 and 12 years.

On receiving this information Cox-swain Bowry was able to assess thedangers facing the survivors. Time wasshort as he could foresee Helen Turnbullbeing driven on to the bank once theflood tide gained strength. He decidedthat it was too dangerous to risk thechildren in a breeches buoy or theinflatable dinghy, and that his onlycourse of action was to tow the yachtoff the bank.

Instructing his two crew members tobatten down the yacht as best theycould, Coxswain Bowry passed a heavytowline attached to the veering line.

Sand dredger Sir Cedric, making water fast, was towed from three miles west ofTrevose Lightback to harbour on October 11,1975, byPadstow's 48' 6" Oakley lifeboat James and CatherineMacfarlane under the command of Coxswain A. Warnock. Water had risen above ship's pumpsand main engine air intakes; RN helicopter lowered pump aboard vessel during tow to keep waterlevel under control. Wind was north east fresh to strong, sea moderate with a heavy swell.

photograph by courtesy of A. Prosser.

When this was made fast he orderedMalcolm Keen and Colin Washford tocheck the yacht's bilges as soon as shecleared the bank and to see that allsurvivors were wearing lifejackets readyfor immediate transfer to the lifeboat.

With the yacht lying stern to sea onher port side and shipping heavy water,the tow had to be made to the west tominimise the weight on the line and toavoid the possibility of the casualtybeing overturned by the weight of seas.At about 0310, with the lifeboat'sanchor still down, the yacht was towedclear at half throttle on the engines.After Malcolm Keen and Colin Washfordhad quickly checked that the yachtappeared sound, the remaining threecrew members on Helen Turnbullweighed anchor by hand while CoxswainBowry moved the boat ahead to helpand slackened the towline to allowlateral movement of the lifeboat's stern.

Once in deeper water, at 0320, thetow was shortened but, because ofviolent pitching and rolling, CoxswainBowry waited some 15 minute's for a lullin the gusting wind and breaking seasbefore moving the lifeboat rapidly asternto place her starboard quarter on theyacht's port side. The five survivorswere transferred to Helen Turnbull asquickly as possible and taken down tothe forward cabin. Colin Washford alsoreturned to the lifeboat while MalcolmKeen remained on board the yacht totend her, and, at 0345, the tow was againlengthened to 15 fathoms.

The motor sailing yacht, which wasthe owner's home, had lost her rudderwhile on passage from Maylandsea to

Benfleet and had been blown on to WestBarrow Bank. The owner accepted thatthe tow might have to be cut if con-ditions proved too hazardous, but thereturn passage was made by East SpileBuoy to seek a lee as soon as possibleand the tow entered Sheerness GreatBasin safely at 0547. The lifeboat was re-fuelled and ready for service at 0700.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry has been awarded to Coxswain/Mechanic Charles Bowry. Medal servicecertificates were presented to AssistantMechanic Roderick Underhill andCrew Members Malcolm Keen, ColinWashford, David Hargreaves and BarryPowell.

North Eastern Division

Swimmers rescuedMABLETHORPE iLB deputy launchingauthority was informed by a councillifeguard at 1458 on August 6, 1975,that there were two swimmers in diffi-culties off the 'pipe tunnel', an outfallpipe protected by a groyne, some quarterof a mile north of the station.

Maroons were fired immediately toassemble the crew. It was three hours tohigh water and the wind was south-easterly, force 2. However, despite thelight wind, a moderate south-easterlyswell was producing a heavy surf,complicated by an additional cross swell,resulting in a confused, boiling sea onthe beach and on off-lying shoal ground.

The three helpers and crew wereassisted by visitors in holding the boathead to sea before launching. While the

115

launch was in progress there were morereports of swimmers in difficulties andat the launching site at least two peoplewere dragged from the water by helpers.

The ILB, with Bernard Tuplin at thehelm and John Mayfield and MichaelWestfield as crew, launched at 1503.Handling with superb skill a boat whichwas frequently being swept by breakingseas and could not in those conditionsbe effectively drained, Bernard Tuplincleared the main surf on the beach andoff-lying bank. Despite the state of thesea, the ILB then set course at full speedfor a position offshore from the twoswimmers and just outside the worst ofthe break on the bank.

The swimmers were in extremedifficulties in the worst of the surf andwere about 10 feet apart. The situationwas such that any attempt to manoeuvrethe ILB to each individual casualtywould have been impossible andprobably would have resulted in the lossof both people; there would have alsobeen a high risk of capsize. Any delay inpicking up the swimmers could well haveresulted in a fatality.

Bernard Tuplin realised that there wasonly one course of action, and that wasto pick up both people 'on the run'. Heand his crew were all aware of theurgency and the dangers involved—andalso that they would probably only havethe one chance of success.

Bernard Tuplin took a course runningin with the surf that would bring acasualty to each sponson in turn. JohnMayfield and Michael Westfield were tograsp a swimmer each and hold him tothe sponson.

The determination, skill and goodteamwork shown by this crew was wellrewarded by a smooth and successfulpick-up of both casualties, and the runwas continued straight in to the beach;with the confused swell and the boatheavy with water, the ILB could at anytime have broached and capsized.

The ILB was recovered and ready forservice at 1520.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Helmsman Bernard Tuplinand Crew Members John Mayfield andMichael Westfield.

Eastern Division

Phantom jet crewON FRIDAY, December 5,1975, HM Coast-guard informed the honorary secretaryof Skegness lifeboat station at 1400 thatan aircraft had crashed into the sea andthat two parachutists had been seen.The 37' Oakley lifeboat Charles FredGrant ham launched at 1418 and set outin a light breeze and slight sea. It wasone hour before low water; visibilitywas poor.

The lifeboat quickly reached the twomen 2J miles north east of Skegness andtook them aboard. It was discovered

Whitby ILB crewmembers: (I. to r.)David Wharton,Michael Coates, BrianHodgson and BarryMason.photograph by courtesyof Tindale's of Whitby.

that their atrcraft was a Phantom jetand that fortunately they were the onlyoccupants. The lifeboat returned tostation at 1455 and the two men weretaken by helicopter to RAF Coningsby.Subsequently a letter of appreciationwas received from RAF Coningsby andalso a donation to the Institution'sfunds.

North Eastern Division

Man clinging to cliffA MAN CUT OFF by the tide at SaltwickNab was reported to the honorarysecretary of Whitby lifeboat station bythe Coastguard at 1805 on Friday,July 25, 1975. It was high water and innormal circumstances, with a fallingtide, anyone cut off at that time wouldbe safe. As a precautionary measure,however, the honorary secretary firedthe assembly signal at 1806 while thesituation was clarified by the Coast-guard.

On investigation it was clear that theman was in trouble on the cliff. The ILBlaunched at 1820. The wind wasnortherly, force 1 to 2, the sea smoothat launching with a moderate northerlyswell.

On arrival at Saltwick Nab it wasapparent that the swell was producingheavy breaking surf on the shoal groundoff the point and the sea was right up tothe cliffs. The man was sighted clingingto the cliff, some 12 feet up, slowlyslipping down as the handholds crum-bled. He had apparently been there forsome time and had slowly slipped frommuch higher up. At the foot of the cliffimmediately below him was 4eep waterconfused by the breaking surf and riseand fall of the swell.

Helmsman Michael Coates took theILB in a wide sweep over the bank andbelow the cliff continuing out over thebank to assess the situation. There wasno hope of laying the ILB alongside thecliff long enough to persuade the manto drop down, so it was decided toanchor the boat and veer down to aposition below him.

A second run in was made, the ILBanchored head to the breaking surf andthe cable veered out until the boat wasclose to the cliff, abreast of the man.

Leaving his crew, David Wharton, totend the line, Michael Coates attachedthe inboard end of the anchor warp tohis lifejacket and swam to the foot ofthe cliff, where he was able to cling tothe rocks immediately below the man.From this precarious position he wasable to convince him that he would besafe to slide to the bottom of the cliff.Although boat and rocks were beingswept by surf, Michael Coates managedto hold the casualty until they were bothpulled back aboard the ILB.

By 1843 the operation was completedand the ILB hauled clear on the anchorwarp before recovering the anchor andheading back to Whitby. The survivorwas landed at Scotch Head at 1855 andthe ILB was rehoused and ready forservice at 1910.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to HelmsmanMichael Coates and the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Crew Member DavidWharton.

North Eastern Division

Small boat swampedON MONDAY EVENING, AugUSt 18, 1975,the honorary secretary of Whitby life-boat station was informed by WhitbyCoastguard that a small boat whichthey had had under observation had beenswamped a quarter of a mile to seawardof the Metropole Hotel and that the twocrew had been thrown into the water.

Five minutes later, at 1825, the ILB,manned by Helmsman Brian Hodgson,Barry Mason and David Wharton, waslaunched and heading out of the harbourat full speed. It was four hours after highwater. The wind was northerly, force 3.Outside the harbour the sea wasmoderately rough with a moderate swell.

After an uncomfortable passagebetween the piers the ILB set course forthe position off the Metropole. Inshoreof this position very heavy surf wasbreaking on the beach. By 1830 the ILBwas in the area of the casualty but, withthe sun shining brightly from the direc-tion of Sandsend, more or less straightinto the eyes of the crew, visibility forconducting a search from the directionof the harbour was bad.

116

Having sighted nothing on the firstsearch, therefore, the ILB ran off sea-ward to a position abeam the bar buoy,ready to start a creeping search acrossthe area, thus lessening the effect of thesunlight.

Although the sea was moderatelyrough and there was a moderate swell,the ILB was still outside the breakingsurf. On her first run in towards thebeach the first survivor was spotted ashort distance outside the main break-ing surf line. As she closed him thesecond survivor was sighted some 50yards away and almost in the surf.Because of the critical conditions, andknowing that both men would soon bein the breaking surf, Brian Hodgsonentered the water to support the firstsurvivor, well knowing that he himselfmight be carried into the heavy surf, sothat the ILB could go directly to theother survivor who was in the greaterdanger.

Having picked up this survivor justas he was about to be engulfed in thesurf, the ILB returned to recover boththe other survivor and Brian Hodgson.By this time they, too, were right on theedge of the surf line.

The ILB then returned to WhitbyHarbour, arriving at 1850. Bothsurvivors were landed; the second wastaken home by David Wharton and putto bed for two hours to recover. TheILB was rehoused and ready for serviceat 2001.

For this service the bronze medal forgallantry was awarded to Crew MemberBrian Hodgson. Medal service certifi-cates were presented to Crew MembersBarry Mason and David Wharton.

/" 9 > V ^ >i l9 •* 'T **

Ij f //"/.

North Western Division

Yachts on a lee shoreA YACHT, Westralia, dragging her anchorin Forth Wen Bay and in danger of goingon to rocks was reported to the honorarysecretary of Moelfre lifeboat station byCemaes Bay Coastguard at 2009 onAugust 30, 1975. Maroons were firedand at 2022 Watkin Williams, Moelfre's42'Watson lifeboat, launched on service.

The wind was north north west force6 to 7, sea rough with a heavy north-west swell: the state of tide was 4 hoursebb.

Coxswain William Roberts steered acourse to a position half a mile northeast of Lynas Point and thence to ForthWen Bay, a total distance of 9 miles.While on passage information wasreceived that two yachts were indifficulties and that a helicopter fromRAF Valley was on her way. She arrivedat about 2050 and then stood by, as thecrews of the yachts had decided to awaitthe arrival of the lifeboat rather than belifted into the helicopter.

On arrival at Forth Wen Bay, at 2130,the lifeboat found both yachts on thewestern side of the bay: Westralia,having parted her anchor cable, washove to under power, pitching androlling heavily about 1 cable from therocky shore; while the other yacht,Heracles, was anchored with full scopeof cable (120') out, pitching heavily inheavy surf about 50' from the shore.The wind was now northerly force 6 to 7,gusting 8 in squalls, with a very roughsea and northerly swell.

HORTH

•-r-.S

••30'

*'

$„ f\.2"/

25'

WEST

WIND: NORTHERLY poi?at/7 SUSTINSFORCE & in -SttUALLS

Tir>E: SETTING WEST <S> D-B Jets.

-«- INDICATES PASSAGE Of LIFEBOAT

It was obvious to Coxswain Robertsthat Heracles was in the greater danger,and a first approach, to assess the situa-tion, was made with the lifeboat's bowtowards the yacht. In view of the veryrough seas and very heavy swell,together with the awkward and danger-ous position of the yacht, CoxswainRoberts decided it would be necessaryto veer down on her and tow her outinto deeper water.

First he manoeuvred the lifeboat sternfirst seaward to gain sea room. He thenanchored, and using helm and enginestogether with the advantage of sea andwind brought her head to sea. She wasthen veered down to Heracles so that aheaving line and towing line could bepassed, but, within a boat's length of theyacht, a large sea and swell hit thelifeboat, broaching her starboard side toand dragging the anchor. However, shewas now abeam of the yacht and a tow-line was passed and made fast. Withextreme difficulty the lifeboat wasmanoeuvred head to sea again, anchorweighed, the cable of the yacht slippedand the tow begun at 2205. The opera-tion had taken 35 minutes.

With Heracles in tow it was agreedbetween Coxswain Roberts and theskipper of Westralia, still hove to, thatWestralia should be escorted under herown power to Moelfre Bay in companywith the tow.

On arrival in the comparative shelterof Moelfre Bay two lifeboat crewmembers were put aboard each of theyachts to secure them to buoys. Thecrew of Westralia stayed aboard theiryacht while the crew of Heracles werelanded at 0110. The honorary medicaladviser, Dr Parry Jones, was waiting toattend them and they were taken toBangor Hospital where they remainedovernight.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum wereaccorded to Coxswain William Roberts.Vellum service certificates were presentedto Second Coxswain David Owen,Motor Mechanic Evan Jones, ActingAssistant Mechanic Eifion Jones andCrew Members William Rowlands,Dewi Parry and Kenneth Roberts.

Eastern Division

High and dry on theGoodwinsRAMSGATE HONORARY SECRETARY Was

informed by Dover Straits Coastguardat 2025 on Thursday, September 11,1975, that, following a number of reportsof red flares sighted over the GoodwinSands, Walmer lifeboat had beenlaunched; as further reports werereceived it appeared that the casualtywas further northward, and it wasrequested that Ramsgate lifeboat shouldlaunch.

Maroons were fired and at 2040 the46' 9" Watson lifeboat Michael and Lily

117

Davis, built in 1953, slipped her moor-ings in the outer harbour and set asouth-easterly course towards theregularly sighted red and green flares.The weather was fine with goodvisibility. The wind was south west force4 in the lee of Ramsgate cliffs, increasingto force 6 as the lifeboat cleared the land.High water Ramsgate was predicted at1610.

Although both Walmer and Ramsgatelifeboats are fitted with radar, the exactposition of the casualty was not seen dueto excessive clutter on the screens in thevicinity of Goodwin Knoll shoal. Flarescontinued to be sighted and Walmerlifeboat was trying to close the casualtyfrom the south of the shoal area when,at 2115, she ran hard aground. (Life-boats are designed to take the groundand this is often necessary on a servicein areas where there are widespreadsandbanks.) Her coxswain immediatelywarned the Ramsgate coxswain, HerbertGoldfinch, and suggested an approachfrom the north west of the shoal wouldbe safer.

Michael and Lily Davis closed theshoal area to the north east of NorthGoodwin Buoy and both lifeboats firedparachute flares to establish thecasualty's position. At 2132 CoxswainGoldfinch requested the attendance ofthe Ramsgate McLachlan ILB, but, oncloser sight of the heavy surf breakingacross the bank, he cancelled his requestat 2140.

The wind was now south south westforce 6, gusting 7, with heavy brokenwater over the drying sandbanks of theNorth Sands area.

At 2145 Coxswain Herbert Goldfinchgrounded the forward part of the lifeboaton the sands and, by the light of para-chute flares, a yacht was sighted, highand dry, some 4| cables eastward. Peoplewere seen on the sands and two lifeboatcrew members, Michael Pett andTimothy Hurst, immediately volunteeredto go overside to escort them to safety.Michael Pett and Tim Hurst are wellacquainted with the irregular swatch-ways in the area but were at times waisthigh in water between the dry sandbanks.They were attached by lifeline to thelifeboat for part of the journey, but theline was not long enough and they metthe four survivors from the yacht, threemen and a woman, escorting them backto the lifeboat at 2158. This was clearlyseen on radar by the Walmer coxswaina mile to the south.

The casualty, Albas, was a Dutch builtyacht, German owned and on passagefrom Ostend to Dover. Her owner, hiswife and two friends neither spoke norunderstood English well, but impliedthat they had been grounded earlier andwere making water before drifting ashoreabout two hours previously. They hadloaded an inflatable dinghy with a life-raft, flares and stores, abandoned thefully-rigged yacht and were walkingtowards the lights of the lifeboat, towingthe dinghy behind them, when met by

Michael Pett and Tim Hurst. They wereall wearing lifejackets.

Coxswain Goldfinch rigged thescrambling net forward and the sur-vivors were taken aboard and down tothe cabin; blankets and hot drinks wereprovided and, once warm and dry, allappeared in good health.

Michael Pett and Tim Hurst, using agun line as a guide, then returned to theyacht to ensure no one else was aboardand to run out an anchor since the ownerhad said that, as the yacht was on hermaiden voyage, he would appreciate anyeffort to save her.

At 2215, with the two crew memberssafely back aboard, Michael and LilyDavis cleared the bank and steamedaround the northern edge of NorthSand Head to an anchorage position onthe eastern side. The Coastguard wereadvised that the lifeboat would awaitthe rising tide, but that she was availablefor service if required.

At 0100 Walmer lifeboat re-floatedand, after receiving confirmation thather help was no longer needed, returnedto station; she was beached and readyfor service at 0150.

The yacht started to float shortly after0130 and Coxswain Goldfinch weighedanchor and closed the bank eastward ofthe yacht. Michael Pett and Tim Hurstwent on board to make fast a 10 fathomtow, which parted the main cleat fromthe deck. After re-securing around themast they remained aboard, baling, asthe tow started at 0230. The tide was nowsetting southward against the south-south-west force 6 wind, causing steep,confused, and broken seas around NorthSand Head.

At 0300, as the water in the yacht'scabin had risen to 3' 6" deep, the lifeboatclosed her to put Assistant MechanicWilliam Davies aboard to try to startthe motor pump and help with baling;both Michael Pett and Tim Hurst wereby now getting very tired.

When about 1| miles east of Rams-gate, at 0330, the yacht lurched violently,taking on more water, and she settled bythe stern heeling quickly to port. Allthree crew members were thrown intothe water. Coxswain Goldfinch broughtthe lifeboat full astern, and by the lightof the searchlight Crew Member DerekPegdon threw a breeches buoy toMichael Pett while Tim Hurst andWilliam Davies used the slack towlineto climb aboard.

With all the crew safely aboardCoxswain Goldfinch told the Coast-guard that he would attempt to continuethe tow as far as possible to clear theshipping lane, and although the yachtwas waterlogged and on her beam ends,the tow entered Ramsgate Harbour at0445. The yacht was secured on thedisused hovercraft slipway at 0515 andthe survivors taken to a local hotel. Thelifeboat was refuelled and ready forservice at 0600.

For this service the thanks of theInstitution inscribed on vellum were

accorded to Crew Members MichaelPett and Timothy Hurst. Vellum servicecertificates were presented to CoxswainHerbert Goldfinch, Acting SecondCoxswain David Aves, Motor MechanicRobert Cannon, Assistant MechanicWilliam Davies and Crew MemberDerek Pegdon.

Ireland Division

Fishing boat withengine troubleA MEMBER OF BALTIMORE, Co. Cork, life-boat crew informed the deputy launch-ing authority at about 1310 on Tuesday,November 11, 1975, that the fishingboat Dun Na Ri was in difficulty withengine trouble east of Bird Island. The46' Watson lifeboat Henry Blogg, builtin 1945, on temporary duty at thestation, was launched at 1320 in amoderate easterly wind and a slight sea.The tide was ebbing.

Henry Blogg came up with the fishingboat, with a crew of three, at 1405 andtook her in tow. The lifeboat arrivedback at her station an hour later, at 1505.

Western Division

Sunken speed boatWHILE FISHING with rods and lines froma 14' Dejon motor cruiser, Sandpiper,anchored 150 yards off Tan-y-Bwlchbeach, about half a mile south ofAberystwyth Harbour, on Sunday,July 6, 1975, Richard Wheeler and JohnWall saw a speed boat towing a smallpram dinghy approaching fast from thesouth; she appeared to be in difficulty.The time was 1710. The wind was offshore, north-east force 2, and the seavery slight with a slight ground swell.It was a fine day with cloudless sky andgood visibility. The tide was about 1|hours before high water, and the tidalstream was setting northward at abouthalf a knot.

As the speed boat closed with Sand-piper the helmsman shouted for help,and the boat was seen to be settling bythe stern. When about 30 yards off, thespeed boat sank by the stern, leavingtwo adults, three children and a largedog in the water.

A man without a lifejacket was seento be helping a boy and girl, both wear-ing lifejackets, towards Sandpiper.Another young girl wearing a lifejacketwas swimming towards the anchoredboat without too much difficulty. Thefifth member of the crew, a woman,could be seen struggling in the waterabout 10 feet from the partly submergedboat. She was not wearing a buoyancyaid and appeared to be unable to swim.

Richard Wheeler removed his

(continued on page 141)

118

International Boat ShowEARLS COURT, JANUARY 1-11

For eleven days the RNLI stand,on a splendid site, was thronged

with old and new friends

AFTER THE TREMENDOUS SUCCESS of theRNLI stand at last year's Boat Show,when there were two lifeboats and twoinshore lifeboats on display and thecentral theme at Earls Court was alifeboat village, it seemed that this yearwould be a little less exciting. But onceagain the organisers provided a splendidsite and with a brief visit from HRHThe Duke of Edinburgh on the openingday the show was under way. The 'openplan', triangular stand attracted thepublic who thronged to see the Atlantic21 and ILB equipment on display, to

buy souvenirs and to join Shoreline.Welcome boosts to sales were pro-

vided when well-known personalities—Kenneth Wolstenholme, Harry Car-penter, Sir Alec Rose, Lord Oaksey,Miss Great Britain (Sue Cuff) andEdward Heath—autographed copies ofthe RNLI's fourth Cook Book untilthey got writer's cramp; all but SueCuff had contributed recipes to thebook. Their appearances and kind wordsalso boosted the morale of all workingon the stand.

Cheques were presented on two

occasions: £1,202 from the CambridgeSub Aqua Club and £12,419 from theRoyal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.Our stalwart collector Sergeant FrankElverson joined us once again andraised over £300 in his collecting box.

The RNLI's 1975 public relationsstatuettes were presented early in theshow to Norman Cavell, honorarysecretary Walmer lifeboat station, LeslieCrowther, actor and television persona-lity, and Len Tipper, manager of specialevents for the Daily Express. GeraldMair, editor of the Orkney newspaper,The Orcadian, could not come toLondon for his award but will receive itin Scotland.

The results of the show speak forthemselves. Shoreline recruitment,helped by an extra stand provided byour Boat Show friends, Midland Bank,raised just about the same amount aslast year (£4,228) with over 500 newmembers; and thanks to the hard workof the branches and guilds, who soldsouvenirs (£3,101.53) and competitiontickets (£663.35), and to all those otherexhibitors who displayed RNLI boxeson their stands (£847.72), a healthyprofit was made.

The 1976 Boat Show was a colourful,happy occasion and it is always sadwhen, after two weeks of excitement,the time comes to dismantle the standand leave Earls Court; but the show wasagain a success for the RNLI—so rollon, 1977!—R.K.

His Royal Highness Prince Philip, one of thefirst visitors to the RNLI stand, was shownthe Atlantic 21 by Major-General RalphFarrant, chairman of the Institution, and anILB crew member from Southwold, RogerTrigg.

RNLI Cook Books, signed by recipecontributors well known in the world of sport,went like hot cakes. Offshore yachtsman theRt. Hon. Edward Heath, MP, supported bySergeant Frank Elverson, did a roaring trade.

LAUNCH A SHIP

IN THE WHITBY ROUND TABLE 'gUCSS the

ship's weight' competition, the right toperform the naming ceremony of Flower-gate, one of Turnbull Scott's new shipsbuilt in a Dutch yard, was won by Mr andMrs D. J. B. Taylor of Southport. Thecorrect weight was: 1,031.22 tons; theyestimated 1,031.25 tons.

Other prizes included five double ticketsto a Shell naming ceremony; trips in ahelicopter to a North Sea gas platform (byShell UK Oil); trips in a lifeboat and copiesof a Shell publication.

Tickets were sold by branches and guildsin the North Region (£1,071); by theRound Table (£766) and at the Boat Show(£663). For the last there were three specialprizes of weekends for two at a Morecambehotel, won by Mr R. Goode, Miss NicolaReed and Mr Sexton.

119

7 have always been interested in boatsthat would go faster than their wavelength speed . . .'

FOR MAJOR-GENERAL RALPH FARRANT aconstant search for the key to high speedon the water has added zest to a life-time's experience of sailing and the sea.International 14' dinghy, Star, single-handed Finn, trimaran, and later inshorelifeboats: all could command both hisdelight and his constructive thought.Gaining great pleasure himself fromsailing planing dinghy or fast multihull,he has paid his debt to the sea, acceptingas a matter of course responsibility, asit came his way, for the furtherance ofyachting or the welfare of the seafaringcommunity as a whole.

Dinghy racing ? He was also a memberof the RYA Council. Reserve Olympichelmsman? He was later to becomechairman of the Olympic YachtingCommittee. Fastnet racing in StBarbara! He was at one timecommodore of the Royal Artillery YachtClub. Co-designer, owner and helmsmanof one of the fastest cruising trimaransto sail British Waters? He was soondrawn into the working party which wasformed to edit the first draft of an Off-shore Multihull Rule. A man whoseleisure has been spent on the water?Since 1963, on retirement from thearmy, he has served on the Committeeof Management of the RNLI as well ason a number of its sub-committees.

Participation and service have gonehand in hand, and General Farrant isone of the small group of people whohave received the RYA Award (a scrolland lapel badge) for their outstandingcontributions in Great Britain to'popular pleasure boating'.

Ralph Farrant was a schoolboy, about10 years old, when, during his holidaysspent with an uncle and aunt in Cornwallhe and his brother first learnt to sail;he has enjoyed it ever since. His uncle,a very keen sailor, built first a 12'dinghy and later a 14' racing dinghy ofa local class in the conservatory of his

Major-General R. H. Farrant, CBCHAIRMAN OF THE INSTITUTION

In a lifetime of sailing and the sea,

participation and service have gone

hand in hand

house opposite St Mawes, and, althoughthis uncle unfortunately died, he hadintroduced his nephews to the sea andhis two dinghies were there for them tosail.

The years went on ... Rugby, theRoyal Military Academy, a commissionas a second lieutenant in the RoyalArtillery in 1929 followed by service inthe Field and Mountain Artillery until1938. It was in those years, when a youngofficer on leave from India, that RalphFarrant bought his first International14' dinghy; she was secondhand butgave him good racing and in her hemanaged to do quite well.

Back in this country, being in theRoyal Regiment of Artillery and amember of its yacht club, he sailed inthe 'Gunner' yacht, Rose, in the 1939Fastnet Race—the one which finishedjust before war was declared . . . 'Shewas an uncomfortable, wet old boat, butit was a great experience . . .'

Later, when peace returned, he was tosail in two more Fastnet Races, in theRoyal Artillery Yacht Club's new yacht,St Barbara.

During the war years Ralph Farrantheld various technical appointments inthe War Office and the HQ of the MEF3rd British Infantry Division. Searchingfor a home, he and his wife found aThames barge, named James Piper,moored up the river, above HamptonCourt, and in her they and their twoyoung daughters lived until the end ofthe war. Then James Piper was fitted outat Sittingbourne for sea.

' We cruised down to Brixham and backin the barge with the family, taking withus two racing dinghies to compete in thePrince of Wales's Cup at Brixham. Wealso attended the first Cowes Week afterthe war in her, by chance; we just hap-pened to be spending the night there on ourway back from Brixham. We found wewere the biggest and most comfortableyacht in Cowes Week—and certainly theonly one with an Aga cooker on board!'

These were family years. His children

were old enough to enjoy sailing and, atItchenor, Ralph Farrant started themoff in dinghies, first of all in the Lyming-ton Scow. Both he and his childrenenjoyed the round-the-buoy racing inChichester Harbour, and he raced therewith the International 14' class right upuntil his retirement from the army.Once the barge was sold and the familywas land-based in a house again, RalphFarrant bought a light displacement 12-ton cruising yacht which could behandled by his wife, his two daughtersand himself. In her they cruised as far asSt Malo with just the family as crew.

Being preoccupied with fast sailing,it is not surprising that Ralph Farrantshould have become drawn into Olympiccompetition. The first Olympic Gamesafter the war were held in Great Britain,in 1948 . . . 'It seemed that there wasn'tenough competition in the Star Class, soI was persuaded to have a go at that. . .'In fact, Ralph Farrant was the topBritish Star man just for that season,but he did not in the end sail in theGames: the world champion of theclass, Durward Knowles, who hadexpected to sail for the Bahamas, foundthat he was not eligible to do so, so hecompeted in, and won, the British trials.

Another Olympic year, 1952, RalphFarrant competed in the single-handedtrials—it was the first time that the Finnhad been an Olympic class. He wasselected as the reserve helmsman and sowent to Helsinki... 'But I didn't actuallydo any racing because all our helmsmenremained fit the whole time!'

From 1955-58, Ralph Farrant, now abrigadier, was Director of Munitions,British Joint Services Mission, inWashington, and while stationed therehe raced a 17' Thistle on the Potomac.In his last year he won the Thistle seriesat Marblehead . . . 'It was marvelloussailing up there in Massachusetts . . .'

Returning to this country BrigadierFarrant became Senior Military Officerat the Armament Research and Develop-ment Establishment. In 1961 he waspromoted to major-general as Vice-

120

President of the Ordnance Board,becoming President in 1963. He retiredfrom the army in 1964 and was created aCompanion of the Bath.

It was about this time that GeneralFarrant was asked to take on the chair-manship of the Olympic YachtingCommittee, and he became chairmanafter the 1964 Games. He found itinteresting but rather frustrating be-cause, as with so many things, there neverseemed to be enough money to do thejob properly. Nevertheless, with the helpof Vernon Stratton, who had competedin previous Olympics and knew a lotabout the practical side of it, and theinauguration of BOY, British OlympicYachting, a fund-raising body whichmade money available for British crewsto go abroad to get internationalexperience, the committee was able tobuild up a very good team. It was inthese years that Rodney Pattisson cameto the front in the Flying Dutchmanclass, so Great Britain was once again inthe gold medal field.

It was about this time, too, that,pursuing the answer to the unanswer-able—how a cruising yacht might bemade to plane like a dinghy, thusexceeding her wave length speed—General Farrant began to take a greatinterest in the development of multihulls:

'After a good many years of thinkingabout it, I started sketching out a big,40' trimaran, but it wasn't until I metDerek Kelsall down at Wadebridge, inCornwall, that I could find anyone whowould help me with the more detaileddesign and then with the building. Thiswas in 1966. I found that by altering mylayout a bit we could use the basicformers that he had used for his firstsuccessfulmultihull, calledTona., in whichhe had just won the first Round BritainRace. I altered his main hull a little tosuit my ideas and also the design of thefloats, after doing some tank tests inSouthampton Technical College tank. Therig and layout and assembly construction—the beams and so on—were all mydesign. Anyhow, we worked very happilytogether and she was launched in '67 underthe name Trifle. At that time I think shewas considerably in advance of mostother multihulls, and even last year shewas still able to hold her own.''

Trifle was accustomed to being firstboat home, notably in the Round theIsland Race, the annual 'jolly' when, inearly July, 400 to 500 yachts race roundthe Isle of Wight; she achieved thedistinction despite the fact that themultihulls start 15 minutes after the restof the fleet. On one occasion she gotround in about six hours; the start hadbeen early on the Saturday morningand Trifle was back in time for lunch.

Trifle was the first to finish the annualCrystal Trophy Race every year from1968 to 1972; she was the winner onhandicap in 1970. In 1968 she set up arecord, unbeaten until 1975, of 1 day17 hours 6 minutes for the 311 mile race.

The Crystal Trophy is the only regularestablished offshore handicap race inEurope for cruising multihulls, thecourse being from Cowes to CH.l, offCherbourg, to Wolf Rock Lighthouse,finishing at Plymouth.

General Farrant does all the detailfitting out on Trifle, and another of hisinterests is the making of experimentalsailing models. He was at one time on theAdvisory Committee for Yacht Researchat Southampton University; it was fromsome of the University staff of thiscommittee that the Wolfson TrustResearch Unit was formed, and, later,the WTRU was to be brought in to adviseon the development of the design of theAtlantic 21.

While General Farrant was stationedat the Armament Research and Develop-ment Establishment he came to knowNorman Wales, who lived in the samevillage, Chipstead, and who was amember of the RNLI Committee ofManagement. He was the owner of afast cruising yacht, Fedalah:

''Norman Wales did not normally race,but Fedalah was a good, thoroughbredyacht designed and built by Camper andNicholson. He had the idea of going infor a family race after Cowes Week oneyear and asked me and my wife to goalong with him. He put me on the helmand we managed to do quite well, so fromthat we raced in Fedalah several years atCowes Week.'

When Norman Wates knew thatGeneral Farrant was due to retire fromthe army on reaching the age of 55, heput his name forward for the Committeeof Management of the Institution. TheGeneral joined the committee in 1963,becoming a deputy chairman in Feb-ruary 1972 and being elected a vice-president in the October of that year.

General Farrant has served on severalsub-committees. On the Boat Committee

In Trifle, a 40' trimaranbuilt at Wadesbridge in1966, General Farrant founda cruising boat which wouldplane like a dinghy. In herhe held the record for theoffshore Crystal Trophyrace from 1968-1975—andcompleted a Round theIsland race between earlybreakfast and lunch.

he has always been particularly interestedin the development of inshore and fastafloat lifeboats; these are in his 'parish'as he can draw upon his experience bothin planing dinghies and fast multihulls.While the D class inflatable dinghy wasstill being developed, in its early days,General Farrant went out for a shorttrip in one at Itchenor, so that he has hadknowledge of this type of boat rightfrom its inception, and, later, when theAtlantic 21 came along he followed herprogress closely.

General Farrant, who now lives atWareham, was elected chairman of theInstitution in June 1975. Looking aheadto his term of office, these are some of hishopes and aims:

'Over the past few years, led by the lastchairman, Commander Ralph Swann, theRNLI has made great progress in both thearea of our boats and their equipment andin our administration. My prime objectiveis to continue to improve our image as anup-to-date organisation, ready to tryrelevant modern developments and toadopt them, once proven, as quickly asfunds permit; at the same time to ensurethat our available income is used aseffectively and economically as possible.

'Of course, we must maintain effectivelifesaving coverage around our coasts andthe good standing of the Institution in theeyes of the public, while preserving ourvoluntary status. This proviso requiresan increase in our income and we havebegun to try to tap new sources.

'It follows that it is essential to ensurethe continuance of the high morale ofour lifeboat crews by close liaison withthem and by providing them with the bestpossible boats and equipment. Further-more, we must also encourage ourvoluntary and professional fund raisersin their work, which is vital to ourcontinued existence as a voluntarilysupported body.'

9 5 Y

121

DONAGHADEEOne of the guardians of the Irish Sea's

northern approaches

by Joan Davies

AUGUST 1910: DONAGHADEE station wasestablished, its first boat being one of theearliest motor lifeboats in the Institu-tion's fleet, a 43' Watson with a 40 hpengine capable of nearly 7 knots.

August 1975: it was announced thatthe station had been allocated a new fastafloat lifeboat, a 44' steel Waveney withtwin General Motors diesel enginescapable of a top speed of just over 15knots.

Two unrelated facts? Perhaps, butit is interesting that at the station'sbeginning, as now, it was deemed wisefor it to have one of the most advancedboats available. Even without any moreof the background filled in, these twostrokes of the brush give an impressionof broad horizons, well-used waters; and,as detail is added, a picture emerges of abusy station in a key position.

Donaghadec, a fishing harbour onthe southern approaches to BelfastLough, looks out eastward across the19 miles of the Northern Channel toPortpatrick in Scotland. Traffic toBelfast and the smaller ports of Bangorand Carrickfergus, trade to the Clyde,Liverpool, Dublin, the Isle of Man . . .Donaghadee and Portpatrick watchover all this shipping as it passes throughthe neck of the Irish Sea.

As well as being the waterway of abusy port, Belfast Lough is now thesailing water for many a yacht anddinghy, and the venue not only for local

regattas but also for national andinternational meetings. An ILB stationat Bangor, six miles to the west, has forits particular care the racing dinghies,cruising yachts and holidaymakers ofthe summer months, but Donaghadeelifeboat is there to give more extendedcover for a growing fleet of pleasureboats.

Ferries, too. They converge on Belfastfrom Liverpool, Ardrossan andDouglas; they ply between Larne,Stranraer and Cairn Ryan, carryingbetween them many hundreds ofpassengers. The lifeboat at Donaghadeeis their protection as they approach orleave the Northern Irish Coast. Happilytheir passing is usually a regular dailyevent without incident, but there was onewinter Saturday, 23 years ago, when insqually winds gusting up to 70 knots astern loading door was breached and thenormal was transformed into disaster.

The ferry Princess Victoria leftStranraer on the morning of January 31,1953, bound for Larne. She carried 127passengers, a crew of 49, mail, cargoand a number of motor vehicles. As sheleft harbour she ran into severe north-westerly gales and rough seas; frequentsqualls of sleet and snow cut downvisibility from five or six miles to, attimes, nothing. Soon after leaving LochRyan a heavy sea burst open the sterndoors, damaging them so that they couldnot be re-secured. Despite the efforts of

the crew a succession of seas forced thedoors open, the sea poured on to thecar deck and the ferry started to list tostarboard. An attempt to return to LochRyan left her damaged stern vulnerableto the waves, so she turned bow to seasand continued slowly towards Ireland.

At 0946 a first message had been sent,asking for the immediate help of a tug;an hour later—sos. Portpatrick lifeboat,the 46' Watson Jeanie Speirs, launchedat 1100 and made for the position given,4 miles north west of Corsewall Point;when she arrived she could find nothing.It was the beginning of a desperatesearch in winds increasing to hurricaneforce and very rough and confusedseas. The destroyer HMS Contest wasalready searching. At 1315 PrincessVictoria sent the message: 'We arepreparing to abandon ship'. Donaghadeelifeboat, the 46' 9" Watson Sir SamuelKelly, informed of the situation byBangor Coastguard at 1322, slipped hermoorings at 1340; but, misled byinaccurate positions, none of thesevessels was able to find Princess Victoriabefore she sank soon after 1400. Herradio officer, who went down with theship, was sending out messages to theend, but even the last position given, 5miles east of the Copeland Islands, waswrong.

At 1432 Cloughey lifeboat, the 35' 6"Liverpool Constance Calverley, launched.

Then Sir Samuel Kelly heard fromss Orchy that this ship was near survivors4 miles north north east of Mew Island;the Donaghadee lifeboat altered coursenorthward and at 1515 reached the areain which Princess Victoria had gonedown. She rescued 31 people from theship's lifeboats and rafts but, althoughshe searched until 1700, she could findno other survivors and returned tostation at 1745.

Constance Calverley continued search-ing until 1920, but found nothing; thenshe led Portpatrick lifeboat, with two

(Below) Sir Samuel Kelly, a 46' 9" Watson, the gift of Lady Mary Kelly ofCrawfordsburn, County Down, arrives on station in May 1950. At that timeher midships cockpit was open; an enclosed wheelhouse has since been added.

photograph by courtesy of Belfast Newsletter.

(Above) A long service for Donaghadee lifeboat: On July 17,1956, MV Douglas, of Bergen, went ashore at the Maidenson an ebbing tide. Sir Samuel Kelly, slipping her moorings at0830, found her hard and fast on the rocks, holed and takingwater; her Norwegian captain asked the lifeboat to stand by.Sir Samuel Kelly remained alongside until July 19, when,her services no longer being needed, she landed four ofDouglas's crew at Larne and returned to station at 2100. Shehad stood by for nearly 53 hours.

photograph by courtesy of the Daily Express.

122

Coxswains all: Left to right, aboard theWatson cabin motor lifeboat Civil ServiceNo. 5, Hugh Nelson, coxswain from 1949 to1954, Andrew White, coxswain from 1917 to1949, and Alexander Nelson, coxswain from1954 to 1960. The photograph was taken atthe time of Andrew White's retirement.

photograph by courtesy of BelfastTelegraph.

(Below) 1949 was the year in which JimBunting first became a member ofDonaghadeelifeboat crew. He has been coxswain since1968.

more survivors on board, back toDonaghadee. Newcastle's Liverpoolclass lifeboat, William and Laura, hadalso launched, at 1620, but foundno one.

Sir Samuel Kelly's service had notended. She was out from 2145 to 0130,in a north-by-west gale, taking off asurvivor, six bodies and some recoveredmail bags from a trawler, Eastcotes, andat 0700, later that morning, she put outonce more, in better weather and goodvisibility, to take up the search with thehelp of aircraft; no more survivors,however, were found.

The Princess Victoria disaster was the

worst suffered by a British merchantship in time of peace for a quarter of acentury.

For this service the RNLI's bronzemedals for gallantry were awarded toCoxswain Hugh Nelson of Donaghadeeand to Coxswain William McConnell ofPortpatrick. Coxswain Nelson was alsoawarded the British Empire Medal andthe Maud Smith award for the bravestact of lifesaving in 1953. The thanks ofthe Institution inscribed on vellum wereawarded to the motor mechanics of thetwo boats, James 'Jim' Armstrong ofDonaghadee and James Mitchell ofPortpatrick.

Nelson is a familiar name atDonaghadee, a station with strong

Coxswain Hugh Nelson (centre) and the Donaghadee crew who took part in the serviceto Princess Victoria on January 31, 1953. Thirty-four lives were saved by Donaghadeeand Portpatrick lifeboats in winds up to hurricane force.

photograph by courtesy of Belfast Newsletter.

family traditions. Like, for instance,Bunting and Simpson, Nelson is a namewhich recurs right through its history.The first coxswain was William GeorgeNelson. The first bronze medal forgallantry awarded to the station was toCoxswain Samuel Nelson for twoservices in 1940, both to steamersashore—ss Coastville of Liverpool onthe rocks at Ballymacormick Point, andss Hope Star of Newcastle-upon-Tyneaground on the rocky shore of Bally-holme Bay; his two brothers, MotorMechanic David Nelson and BowmanAlexander Nelson, were accorded thethanks of the Institution inscribed onvellum. Today, another Samuel Nelson,the oldest member of the crew, isassistant mechanic, and Quinton Nelsonis one of the younger crew members.

The present coxswain, James 'Jim'Bunting, has been in the crew since 1949and served as second coxswain beforebecoming coxswain in 1968; his fatherhad been assistant mechanic. There aretwo Simpsons in today's crew—uncleand nephew—Second Coxswain John'Jack' Simpson and Motor MechanicThomas Walker Simpson. BowmanW. T. 'Billy' Lennon is the son-in-lawof a previous coxswain, John Trimble.And so it goes on ...

The present honorary secretary ofDonaghadee, D. T. 'Nicky' McKibbin,followed his father, David McKibbin.The deputy launching authority isHarbour Master Captain RobertHughes.

The lifeboat station is closely woveninto the fabric of the town. When themaroons go up the police are on the spotto help rush the crew and their helpersdown to the harbour; and, day or night,however bad the weather, other peoplefrom the town will come down to seethe boat go out—and, such is theirconcern, wait for her return.

On the fund raising side, too, there isstrong support. Of particular note is theperpetual Lifeboat Trophy event at

123

Donaghadee Lifeboats1910-1932: ON 595, William and Laura

43' Watson.1932-1950: ON 753, Civil Service No. 5

45' 6" Watson cabin motor life-boat.

Donaghadee's future lifeboat (in foreground, left) is one of four steel-hulled 44' Waveneysbuilding at Bideford Shipyard, North Devon. When this photograph was taken, in January, heraluminium alloy deck plates were being offered up before being welded together and rivetedinto place. Her aluminium alloy superstructure was at the same time being built in prefab-

ricated units on jigs in another part of the yard, ready to be erected on the boat.

Donaghadee Golf Club; it started as aday's competition for the ladies'section, but in 1975 it grew into a week'scompetition for the whole club, andoutstanding contributions have beenmade to the lifeboat station: £641.50 in1972, £810.58 in 1973; £1,020.55 in 1974and £1,250 in 1975. Madame AnneRittweger, honorary secretary of theladies' section of the golf club, has thisyear been awarded a silver badge inrecognition of all she has done overmany years for the Institution.

A new lifeboat ladies' guild wasfounded in the town in May last year;by September it had already raised £357.

On December 4, 1967, Donaghadeelifeboat took part in an exhaustivesearch for the two-man test crew of acrashed RAF Sea Vixen aircraft. Navaland merchant ships, RFA, RN and RAFaeroplanes and helicopters searched theNorth Channel and Irish Sea; coast-guards, lifeboats, police, a mountainrescue team and the army searchedcoastal waters and land areas in CountyDown, Wigtownshire, Cumberland,Westmorland and the Isle of Man. Allto no avail. A modulator unit was pickedup, but there was no sign of the SeaVixen or her crew. For two days ofwesterly gales Sir Samuel Kelly searched.She slipped her moorings at 1244 onDecember 4, not returning until 2335.By 0640 next morning she had resumedthe search and continued until 1820 thatevening. On board were CoxswainGeorge Lindsay, Jim Bunting, thensecond coxswain, Motor Mechanic JimArmstrong, Sam Nelson, Billy Lennon,Quinton Nelson, D. McKinney, WalkerSimpson. As a last bid, on FridayDecember 8, a day of heavy snow, Sir

Samuel Kelly ferried 30 volunteers fromSydenhams yard across to comb theCopeland Islands; but this also provedfruitless. Thanks for 'the willing andintensive effort' made by all who hadtaken part were received both from RAFPitreavie and from Commander PeterJones, RN, general manager of SydenhamRoyal Naval Aircraft Yard.

The Copeland Islands, in the summermonths, are holiday playgrounds. OneApril night in 1963 the Coastguardreported seeing a fire on the islands anda flashing light which could be an sosmessage. There was a near gale blowingfrom the south east and the sea wasrough. Sir Samuel Kelly put out on anebbing tide with the boarding boat intow. A landing party found that helphad been sought for a deaf and dumbboy of 16, ill and unable to walk. Thelifeboat returned to Donaghadee for adoctor, and by 0310 had brought bothdoctor and boy back to the mainland.

These islands give shelter from thenorth east to Donaghadee. The harbouris more open to the east through to thesouth east and, when gales blow fromthat direction, it can become prettywild; in winter it is cleared of all craftexcept the lifeboat and fishing boats.The lifeboat, however, is snug in hermooring, stern to the southern harbourwall, with a chain and anchor mooringforward and stout nylon warps to thequay aft. When the maroons go up, it'sdown an iron ladder to the boardingboat, moored on a trot; a few pulls onthe rope and the crew have ferried them-selves across the short gap to the lifeboat.And they can get away quickly. Afterthe service to the missing Sea Vixen ananonymous donation of £5 was received

1950- : ON 885, Sir Samuel Kelly46' 9" Watson.

by the station from someone con-gratulating the crew on its prompt turn-out: Sir Samuel Kelly had been at seawithin six minutes of receiving the call.

In 66 years, Donaghadee lifeboat haslaunched on service 300 times, andsaved 221 lives and 27 vessels.

With a vast water-borne population tocare for—holidaymakers, yachtsmen,fishermen, merchant seamen, ferrypassengers—Donaghadee needs a fastboat, and one which can take on boarda large number of survivors should theneed arise. Her new boat, a Waveney, isnow building at Bideford Shipyard,North Devon. This class of lifeboat has atop speed of 15 knots, can travel 175miles at 13 knots without re-fuelling andcarry 25 survivors under cover. She isexceptionally manoeuvrable and, withsteel hull and aluminium superstructure,has a self-righting capability. She isfitted with radar, radios, direction-finding equipment and an echo-sounderand carries such lifesaving equipment asa line-throwing gun, breeches buoy andfire hose. She will take over from a well-loved veteran, the 26-year-old Sir SamuelKelly; a new chapter in the station'shistory will be starting.

NEW YEAR HONOURSKnights BachelorCaptain David Stanley Tibbits,DSC RN (Retd.), Deputy Master,Trinity House. Sir David is an ex-officio member of the RNLICommittee of Management.QBERodney Murison Addison, Vice-Chairman, National SavingsCommittee for Scotland. MrAddison is chairman of Aberdeenbranch, a member of the ScottishLifeboat Council and a member ofthe Fund Raising Committee.Lieut.-Commander John ArthurDouglas, MBE RN (Retd.), ChiefInspector HM Coastguard, Depart-ment of Trade. Lieut.-Comman-der Douglas is a vice-president ofthe RNLI Orpington and Districtbranch.BEMWilliam Sheader, coxswain,Scarborough lifeboat. Mr Sheaderjoined the crew in 1945 and servedas second bowman from 1948,bowman from 1952, second coxs-wain from 1954 and coxswainfrom 1957. He was awarded thesilver medal for gallantry for therescue of one of the crew of theconverted ship's lifeboat Sheena onNovember 23, 1969.

124

Helicopter

Rescue . . .

. .. British Airways style

by J. D. Ferguson

THE ADVENT OF NORTH SEA OIL haswrought tremendous changes in almostevery sphere among the various areasinvolved. None has been so significantlyaffected as that of the sea rescueservices, this being amply reflectedin the RNLI's current re-equipmentand expansion programme in the northand north-east of Scotland. How-ever, the advent of the offshore oilindustry has also brought about acompletely new and unique long rangecivil rescue capability in the shape ofBritish Airways Helicopters Search andRescue Unit. This unit, based atAberdeen's Dyce Airport, has now beenoperational for well over four years, andduring this time has achieved a finerecord of distress calls answered andlives saved.

The unit's beginnings stem fromincreasing disquiet in the late 1960'sover the UK'S long-range rescue heli-copter facilities, spotlighted by a numberof incidents which had to be covered byforeign aircraft but which occurred justoff the east coast. The Inspector of HMCoastguard (East Scotland Division),Commander M. L. Woollcombe, QBERN, went to Norway to assess theirrescue capabilities, and on his returnserious planning began for a somewhatsimilar UK-based organisation. Plan-ning for this organisation broughttogether operational personnel fromBritish Airways Helicopters, theirengineers, HM Coastguard, the Depart-ment of Trade and Industry and RescueCo-ordination Centre staff fromPitreavie.

The only aircraft then, as now,capable of undertaking the long-rangeSAR task was the Sikorsky S61N heli-copter, already well proven in the oilsupport role, and with this in mindplans for the design and manufacture ofequipment went ahead. During 1971BAH engineers produced a revolutionary

The assistance of British Airways Helicoptersin compiling this article is much appreciated.

James Ferguson is an aviation journalist witha special interest in oil-related and SARactivity; he is also a member of Aberdeen ILB

January 29, 1976: British Airways helicopter lifts off crew of 17 from trawler Ben Gulvainwhen, with engine failure, she had run aground near Aberdeen in gale force winds.

photograph by courtesy of Miss I. M. Deans

portable winch for the aircraft: portableso that it would not interfere withnormal commercial activity, and air-driven, from an engine compressorstage, so that it would not suffer fromthe hoisting limitations inherent in mostother types.

The unit became operational onNovember 1, 1971. Six rescue crew-members are employed—when notflying their task is to service and repaircompany safety equipment—and mostDyce-based BAH aircrew are trained inthe role. Calls originate from eitherAberdeen Coastguard or RCC Pitreavie,and are normally limited to afloatincidents occurring beyond the rangeof RAF Whirlwinds. Each SAR aircraft isnormally manned by two pilots and tworescue crew. Medical assistance isimmediately available if required, butthe crew have thorough first aid training.

On arrival at the scene of the incidentone of the crew is lowered to the mostsuitable deck area; as the pilot cannotsee the lead of the winch cable, the air-craft has to be 'talked' into position bythe winch operator. With perhaps afishing boat rolling and pitching in aheavy sea and high winds, this isobviously no mean task and calls forcontinual training.

If necessary, a doctor is also loweredto the boat and injured people arerecovered in a modified Neil Robertsonstretcher. A portable pump can belowered to combat fire or flooding anda very full first aid outfit is carried. Anew 12-language medical questionnaireis available to help when the rescuedare non-English-speaking seamen. Oncompletion of the mission the helicopterflies to the nearest suitable airfield, or,if necessary, direct to hospital.

To maintain this very high operationalstandard requires thorough training andboth pilots and rescue crews go througha comprehensive programme. Many ofthe pilots have, in fact, military SARexperience, and all the rescue crews

have either Fleet Air Arm or RAFbackgrounds. Training includes therecovery of barrels thrown into thewater, using only a grapple on the endof the winch cable, and every opportunityis taken to work with fishing boatsand oil rig supply vessels. Lifeboatsare also much involved, and during arecent exercise the author found himselfin an ILB underneath the S61 whilewinching was practised. Liaison betweenthe unit and the local RNLI is very close.

The unit has already achieved somenotable rescues, often working withlifeboats. One memorable incident wasthe recovery of the crew of the trawlerNavena, aground off Copinsay in theOrkneys in a full storm. Another wasthe night operation, in another storm ofwind, rain and flying sand, to the aid ofthe Polish trawler Nurzec, aground onthe sands near Aberdeen in January,1974.

The unit's gallantry has beenrecognised by the award of HM Coast-guard's Rescue Shield and a Queen'sCommendation for Valuable Service inthe Air. Of great significance, too, is thetrust and respect accorded to the unitand its personnel by the local seafaringcommunity.

Winch and rescue crew ready for action.

125

Profile of the Offshore FleetLifeboats stationed round the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland

WATSON AND BARNETT, Oakley, Waveney, Thames, Arun orClyde . . . names which conjure up the lifeboats of theRNLI's offshore fleet, each with her own characteristics, herown qualities to offer to the common end of saving life at sea.Watson and Barnett tell of the traditional approach to motorlifeboats, displacement hulls with great initial stability;Oakley speaks of change and the introduction of a self-righting capability, first by ballast water transference; withWaveney, Thames and Arun comes the fast afloat concept,using advances in hull and engine design to give, on the onehand, higher speed and, on the other, self-righting throughinherent buoyancy; Clyde has the ring of deep water, of work-boat heritage.

Which class of boat is allocated to each station depends on

Clyde (steel): 70-001, length overall 71', beam 18', draft 8' 5",displacement 85 tons; 70-002, length overall 70', beam 17', draft7' 6", displacement 77 tons; 70-003, length overall 71', beam 18',draft 8' 6", displacement 87 tons, maximum speed over 11 knots.Cruises or lies at moorings. Clyde lifeboats are capable of remainingat sea for long periods if necessary and can steam about 600 mileswithout refuelling. Each carries an ILB, ready inflated, on deck.There is sleeping accommodation for her crew of six.

Arun (wood or GRP): length overall, 52' and 54', beam 17', draft 5',displacement 28-30 tons. The Arun, a fast afloat boat with planinghull, can reach over 18 knots and, at full speed, has a range of 220nautical miles. She has self-righting capability in her designedinherent buoyancy. Her hull is divided into 26 watertight compart-ments, most filled with expanded polyurethane foam, and allcontrols are contained in her watertight wheelhouse. She carries adinghy, ready inflated, on deck. Crew, five.

52' Barnett (wood): length overall 52', beam 14', draft 4' 6",displacement 29 tons, maximum speed 9 knots, range 216 nauticalmiles. Launched down slipway or lies afloat. The last boat designedby J. R. Barnett, the 52' was the first from his board with a midshipsteering position. There is access through the aft cabin to a smallcockpit aft from which emergency steering could be rigged. Her hullis divided into nine watertight compartments and the floor belowthe engine room is double bottomed. Crew, seven.

a number of considerations, the most important being thework she will have to do, the housing or mooring available andthe pattern of lifeboat coverage of her particular sea area.Some lifeboats are launched down a slipway, some acrossskids on the beach; some are housed on carriages and drawndown to the sea by tractor; some lie afloat.

Whatever their individual characteristics, lifeboats havemuch in common. All, for instance, are built to a standard inexcess of Lloyds Al requirements; all have twin dieselengines; most are built to take the ground and have theirpropellers housed in tunnels.

On these pages will be seen a profile of a representativelifeboat of each class in the active fleet, with the exception ofa few 'one-off' boats such as the prototype GRP 40' KeithNelson-hulled lifeboat stationed at Calshot (a photograph ofwhich appears on page 130). While each profile shows theessential design of the class, individual boats may vary indetail; one obvious example is that a number of 52' Barnetts,47' and 46' 9s Watsons now have air bag installations on theafter cabin top.

There are also radical variations within some of the classesthemselves. The Clyde class, for instance, consists of threeboats, alike in purpose and concept but differing in detail;the hulls of 70-001 and 70-003 were both to a design by R. A.Oakley, but some modifications were introduced into thesuperstructure and layout of 70-003; 70-002, shown on thispage, was designed by John Tyrrell. Then there is the Arun,the prototype hull for which was designed by J. A. McLachlan;this has been a development class, with modifications to hull,superstructure and deck fittings in each of the first fourboats; the profile shown is of 54-03.

Watson, Barnett and Oakley lifeboats are named after theirdesigners; Clyde, Arun, Thames, Solent, Waveney andRother after the rivers or sailing waters by which the first ofthe class was designed or built.

Thames (steel with aluminium alloy superstructure): length overall50', beam 14' 6", draft 4' 8", displacement 23.5 tons, maximumspeed 17 knots, range at full speed about 200 nautical miles.A fast afloat boat, the Thames is a development of the 44' Waveneyand has self-righting capability in her designed inherent buoyancy.Her watertight welded aluminium alloy wheelhouse contains allcontrols, and she also has an upper steering position. Her twinspade rudders give good manoeuvrability. Crew,[five.

48' 6" Oakley (wood): length overall 48' 6", beam 14', draft 4' 8",displacement 30 tons, maximum speed 9 knots, range 245 nauticalmiles: Launched down slipway or lies afloat. The principle of self-righting by transfer of water ballast, first proven in the 37' Oakley,was incorporated in this larger boat. The hull is divided into 14watertight compartments fitted with 244 pvc blocks. Her steeringposition is amidships, with good all-round vision, and all controlscan be operated from the steering position. Crew, seven.

126

48' 6" Solent (steel): length overall 48' 6", beam 14', draft 4' 7",displacement 27 tons, maximum speed over 9 knots, range at fullspeed 240 nautical miles. Launched down slipway or lies afloat.The Solent is a development of the 48' 6" Oakley, her self-rightingcapability being in her designed inherent buoyancy instead of intransference of water ballast. Her hull is welded and she has a castiron ballast keel and aluminium alloy superstructure. Crew, seven.

47' Watson (wood): length overall 47', beam 13', draft 4' 5",displacement 23.5 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range at fullspeed 280 nautical miles. Launched down slipway or lies afloat.The 47' Watson, a development of the 46' 9" Watson, has anamidship steering position with good vision all round. Her hullis divided into ten watertight compartments. Crew, seven.

46' 9" Watson (wood): length overall 46' 9", beam 12' 9", draft4' 4", displacement 23 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range atleast 200 miles. Launched from slipway or lies afloat. The 46' 9"Watson was the first lifeboat to be designed with a midships steer-ing position: originally it was an open cockpit and shelter but isnow an enclosed wheelhouse containing all controls. Since build-ing, most of these boats have been re-engined. Crew, seven.

46' Watson (wood): length overall 46', beam 12' 9", draft 3' 7",displacement 20 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range at fullspeed 209 nautical miles. Launched down slipway or lies afloat.One of the earlier Watson cabin motor lifeboats, the 46' has acabin forward of the engine-room. Her main working cockpit is aft,with a double diagonal mahogany shelter. A number of theseboats, having been re-engined, no longer have funnels. Crew, seven.

44' Waveney (steel with aluminium alloy superstructure): lengthoverall 44' 10i", beam 12' 8", draft 3' 11", displacement 18 tons,maximum speed over 15 knots, range at full speed 167 nauticalmiles. Built to a US Coast Guard design, the Waveney was thefirst RNLI fast afloat lifeboat; her hull form and construction giveher a self-righting capability. With twin rudders she is exceptionallymanoeuvrable. She has an after and a forward cabin for survivors;her electronic equipment being housed in the latter. Crew, five.

42' Watson (wood): length overall 42', beam 12', draft 3' 7",displacement 17 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range at fullspeed 220 miles. Two types: one launched down slipway; onemodified for launching over beach. The 42' Watson is divided intoten watertight compartments; there is a double bottom below theengine. All controls can be operated from the steering position inthe aft cockpit. Superstructure, aluminium alloy. Crew, seven.

41' Watson (wood): length overall 41', beam 11' 8", draft 3' 8",displacement 14.8 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range atfull speed 180 nautical miles. Designed as housed boats for launchingdown slipways; a later version was developed for beach launching.The 41' Watson is divided into seven watertight compartments, thebow and stern compartments, being completely isolated and packedwith air cases, in fact form 'end boxes'. All boats still in the fleethave been re-engined. Crew, seven.

37' Oakley (wood): length overall 37', beam 11' 6", draft 3' 4",displacement 12.5 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range at fullspeed 165 nautical miles. Launched down slipway or from carriage.When designing this boat, R. A. Oakley took the idea of a doublebottomed tank containing water ballast a stage further, adding arighting tank under the port deck; if the boat capsizes ballast watertransfers to the righting tank, its asymmetrical weight giving theleverage necessary to start righting the boat. Crew, seven.

is.

37' 6" Rother (wood): length overall 37' 6", beam 11' 6", draft 3' 1",displacement 13 tons, maximum speed over 8 knots, range at fullspeed 150 nautical miles. Launched down slipway or from carriage.The Rother is a development of the 37' Oakley, with an addedwheelhouse roof on which a radar is mounted and a re-designedaluminium alloy superstructure, extending over the forward well,which gives enough inherent buoyancy for self-righting, thuseliminating the need for water ballast transference. Crew, seven.

35' 6" Liverpool (wood): length overall 35' 6", beam 10' 8", draft2' 5"i, displacement 8.75 tons (ballast tank fills with water whenshe goes afloat, adding another half ton), speed over 7 knots,range at full speed 140 miles. The Liverpool is a light-weight motorlifeboat launched off the beach on a tractor-drawn carriage or downa slipway. She is divided into six watertight compartment, and theengine room is a watertight compartment. All boats left in fleethave been re-engined. Crew, seven.

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Electronic Eyes and EarsCOMMUNICATIONS AND NAVIGATIONAL AIDS OF A MODERN LIFEBOAT

by Lieutenant Ernest Gough, RNSTAFF OFFICER (COMMUNICATIONS), RNLI

SEEING AN OFFSHORE LIFEBOAT for thefirst time, you may wonder why she hasso many antennae and gadgets sprout-ing out from her superstructure. Theantennae are, of coufse, the ship'saerials, each designed for a specific job;they, like the other similar fittings, areabove-decks evidence of the electroniceyes, ears and mouth now at the serviceof the crew in the wheelhouse. Throughthem the lifeboat crew can obtain up-to-the-minute information from theoutside world, and in turn pass backtheir own urgent messages.

When the new Arun class lifeboat wasintroduced into service she was fittedwith the latest communications andnavigational aids, and at the foot of thispage is a photograph of an Arun onwhich each electronic deck fitting hasbeen numbered.

Come on board for a guided tour. . . .

1. The smaller of the whip aerials onthe starboard side of the Arun's wheel-house is for the very high frequency(VHF) frequency modulated (FM) radioused to communicate with the Coast-guard and Coast Radio Stations, otherships, search and rescue (SAR) unitsincluding helicopters, Royal Navy shipsand, of course, any casualty which isfitted with VHF radio.

2. There is an even smaller whip aerialon the port side. It is a similar type ofequipment, that is VHF, but it is ampli-tude modulated (AM) and is used tocommunicate with French helicopters incombined services with Arun class life-boats in the waters surrounding theChannel Islands. This aerial need not befitted on Aruns at other stations.

3. The larger of the whip aerials on theport side acts as the search aerial for amedium frequency (MF) receiver. Itenables the lifeboat to maintain aconstant listening watch on the distressfrequency, 2182 kHz, irrespective of thefrequency to which her main MF radiomay be tuned.

4. The whip aerial at position 3 is alsoused in conjunction with the loop aerialsseen at position 4. These are fixed BelliniTosi direction finding (DF) loops whichenable the lifeboat to take radio direc-tion finding bearings for navigationalpurposes or to home on to a casualty.

5. The larger whip aerial on the star-board side, similar to the one at position3, is for the main medium frequencyradio which can be tuned to ninedifferent transmitting channels, includ-ing the distress frequency 2182 kHz, andeleven receiving channels.

Because the two larger whip aerials areof the same design, should the trans-mitter aerial (5) be damaged in roughweather or when going alongside aheavily rolling casualty, the tcansmittercan very quickly be restored by chang-ing over the elements from the aerial atposition 3; this can be done withouthaving to retune the transmitter.

6. Here you will see the radar scanner;its display is in the wheelhouse, starboardside, alongside the coxswain. Continu-ally rotating, the scanner picks up theshapes of coastline, rocks and ships and,with a rotating beam, sketches them inon the wheelhouse display in distanceranges of \ mile, 1-J, 3, 6, 12 and24 miles, thus presenting the coxswainwith an electronic chart, constantlycorrected, of the waters through whichhe is steering, and helping him to locatethe casualty for which he may besearching.

7. The dark cylindrical object standingup on the port side is the amplifier forthe Decca navigator mark 21 receiver.Again, this receiver is in the wheelhouseat the chart position. Continually read-ing signals from groups of shore trans-mitters, the Decca presents the coxswain,at any time, with a set of numbers which,referred to a special lattice chart,immediately plot for him the positionof the lifeboat.

8. The little white, round, cyclindricalobject is the sensor for the Decca 350automatic pilot. It can sense when thelifeboat moves off a pre-set course andactuates the rudders automatically toregain the course to be steered, thusrelieving the coxswain of the need tosteer the boat manually during longpassages in open water.

9. At the top of the mast is a blue flash-ing light which identifies the lifeboat,when launched on service, as a searchand rescue unit in the same way as anambulance or a fire engine is distin-guished on shore.

10. Alongside the coxswain when he isconning the lifeboat from the uppersteering position is the echo sounderindicator, which gives an immediateindication of the depth of water belowthe boat by using a neon light, while . . .

11. ... in the wheelhouse at the charttable is a second echo sounder of therecorder type which makes a permanentrecord on paper of the depth beingencountered.

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The transducers through which theecho sounder signals are transmittedand, after being 'bounced' off the seabed, received back again cannot, ofcourse, be seen as they are fixed to thehull bottom on either side of the keel.

The Arun is also fitted with a five-wayintercom unit so that the coxswain canspeak to each of the compartments, theupper steering position and to the crewmember on the fore deck.

That is a brief description of theelectronic equipment available to thecrew of an Arun; other lifeboat classesare similarly, though not identically,equipped. Every offshore lifeboat has aminimum of MF radio, VHF radio andecho sounder. The majority have adirection finder on the MF radio andover 100 are fitted with radar. Allnewly constructed lifeboats have radarand direction finder installed on building.

Inshore lifeboats are all fitted withVHF radio only.

Navigational aids are there for thecoxswain to use in his own wheelhouseas the need arises, but the radios areobviously for two-way conversation.How, then, are radio communicationsafloat organised? From the diagram onthis page it will be quickly seen thateach search and rescue station or mobileunit is fitted with radio equipment whichallows it to work on specific frequencies.These frequencies and the traffic allo-cated to them are listed below:

Medium Frequency (MF)2182kHz International distress and

calling frequency1.6 mHz various Coastguard working

frequency2241 kHz Ship to ship frequency3023.5kHz Scene of action search and

rescue co-ordinationfrequency

Very High Frequency (VHF)Channel 16 156.80 mHz International

distress andcallingfrequency

Channel 0 156.00 mHz Coastguardworkingfrequency

Channel 6 156.30 mHz Ship to shipfrequency

Channel 12 156.60 mHz Port controlChannel 14 156.70 mHz Port control

Although the diagram may lookrather complicated, lifeboat communica-tions are really quite simple. The goldenrule is that the frequency or channelchosen should always be one that iscommon to all the units taking part inthe rescue service. For example:

a. Units involved:Casualty (fitted with MF and VHF radio)Coast Radio StationMerchant shipLifeboat2182 kHz MF and VHF Channel 16 wouldbe used.

b. Units involved:Casualty with no radio near to shoreWarship standing byCoastguard station

Large Helo Nimrod S.A.R.Helo C.G. Mobile

Harbour/PoJice/ ^^RAFMarineCraft

Warships Merchant ShipsFishing Vessels

C.R.Stn

LifeboatVHF Channel 16 would be used.

c. Units involved:Casualty with no radio near to shoreCoastguard stationInshore lifeboatSAR helicopterProvided no help is required from othershipping in the area VHF Channel 0 wouldbe used.

d. Units involved:French fishing vessel (casualty, offshore)British tanker standing byNimrod aircraftCoastguard HeadquartersLifeboat2182 kHz MF would be used.

The other working frequencies thatare available between individual unitswould only be used when the mattersto be discussed are of no interest toothers taking part in the operation. Anyinformation affecting the rescue opera-tion received on a working frequency notcommon to all units is passed to the co-ordinating authority and then relayedon the common net to all concerned,usually by means of frequent situationreports.

A lifeboat launches on service onMF 2182 kHz and VHF Channel 16 andestablishes communications with theprimary MF radio station and the Coast-guard VHF radio station on thosefrequencies.

All further communication is carriedout on 2182 kHz and VHP Channel 16,except that by prior arrangement withthe Coastguard, provided it is unlikelythat help from ships at sea will be neededand the lifeboat has been launched to aservice which has not been initiatedthrough a Coast Radio Station (e.g.a Mayday call), then the Coastguardstation MF working frequency (1.6 mHz)or VHF Channel 0 may be used. This, ofcourse, leaves the international distressfrequencies free for other emergencies.

Until recently the necessary main-

tenance on electronic equipment in ourlifeboats was carried out under contractsnegotiated with the various suppliers.Generally this scheme worked out verywell, but there were of course problemsin arranging for the engineers to visitlifeboats at remote stations, and it wasexpensive. Following an evaluation ofthis policy by the Committee ofManagement, it was decided that allmaintenance should be done by theRNLI's own staff.

This system has now been introducedalmost completely, and it is workingextremely efficiently. The communica-tions department has developed aplanned maintenance scheme which isproving of great benefit. If there is aserious problem at any lifeboat station,it is a straightforward matter to arrangefor one of our own technical staff to dealwith it without delay. There is no doubtthat this new scheme is solving manyproblems, and costs appreciably less.

That is a brief introduction to theelectronic equipment carried on board amodern lifeboat. We live in a sophisti-cated age and without doubt electronicdevelopment has put most wonderfulaids into the hands of lifeboat crews. Itmust not be forgotten, however, thatthey are only aids: that is all they claimto be. They are far-reaching extensionsof the senses of the crew, but they cannever replace the observant eye, theperceptive ear, the immediate hail ofthe experienced seafarer. Nor can theyfully take the place of the simpler,familiar tools of communication andnavigation, always to hand; loudhailer,signalling lamp, flags, flares, compassand leadline.

Be it simple or sophisticated, in theend an aid can only be as good as theman who is operating it; as in allspheres of lifeboat work, when a stormis blowing, the sea very rough andconfused, it is the calibre of the crewmember that counts.

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Falmouth: When the 50' Thames class lifeboat RotaryService was lifted out of the water on July 29, 1975, forcleaning off, anti-fouling and the replacing of allcathodic protection anodes, all the work was done free ofcharge, Falmouth Docks workmen giving up their lunchhour to see the job through. The operation was arrangedby Falmouth honorary secretary Captain Frank Edwards,with the co-operation of Captain G. Southwood, manag-ing director, and G. Dewar, works manager of SilleyCox and Co., and A. E. Underwood, managing directorFalmouth Docks and Engineering Co.; it was organisedby Barry Timmins (outside foreman, Silley Cox, andlifeboat signalman). In the volunteer work force wereG. Parry (chargehand), C. Johnson (fitters chargehand)B. Philpott (crane driver), B. Sweet and M. Martin(pivot hands) and R. Anderson and V. Wilson (painters),together with Coxswain Arthur West, Second Coxswain/Motor Mechanic Vivian Pentecost and Crew MemberJohn Mitchell, While Rotary Service wits out of thewater (for about five hours) both propellers were replacedwith new ones. (Below) High pressure water jets madequick work of cleaning the bottom.

Around the coastMinehead: The Royal Corps of Transportis taking an Atlantic 21 into service on atarget range off the Hebrides. Last Decembera detachment of men was sent to Mineheadfor exercises in launching and recovery withILB crew members; it is one of the fewstations with the special RNLI drive-on,drive-off launching trolley, hauled downand up the beach by caterpillar tractor. Thetrolley is fitted at the inshore end with anupright recovery net which catches theAtlantic 21 as, returning to the beach atspeed, she is driven straight up on to thesubmerged trolley.

The Mumbles (below): A new winch, installedin the boathouse last January, was broughtacross from Swansea Dock by an army land-ing craft to be hauled up the slipway by theold Webber winch which it is replacing.photograph by courtesy of Swansea EveningPost.

Calshot (above): Every five months or so40.001, Ernest William and Elizabeth EllenHinde, is slipped on a Sunday mid-day tideto be cleaned below the waterline. Crew andhelpers rally round and she comes out at about0900 and is back again by 1500, only six hoursout of service at a time when local weekendrescue organisations are most available.Besides cleaning off and anti-fouling, thesacrificial plates are usually replaced and theopportunity taken to polish the hull, paintthe boot top and rub down and varnish allwoodwork awkward to get at when she is ather moorings.

Naming Ceremonies: Macduff, Gram-pian, April 3; Swanage, Dorset, May 6.

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Medical Arrangements in the

RNLI

PART II: CURRENT WORK AND POLICIES

by Geoffrey Hale, MBE MB B.Ch

TO OUTLINE ALL the work of the Medicaland Survival Committee would take toolong, so the following paragraphs willcontain accounts of activities selectedbecause they are likely to be of generalinterest and, where necessary, explana-tions of the reasons behind the policiesadopted will be given.

The teaching of first aid has beenimproved by the acquisition of twoRoyal Navy films, 'Emergency Resusci-tation' and 'Cold Can Kill'. Both theseare available, by arrangement, for showat any lifeboat station, and wheneverthey are shown their quality andmaterial is always greatly appreciated.

In May 1975 a new edition of 'FirstAid for Lifeboat Crews' was issuedwhich confines itself to those subjectsthat are of special importance in lifeboatwork. There are chapters on PersonalHealth, Hypothermia, Asphyxia andResuscitation (copied verbatim from theSt John First Aid Manual), a speciallywritten chapter on Resuscitation inLifeboats, Handling and Transport ofInjured Persons and Morphia.

As mentioned in Part I of this article,published in the winter issue of THELIFEBOAT, the committee carefully moni-tors developments in the field ofresuscitation and the recent work donein Edinburgh on the treatment of hypo-thermia by the provision of hot, wet airfor the casualty to breathe has shownthat this is certainly practical inhospitals. Research has now begun, onbehalf of the RNLI, at Edinburgh andNewcastle which will attempt to modifya type of resuscitation apparatus toenable it to be used for rewarming casesof hypothermia; but whether the idealof an apparatus that can be successfullyused by first aiders in ILBs is reallyfeasible yet remains to be seen.

In recent years many new designs ofstretcher have been produced in this andother countries, and as far as possibleall these are inspected by the committeeand those that seem to have a possibleapplication to lifeboat needs are furtherinvestigated. None of those seen hasseemed better than the very versatileNeil Robertson stretcher supplied to

Dr Hale has been a member of the Committeeof Management since 1952 and was electeda vice-president in 1964. He served on themedical working parties and is a member ofthe Medical and Survival Committee, ofwhich he was chairman from its formation in1971 until 1975.

This photograph illustrates therecommended method of trans-ferring a casualty from a vesselto a lifeboat.

most conventional lifeboats, which canbe used for moving casualties up anddown companion ways, through narrowhatches, from one vessel to another andfor lifting them to helicopters. Thecommittee's attention to this subject hasled to the introduction of carryingsheets for casualties in ILBs, and to theinclusion in the first aid book of adviceon the best method of transferringcasualties in a stretcher from one vesselto another.

Exercises with helicopters are of greatimportance if lifts of casualties, or otherpersonnel, are to be undertaken safely.Up to now there have been differencesin equipment and the proceduresrequired by the RAF and the Navy, butit is hoped that discussion now inprogress will lead to greater standardisa-tion both of equipment and procedures.

In the realms of personal equipmentfor crews, the history of the developmentof the lifejacket has already been dealtwith, but a great deal of work has alsobeen done in order to arrive at the besttype of protective clothing. A two-piecesuit which can be worn over normalclothing and thigh boots is now ingeneral use by crews of conventionallifeboats. But the varying conditions andpreferences have so far stood in the wayof adopting a universal suit for ILBcrews. In the interest of economy it ishoped that this will eventually beachieved.

The application of the scheme ofmedical standards and examinationsaccepted in 1970 has proceeded quitesmoothly though some have criticisedthe standard of vision required forcoxswains and others as being toosevere; so it may be as well to explainnow that the vision required is the sameas that recommended to the Departmentof Trade in 1970, by a panel of experts,as necessary for 'Masters and Mates inthe Merchant Navy, or Skippers andSecond Hands in the Fishing Fleet'. Nosearch and rescue organisation like theRNLI could accept a standard of visionlower than that required for the skipperof a fishing boat, and coxswains (andothers) in conventional lifeboats mayachieve the standard with the aid ofspectacles. For inshore lifeboats,

however, the standard, which isgood normal vision, has to be reachednaturally without sight aids. This isnecessary because the crews of ILBs areonly just above the surface of the seaand so exposed to wind and spray thatspectacles would often be no aid tovision and contact lenses in danger ofdisplacement.

General medical examinations arecarried out not with the intention ofrejecting all who do not have perfectphysique, but with the intention ofmaking as sure as possible that menaccepted are not suffering from condi-tions that may cause a failure duringservice, resulting in danger to thosebeing rescued or taking part in therescue; or from conditions that may beaggravated by service in very cold orbad weather and endanger a man's futurehealth. The examiner also has toconsider whether the effects of anytreatments prescribed for reportedconditions could produce side-effectsduring service which would reduce aman's efficiency.

The committee's intention is that allmedical examinations should be under-taken by the station honorary medicaladviser, because this will help therelationship between doctor and crew,but the final decision on the recom-mendation to accept or reject is made byone of the Institution's medical referees.This arrangement relieves the stationdoctor of making decisions about hisneighbours or patients to which theymight take exception.

Meetings between station honorarymedical advisers have always beenthought very valuable, but the expenseof arranging formal gatherings hasmade this impossible. However inrecent years the Medical Commissionon Accident Prevention has arrangedsymposia on the broad subject ofprevention of, and immediate care at,accidents. Doctors have been entitledto claim their expenses from theNational Health Service, and it has beenpossible for honorary medical advisersattending to be gathered to privatemeetings at which the discussions haveproved valuable, both at the time and

{Continued on page 138)

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Letters...Disabled sloop in storm

On September 14, 1975, we, the crewof the yacht Chayka of Ardgour whichwas in distress off the Needles, wererescued by the Yarmouth lifeboat.

No words or gestures can adequatelyexpress the deep gratitude we feeltowards you and your crew. We hope,however, that you will accept theenclosed Metropolitan Police plaqueand ties as a small measure of ouradmiration and esteem. The courage,skill and devotion of you and your crewwere an inspiration to us, and confirmedour already high regard of the lifeboatservice. We were delighted to hear ofyour well-merited award for gallantry.

With very best wishes to you and allmembers of the Yarmouth lifeboatcrew.—DAVID J. MORGAN, 14 BexhillRoad, New Southgate, London Nil 2RG.

This letter was written to CoxswainDavid Kennett of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight,and it was very much appreciated" byhimself, his crew and the Institution. Theservice to Chayka of Ardgour, for whichCoxswain Kennett was awarded the silvermedal for gallantry, is reported on page113.—THE EDITOR.

Silver WeddingOn January 31 my wife and I cele-

brated our silver wedding anniversary.In preference to a wasteful party andthe attendant unnecessary expense, wedecided to make a contribution to theRNLI.

Would you therefore please acceptthe enclosed cheque as a tribute to thecourage of your lifeboat crews? Thereare many varied stories of their unsel-fishness and bravery. It would seemfitting in our celebration to contributeto a body of men to whom so many oweso much.—R. G. LIGHTFOOT, 59 BedfordHill, Balham, SW12 9EZ.

To free a trapped pilotOn December 13 last, at the invitation

of British Aircraft Corporation, thecrews of Lytham-St Anne's lifeboat,ILB, helpers, DLAS and myself visitedtheir Warton factory for a demonstra-tion of what to do if a fighter aircraftditches with the pilot inside.

If, in such circumstances, a would-berescuer accidentally actuates the ejectorseat the consequences might be disas-trous to himself and the pilot. As testflights of aircraft with ejector seats aretaking place almost daily over theRibble Estuary such an occurrence isnot improbable.

BAC laid on a film showing thedesign and construction of the Jaguarfighter followed by an actual demonstra-tion of how to free a man wearing full

equipment from an ejector seat. Wewere then shown a newly completedaircraft, fuelled and with ejector seatarmed, followed by a lecture anddemonstration of air sea rescue tech-nique by the helicopter crew.

One point that emerged was that if theperspex canopy over the cockpit isclosed it would have to be cut away toget at the pilot.

The visit was both instructive andvaluable, particularly as BAC made itvery clear what not to do!—JOHNKENNEDY, joint honorary secretaryLytham St Anne's, 12 Hastings Place,Lytham, Lancashire.

Mobile Training UnitI would like to take this opportunity

to thank the Institution for givingShoreham Harbour lifeboat station theuse of the facilities of the MobileTraining Unit.

As you are aware, the MTU has been inuse at Shoreham for the past six weeks.I personally attended a]J the radio classesbut regretably was unable to make thenavigation weekend.

In my opinion this MTU is possibly oneof the best projects that the Institutionhas undertaken. When I first heardabout it, although I thought the idea wasgood, I must confess I did have certainreservations. However, having gonethrough the course, I can honestly say,and these are the feelings of all of us atShoreham, that it was all very worth-while and interesting.

Lieut.-Commander Peter Fulton andMr L. Vipond were very easy to getalong with and they have certainly bothput a lot of thought and hard work intothe syllabus. My only criticism aboutthe course was that it was not longenough. We would have liked six three-hour lessons rather than six two-hourlessons. Perhaps you will regard this notso much as a criticism but as a compli-ment and a measure of success.

I would strongly recommend all life-boat stations to make full use of theMTU facilities; they will, I feel sure, findthem interesting, instructive and besorry when the course is over.—KENVOICE, coxswain, Shoreham Harbourlifeboat, 69 The Green, Southwick, SussexBN4 4FX.

Book reviewsYour review of my book 'Begin

Cruising under Sail' sent me rushingback to re-read the chapter on the Ruleof the Road. Your reviewer, E.W.M.,criticises the book in the phrase 'norshould the International Regulationsfor Preventing Collisions at Sea bedismissed quite so lightly; it is the dutyof the master of any vessel to under-

stand fully his obligations to othervessels and this demands a good workingknowledge of the Rule of the Road'.

Nobody could possibly disagree withthis statement, and it was with somerelief that I re-read my own advice onthe subject: 'The rules governing right ofway at sea, in so far as they affect ayacht, must be known positively andstudied until they can be instantly andinstinctively observed without thoughtor reference'.

Quite honestly, reading the entiresection, I cannot see where yourreviewer got the idea that I was dis-missing the regulations lightly, unless itwas the one remark that you probablyneed not remember by heart what lightsa seaplane under tow should be carryingat night (can you remember? I can't!).I think this is probably fair enough, asI regard it as quite impractical to expectthe ordinary cruising yachtsman tomemorise every single combination oflights which he might ever conceivablymeet. Of course he should know all theordinary ones, but it is much moreimportant that he should have a quickreference guide to the others than thathe should half-remember them andmake a wrong decision owing to aninaccuracy in his memory.

As a governor of the RNLI, I wasmost upset to be labeiled in the pages ofTHE LIFEBOAT as a yachtsman and writerwho attaches too little importance tosuch a vital part of the science of safetyat sea, particularly as many of yourreaders will know me, but will not haveread the book and be unable to drawtheir own conclusions. I would be mostgrateful if you would publish this letterto put the record straight.—MARKBRACKENBURY, Stubbards Croft, GreatBardfield, Essex CM7 4SP.

With the help of our friendsIt was a very merry Christmas and it

has started to be a very prosperous newyear for Port Talbot station; all due toa few of our many friends.

With the Christmas mail was a cardfrom ex-crew member the ReverendLionel Webber, now serving his callingin another part of the country; itcontained a cheque for £18.50, madeup of gifts in memory of one of theladies of his parish. Another gift—£5raised by a charity football matchplayed over Christmas—was receivedfrom the bar boys of the local RNAClub.

Two of our new year presents are verywelcome pieces of equipment. One is aradio receiver costing £108; the othergift is a large Calor gas fire; this cost£50 and with it comes the promise offree gas when needed. It will help to cutdown the station's electricity bill and ismuch appreciated by the crew, now onwinter service.

Both the new year gifts were acquiredand paid for through the generosity oftwo English friends, Frank and ShirleyClarke. They own a small licensed

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restaurant close to our station and bothare great favourites with the crewmembers and their families because oftheir sincere interest in the station. Itstarted some time ago with hot coffee orsomething a little stronger when the ladsreturned from a service or an exercise.Through this kindness a firm friendshiphas grown.

The fire was paid for by the raffle of agiant teddy bear, the money left overgoing towards another big bear onwheels so that the raffle should continue.

When Mr and Mrs Clarke heard thelads talking about the new radio theyoffered to put on a buffet evening, allprofits to be donated towards the-'Set.They agreed to prepare and cook thefood and other friends offered theirservices behind the bar free.

Tickets were £2.50 each. We had tolimit numbers to 60 because of the sizeof the restaurant; we could have filledthe place over again and had to dis-appoint a number of our friends.

The Mayor and Mayoress of Avon,Councillor and Mrs Ted Owen, wereguests of honour at this informalgathering, and we were very pleased to

have Lieut.-Commander and MrsGeorge Cooper with us; both arealways very welcome in Port Talbot.

It was a wonderful evening and onethat will be talked of for a long time tocome. The table was a magnificentsight: every kind of cooked meatsincluding venison, a variety of fresh-water and sea foods, salads and a fineselection of pastries, and all home made.Festivities went on past midnight—andthen it was Shirley Clarke's birthday andour turn to show our appreciation.

I think that everyone will agree thatit is nice to have friends, especially theright kind of friends. One very touchingmoment in all this festive gathering waswhen I was called aside by one of theladies present and was given anenvelope: she had been asked by anold-age pensioner to say that althoughshe could not possibly attend she hadheard of our cause and had sent adonation. The envelope contained apound note. I will probably never meetthat lady, and I wondered if she couldafford such a gift. With all the moneybeing spent that evening for such acause, that one pound was something

very special. May God bless her and themany more like her.—DAVID F. AUBREY,honorary secretary Port Talbot, 24Handel Avenue, Sandfields Estate, PortTalbot, West Glamorgan.

Saltburn stationDo any of your readers versed in early

lifeboat history have information on alifeboat stationed at Saltburn, NorthRiding, Yorkshire, toward the end ofthe last century and early this century?

I have heard that my grandfather andhis family were associated with this boatand I seem to remember as a boy in the1920s seeing a lifeboat house on thelower promenade. Having lost touchwith my family some 40 years ago I haveno means of confirming this.—s.SPRINGETT, 28 Northway, Porton Down,Salisbury, Wiltshire.

A lifeboat was established at Saltburn in1849 by a local association, which in 1858requested the RNLI to take it over. Thestation was closed in 1922, 24 launcheshaving been made and 51 lives saved.Perhaps there are readers who remembersome of the crew members.—THE EDITOR.

Lifeboat peopleCoxswain Richard Evans, BEM,

received the Honorary Fellowship ofManchester Polytechnic on Thursday,December 4, 1975, in honour of his longand distinguished service as a memberof the crew and as coxswain of Moelfrelifeboat. Coxswain Evans, who retiredas coxswain in 1970, is the only manalive today to have been awarded thegold medal for gallantry twice; his firstgold medal was for the service to MVHindlea on October 27, 1959, and hissecond was for the service to the GreekMV Nafsiporos on December 2, 1966.

* * *The Carnegie Hero Fund Trustees

have awarded the bronze medallion,their highest award, to Dr Peter Davy ofHastings for his service to injured sea-men aboard the Argentinian warshipCandida de Lasala on December 23,1974, for which he was awarded theRNLI's silver medal for gallantry. Theywill also review from time to time anyeffect that the severe injuries he sus-tained may have on his health.

* * *Last September the Bishop of South-

ampton, the Rt. Reverend J. K. Cavell,MA, agreed to become patron of South-hampton Lifeboat Board. His greatinterest in the work of the RNLI stemsfrom a long family connection withWalmer lifeboat station.

* * *Lancashire and Western Sea Fisheries

have named a new patrol vessel afterSam Baxter, who is chairman of theFisheries committee and has beenhonorary secretary of Morecambe life-boat since 1967. The 64' vessel wasnamed by Mrs Eileen Baxter, Sam's

Olympic skating star JohnCurry shows his gold medalto branch members man-ning the RNLI stand atBirmingham Boat Show:(I. to r.) Mrs G. Cope,Bill Cotton, Roger Cope;looking over their shouldersis Mrs C. E. Lea, honorarysecretary of Birminghambranch.

photograph by courtesyof Birmingham Post and

Mail.

wife, at Bromborough on Friday,January 30.

* * *It is with deep regret that we announce

the following deaths:March 1975

William Benjamin Sayle, who wassecond coxswain of Peel lifeboat from1926 to 1936 and coxswain from 1937to 1954.December 1975

Dr John H. Lamble, who had been amember of Manchester and DistrictExecutive Committee since 1946, whenhe became honorary secretary of aspecial Manchester City OrganisingCommittee. He was elected chairmanof the Manchester and District ExecutiveCommittee in 1960, a post which he helduntil his death last year. Dr Lamblerepresented the Manchester committeeat The Mumbles at the time of thedisaster in 1947.

John Alfred Fox, coxswain ofShoreham lifeboat from 1968. He hadjoined the crew in 1946 and served assecond coxswain from 1963 to 1968.Coxswain Fox was awarded the bronze

medal for gallantry for the rescue of thecrew of five from the drilling rig WilliamAllpress in a strong south-westerly galewith a very rough sea and very poorvisibility on October 19, 1971; and hewas awarded a bar to his bronze medalfor the saving of the yacht Albin Balladand the rescue of her crew of three in astrong south-westerly gale and a veryrough sea on August 5, 1973.January 1976

Alick Mackay, who joined Anstruthercrew in 1930, was motor mechanic ofArbroath lifeboat from 1957 to 1964and coxswain of "Broughty Ferrylifeboat from 1964 to 1973. After hisretirement, and despite ill health, MrMackay travelled all over Scotland tolecture on the lifeboat service.

Commander Hendrik Thomas Booy,a former director of the Royal Northand South Holland Lifeboat Institution(from 1930 to 1963) and a member of itsCommittee of Management from 1963to 1971. Commander Booy, who was anhonorary life governor, and a very goodfriend, of the RNLI, was a much respec-ted figure at international conferences.

133

Some

MoneyDuring 1975 Dublin branch and

ladies' guild achieved the fine result of£24,000. Of this amount £5,874 camefrom the lifeboat shop run by MrsMontague Kavanagh and her helpers,and £4,198 was raised in a one-dayspring sale. £3,324 was collected on twovery wet flag days and £3,038 came fromhouse-to-house collectors.

Sounds of battle rang round Long-slade Heath in the New Forest as theBumbledon Knights, in full 'armour',met the Plough Yokels, in countrysmocks, for a comic football match ona sunny Sunday last July. Speed of playnecessitated the use of a bicycle by thereferee and fortifying liquids weredispensed from a red sports car whichcareered among the players. A lifeboatcollecting box yielded £11.40 after itspassage through spectators. The match,and a raffle which followed, were

For the third year Ray Rushton offered hiscar, a 1904 Wolseley, to the RNLI forsponsorship in last November's Veteran CarRun. His passenger was Charlie Smithers,Comedian of The Year in 1974. More than£3,000 was raised. In addition 'life-yards' ofthe route from London to Brighton were soldfor Wp each, the holders being entitled totake part in a free draw for premium bonds.Other districts gave good support and theseven prizewinners came from a number ofdifferent parts of the country.

photograph by courtesy of Len Thorpe.

Coxswain H. T. 'Shrimp' Danes presentsthe Lifeboat Cup to the captain of Gimming-ham, the winning team in Cramer's 1975football final.

organised by Michael Patrick, managerof the Plough Inn, Tiptoe, and at theend of the day the RNLI benefited by£60. Since then the inn has collected afurther £13 in its boxes.

A cheque for £150 was presented toNew Romney and Romney Marshbranch by Ashford North Boys School.The result of a sponsored generalknowledge quiz in which about 200boys in the third and fourth years tookpart, it will go towards a new boathousefor Littlestone ILB.

Hallowe'en in Beccles: Maria Raus-cher, Skip Shipley and Joe Crowfoot,the minstrels, played, danced and sangat a garden party, at each of the seveninns of the town and, last of all, at afish-and-chip shop. With them wentJohn Suckling and Roy Stroud, com-mittee members of Beccles branch, andby the end of the evening they hadcollected £17.53 for the Institution.

Ten-year-old Peter Jensen of Highgate sent£9.07, collected with his splendid guy, toHornsey branch. The RNLI, he said in hisletter, is his favourite charity.photograph by courtesy of Andrew Franks.

Cromer claims the longest-runningfund raising event in the history of theRNLI: a football competition whichgoes back 70 years to 1906. Originally itwas for a cup given by the Tuckerbrothers, but since 1950 this cup hasbeen awarded to the runners-up, whileto the winners has gone a cup presentedby E. P. Hansell in memory of hisfather, E. M. Hansell. Service as well aslocal teams have competed, all of juniorstatus. All matches are now played inCromer in the early part of the year, assoon as the evenings are light enough.Receipts reached a peak of £100 in 1957,and now average about £50 annually.

Over the past few years, Clacton-on-Sea ladies' guild has held a number offashion shows from which the RNLI hasbenefited by over £1,000.

Richard Beck of Dunfermile, Fife,built in 1971 a replica Liverpoollifeboat (f" = 1') based on James andRuby Jackson, formerly stationed atAnstruther. Since then this model hasbeen on almost permanent display atthe Scottish Fisheries Museum, Ans-truther, which kindly allowed it to beused for RNLI fund raising. As a resultof this and other activities more than£600 has been collected.

134

Two fine results from Salcombe:Crew members, by running discodances last summer, raised £1,400 forthe lifeboat service. Mr and Mrs T.Heycock of Millbay, East Portlemouth,presented the branch with £110, col-lected by allowing boats to use thebeach in front of their house, makingno charge but suggesting a contributionshould be made to the lifeboat box.

Northampton ladies' guild raised£395 at a Caledonian market held in theGuild Hall last November.

Eday is a small island in the Orkneyswith a population of only 170, yet in itsspecial effort year for the RNLI 150thanniversary the ladies' guild raised£227.65-J. As well as a house-to-housecollection (£54.15) they held a beetledrive with auction and box supper(£28.12) and a Burns's supper (£9.43);the young men of Eday Youth Clubraised £44.41 with a sponsored crawlaround the Community Centre (one mancompleted 23 laps); and, finally, thebiennial summer sale of work cleared£91.544.

Thames Gas Sailing Club raised £165for the RNLI with a sponsored sail-inat Thorpe, near Chertsey, last September20 and 21. Thirteen members took part,seven of them for 24 hours' duration.

£1,500 was raised in 1975 by a holidaydraw competition organised by thesouthern district office. First prize, areturn voyage for two on the UnionCastle liner Windsor Castle to LasPalmas, was won by P. M. House ofSouthampton. A tie for second andthird prizes resulted in G. Carter, ofSouthampton, choosing a week's holi-day for two at a Pontins holiday centre,while Mrs S. Perry, of Portsmouth,chose two return flights to Jersey byBritish Airways. All prizes were kindlydonated by the companies involved.

On one day of last autumn's ScottishOffshore Oil Exhibition at Aberdeen acollection for the RNLI was organisedby Mrs Cowper, honorary secretary ofthe Aberdeen ladies' guild. £106 wastaken, including £2 in Norwegiankroner.

To crown a summer's punting fourOxford undergraduates, Neil Johnsonand Chris Reddick (St Edmund Hall),Keith Plunkett (St Catherine's) andMarcus Sephton (New College), under-took a sponsored punt from Oxford toCambridge by the shortest navigableroute: the Cherwell, Oxford Canal,Grand Union Canal, Great Ouse andthe River Cam. They lived off biscuits,eggs, fruit and orange squash andcamped each night by the water's edge.Where canals were too muddy forpunting, they resorted to a towrope.The 170-mile journey took ten verygruelling but rewarding days, and £250was raised for the RNLI.

Fifty-six rafts took part in the 1975 Wadebridge and Padstow Round Table raft race. About£500 was raised in sponsorship, the moneys being divided between Wadebridge and Padstowbranches. photograph by courtesy of W. A. Cogan.

A cheese and wine party held at theRoyal Naval College, Greenwich, onFriday, November 7,1975, was attendedby 260 people and raised more than£400 for the RNLI. Rear Admiral SirEdmund Irving represented the Com-mittee of Management and among theguests were Admiral and Mrs Bazal-gette and the Mayor and Mayoress ofGreenwich.

The ladies' guild of Middleton StGeorge, a village in Co. Durham, lastyear raised £355 with a coffee morningat the Devonport Hotel, by kindpermission of Mr and Mrs K. Cotterill,and sales of souvenirs. The raffle of acake, baked and magnificently decoratedwith a model lifeboat by Mrs J. B.Robson, brought in £12.

As part of Golders Green Unitarians'50th anniversary celebrations last Octo-ber the Hoop Lane Players put on aproduction of Peter Terson's 'TheWhitby Lifeboat Disaster'. £40 wascollected in the interval for the RNLI.

As in previous years, B. M. Miller,harbour master of Port Hamble, orga-nised a fireworks party at Hamble lastNovember. More than £200 was raisedfor the RNLI.

Two members of Morecambe andHeysham Yacht Club, Mr and MrsSpencer, organised a Christmas drawwhich raised £574.22 for the RNLI.They collected 115 prizes from localpeople; the first prize was a £30 wrist-watch donated by John C. West Ltd.and the list included such unusual itemsas a thermometer and a tray of eggs.Mr Spencer is a former MorecambeILB crew member.

Coventry ladies' guild was invited bythe Lady Mayoress of Coventry to seefilms about the city and its new cathe-dral, and to take tea with her afterwardsin the Guildhall of St Mary. 150members and friends were present and£45.50 was raised for the lifeboat

(continued on page 137)

(Left) E. Mangold (r.) was presented with a plaqueearlier this year by George Powell, organisingsecretary North London. Mr Mangold, who is inhis mid 70s, has raised £925 for the RNLI sincehe first collected for Wood Green Branch in 1974;£250 during lifeboat week that year, £427 in life-boat week 1975 and the remaining £248 in aChristmas goodwill gift collection.

photograph by courtesy of North LondonWeekly Herald.

(Right) The Benevolents, a group of men fromEasingwold, Yorkshire, have raised funds for theRNLI since 1970. Last November a cheque for£301.40, proceeds of a sponsored walk, and adonation of £50 towards amenities for Humbercrew and their families at Spurn Point, were pre-sented by their president, Mr Tucker (/.), toKenneth Thirlwell, divisional organiser north east.photography by courtesy of Bill Hadley, York.

135

ShorelineSection

ONCE AGAIN, to look back at the BoatShow is to look back on eleven happyand successful days. With the help ofvolunteer Shoreline members on theRNLI stand and of our friends at theMidland Bank stand, we enrolled 528new members and a brisk business wasalso done in insignia; with subscriptionsand sale of insignia we took, in all,£4,228 during the show.

Many old friends looked in to see us,six established members visiting usspecially to make considerable increasesin their subscriptions. That is a greatencouragement.

One visitor who is always welcomewas The Right Hon. Edward Heath,MBE, MP, who came to autograph copiesof the 4th edition of the RNLI Cook

Book to which he had contributed arecipe for grilled chicken. While there,Mr. Heath, one of our founder YLAmembers and an outstandingly success-ful offshore yachtsman, agreed toanswer a few questions put by HeatherDeane, a member of our staff who hashelped on the Shoreline stand at manyshows:

'Mr Heath, it is almost six years to the daysince you visited Earls Court on January 10,1969, and bought the first Morning Cloud.On that same visit you also enrolled as amember of the RNLI—No. 165. Wouldyou be surprised to hear that we now have28,030 members of Shoreline?'

'This is splendid news, and I think onyour part you've done a tremendous job!'

'It would be interesting to know whichevent occurred first: did you feel you shouldenrol with the RNLI before or after youbought Morning CloudT

'Oh, I enrolled first.'

'Have you ever met any members of alifeboat crew?'

' Yes, on many occasions'

'Does it increase your confidence, knowingthere is a lifeboat station within hailingdistance, in home waters ?'

' Yes, it does, most certainly.'

'Is there any advice you would offer tosomeone taking up sailing?'

One of our younger Shorelinemembers: Zoe Ballantyne ofShorne, Kent. Zoe, who ob-viously enters into the spirit ofthe service with a will, iseighteen months old. Have wea more junior member ?

Edward Heath autographs a Cook Book forMiss Great Britain, Sue CuffofMorecambe.

'Make sure they learn how to do it. This isessential.'

'Are you happy with your present yacht?Is there anything you would like to changein her?'

' Yes, but of course, we are always tryingto improve her.'

'Which is the next major sailing event youare looking forward to ?'

'There will be the Solent races next, andthe Channel races. One always looksforward to these events'

'Finally, Mr Heath, have you a message forour lifeboat crews and our voluntaryworkers ?'

'/ should like to express deep gratitudefor the work you all do. Please, keep it up!'

On August 7, Henley-on-Thamesbranch is holding a Boat Rally atRemenham Club, Henley, to which awarm welcome is extended to allShoreline members. There is to be anAustrian Beer-garden—with appropriatemusical accompaniment—and, in theevening, to wind up festivities, a dance.Here is an excellent opportunityfor Shoreline members in the Henleyarea to meet socially and also, of course,to help local fund raising efforts.Further details will be available nearer

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

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

Shoreline Giro number is 294 7056NAME / enclose P. O'/'cheque/cash for £ . . .

ADDRESS Date

Signature

136

the time from R. Gothard, telephonenumber Henley-on-Thames (04912)3602.

* * *

Shoreline member 0008211 Lieut.-Commander A. Prideaux, RD RNR,chief officer of P & O MS Slrathmeigle,has written to tell us of a social eveningin aid of the RNLI held by the officerson board his ship while anchored atSitra Anchorage, Bahrain, at the end ofOctober. He writes:

'The evening was attended by officers andwives from two other P & O GeneralCargo Division ships, Strathmay andStrathnaver. Due to the intense boredomfelt while waiting for berths at heavilycongested gulf ports (up to 150 days forsome) the response was excellent. Thirty-five officers and wives from the threeships were present and a very pleasanttime was had by all. A raffle was heldand the sum of £100 was raised for theInstitution. I feel this is remarkable,particularly as twelve of those presentwere cadets, not noted for being wellpaid. Perhaps our example might befollowed elsewhere . . .'

Please note: Members will see that anextra digit has been added to theirexisting membership numbers. It is anadditional check to ensure that sub-scriptions are placed to the rightaccounts.

Lieut.-Colonel Watson of Stirling-shire has written, as have other mem-bers, questioning the extra expenseincurred by posting receipts andmembership cards separately.

The receipts themselves have to bemade out, as a carbon copy is the primedocument to be 'fed' into the cashactivated computer we use.

The computer run is once a month.A member's subscription arriving on,say, January 1, is not entered therefore,until the computer run after January 31;taking the time of the run and of thepost, there may be a delay of six orseven weeks before that member receiveshis membership card. This delay we feelis not tolerable for acknowledgingreceipt of moneys, be they £3 or, assometimes, £500.

The present system employed doesin fact save labour costs even thoughpostage is involved. However, withimproved technology it is hoped thatnext year a direct link with the computerwill mean that a membership card canbe produced immediately, thus cuttingout the need for receipts.

We would wish to mention that ourcosts could be drastically cut if memberswould pay their subscriptions by directdebit (a form is supplied on renewalnotices), thus obviating postal andclerical costs in sending out bothrenewal reminder notices and the receiptsmentioned in this text.—o. R. 'BOB'WALTON, membership secretary, RNLI,West Quay Road, Poole, Dorset, BH151 HZ (Tel. Poole 71133).

Some ways of

raising money

(continued from page 135)

service. During the past year £1,300 hasbeen raised in Coventry, and the guildhas planted a plane tree on one of thecity's lovely greens to commemoratethe 150th anniversary of the RNLI.

A stage suit generously given by thesinger Tom Jones to Rhyl and Districtbranch for fund raising has made £50for the RNLI.

Branch efforts at Croydon raised£5,360.08 in the year 1974/75. Of thisamount almost £700 came from theannual autumn lifeboat fair organisedby Mrs Iris M. Betson. Mrs Betson,whose son Steven is the motor mechanicat Walton and Frinton station, makes alarge proportion of the goods for sale atthe fair herself: hundreds of pounds ofpreserves and hundreds of knitted andfancy goods; she even takes orders forknitting, to be delivered next time over,when she and her husband, Bill, visittheir daughter in Canada each alternateyear.

In 1975, for the second year, asponsored walk was organised bySchermuly; the walkers were joined byfive colleagues from their sister com-pany, Pains-Wessex. Sponsorshipmoney, together with a donation,amounted to £500 for the RNLI.

W. J. Griffiths and his son, who islicensee of the Prince of Wales Hotel atAberaeron, have presented a cheque tothe RNLI for £500 raised from theprofits of a tote; they plan to continueto run the tote for the benefit of thelifeboat service.

Lawrenny Yacht Club first decided tohelp the RNLI in 1973 when, as a resultof stalls on its regatta day, £150 wasraised. In 1974 the regatta was enlargedwith sideshows, stalls and a barbecue,and £500 was raised. In 1975 W. J.Barry, the commodore, and his com-mittee made a change; they organised adance at the Double Diamond Club,Caerphilly. Held in August, it wasattended by many rugby personalitiesincluding Barry John, the former Welshand Lions international player. As aresult, a cheque for £1,300 was presentedby the vice-commodore, Geoffrey Ashe,to Admiral Sir Peter Compston, amember of the Committee of Manage-ment, at the South Wales DistrictConference on November 5.

A lifeboat float built by Whitstable crew took part in five local carnivals last summer andwon several prizes. It is seen here at Herne Bay carnival.

RNLI Cook BooksFor those who like an individual

touch to their cooking the RNLI hastwo good recipe books:

Fourth RNLI Cook Book: Amongother contributions there are recipesfrom well-known sporting personalities:Chilli Con Carne from Ann Moore,Coq au Vin from Roger Taylor, PorkChops with Green Peppers and SweetCorn from Mary Peters, and many

others. From RNLI, West Quay Road,Poole, Dorset BH15 1HZ, price 60p(postage lOp).

The second Tarbert Lifeboat RecipeBook: Recipes range from the exotic,like Scampi Conil (Mrs Macdonald,Largs), to homely fare like Granny'sDumpling (Mrs D. MacFarlane, GarvalTerrace). And do you know the easiestway to melt chocolate? F. S. Mackenna,the editor, will let you into the secret.From RNLI, 45 Queen Street, Edin-burgh EH2 3NN, price 30p (postage 9p).

137

(Below) Basildon branch raised the funds to purchasethe present Burnham-on-Crouch ILB—-and has alreadyset as its target for the future a replacement boat. Lastautumn Connor O'Brien, chairman of Basildon DistrictCouncil, came to Burnham to unveil a commemorativeplaque, accompanied by Councillor Tony Ball (centre),secretary, and Ray Hoskins, treasurer of Basildon branch.They were welcomed by Commander I. McL. Methven,chairman of Burnham ILB station (extreme left). SidneyHull, Mayor of Burnham, was present on that occasionand (left) the following week was taken to sea by CrewMembers Peter Evans (I.) and John Clowes for an in-spection of the river as part of a drive to improve locallifesaving facilities.

Bradford and District branch haspresented former Lord Mayor, Coun-cillor Tom Hall, with a leather-boundbook containing the names of thethousands of people who have contri-buted to his appeal for funds to coverthe cost of a new lifeboat at SpurnPoint. The target set was £51,000; theamount raised was more than £80,000.

* * *When the Shaw Savill liner Northern

Star was withdrawn from service, thecrew's social club had well over £1,000in the 'kitty', and members agreed thatthe money should be donated to theRNLI. A cheque for £1,230.64 waspresented by Graham Pepper, formerfirst officer of Northern Star andhonorary secretary of her social club, toCaptain Nigel Dixon, RN, director ofthe RNLI, at the Shaw Savill Line headoffice in London just before Christmas.

* * *Clive Dunn has very kindly donated

to the RNLI his recording fee of £80 forthe LP of 'Dad's Army' stage show. Hehas asked that it be split equallybetween Eastney and Littlehampton.

HEREand

THEREWestward Television have given

£1,000 towards the City of Bristolappeal. It was presented by theirchairman, Peter Cadbury, to the LordMayor, Councillor Hubert Williams.

* * *Already 2,500 books of Green Shield

stamps, representing nearly £2,000, havebeen collected by the branches andguilds of the north-west division towardsthe cost of a new lifeboat. Green ShieldTrading Co. has generously offered 60pper book instead of the usual 42^p.Stamps, preferably complete books, arewelcomed at RNLI, Prince's Chambers,26 Pall Mall, Manchester M2 1JR.

* * *On November 2, 1975. Mrs Marian

Kelman unveiled a plaque in BIythboathouse recording the gift of £2,200to equip the 46' 9" Watson lifeboat

Winston Churchill (Civil Service No. 8)with radar and VHP radio; it was madein memory of her great grandfather,George Heron, who, aged 25, lost hislife on service in the Blyth lifeboat in1841.

* * *Chiswick and Hammersmith branch,

newly formed, welcomes new members.The secretary, Miss V. Hall, 33c St. Ann'sVillas, London Wll (Tel. 01-603 3003)will be pleased to receive offers of timeand help.

* * *Bournemouth branch is arranging a

concert by Caldicot and District MaleVoice Choir from South Wales in theGrand Hall, St Stephens Road, onFriday, May 28. Entrance by pro-gramme only, price £1, from B. Wood,140 Portland Road, Bournemouth.

Medical Arrangementsin the RNLI(from page 131)

later as a basis for a 'newsletter' to bringall honorary medical advisers up to datewith current problems. The subjectshave included such items as lifelines,retrieving casualties from the water,communications and hypothermia. Oneof the meetings discussed and stressedthe importance of honorary medicaladvisers being in close touch with thecrews and attending exercises. Divisionalinspectors of lifeboats have been askedto encourage this practice, but probablyit is even more important for stationhonorary secretaries to tell the doctorwell in advance of arranged exercises.

The newsletter was also used toexplain why certificated first aiders in

conventional lifeboats were given anominal proficiency payment to whichmembers of ILB crews were not entitled,and it seems worthwhile to repeat theexplanation here:

(i) A first aider in the ILB is unlikelyto have charge of a casualty forlonger than one hour, probably verymuch less, and further medicalassistance is often available. Incontrast, the first aider in theconventional boat may have res-ponsibilities for casualties for somehours without the possibility ofobtaining any assistance,

(ii) Conditions in an ILB are sorestricting that little first aid ispossible beyond resuscitation andcareful handling.

(iii) It is a desirable, but not alwaysattainable, principle that all ILBcrew members should be inter-changeable and all equally trainedin their skills. Some first aid know-ledge is essential for an ILB crew

member, and of course the more thebetter, but first aid specialists, inILB crews, would not improve theover-all service.

As reported in the autumn issue ofTHE LIFEBOAT, the writer of this articlecollaborated with Surgeon CaptainF. W. Baskerville in a paper entitled"The Origin and Work of the Medicaland Survival Committee of the RNLI',which the Surgeon Captain, now chair-man of the committee, presented at theInternational Lifeboat Conference inHelsinki last June. He also showed thefilms mentioned earlier and many itemsof equipment. This article, with the onewhich preceded it, covers much the sameground as that paper.

Finally, honorary medical advisersand first aiders throughout the Institu-tion are to be congratulated on thework they do to provide a serviceunbeaten in any other lifeboat service inthe world.

138

Awardsto Coxswains, Crewsand Shore Helpers

The following coxswains, members of lifeboat crews andshore helpers were awarded certificates of service on theirretirement and, in addition, those entitled to them by theInstitution's regulations, were awarded an annuity,gratuity or pension.

BarrowE. A. Diamond

BlackpoolJ. Stanhope

H. R. Parr

J. Stanhope

F. V. Cornall

BridlingtonJ. E. King

G. W. Traves

F. Hoggard

BuckieJ. Roy

A. Slater

ClactonC. H. G. Bolingbroke

J. W. Bolingbroke

CromerJ. J. Davies

DouglasJ. Swindlehurst

DungenessT. R. Tart

ExmouthM. Mellish

FalmouthW. L. Brown

Second Coxswain 2f yearsBowman 6 yearsCrew Member 9J years.

Coxswain 6 yearsSecond Coxswain 5 yearsBowman 9 yearsCrew Member 9 years.Motor Mechanic 19| yearsAssistant Mechanic Hi years.Second Coxswain 6J yearsBowman 4J yearsCrew Member 11 years.Assistant Mechanic 28f yearsCrew Member 14 years.

Coxswain 10 yearsSecond Coxswain 2 yearsBowman 4 yearsCrew Member 1 yearBronze Medal 1968Bronze Second Service Clasp 1972Silver Medal 1973.Second Coxswain 7J yearsAssistant Mechanic 3J yearsCrew Member 4 years.Shore Helper and Head Launcher 65

years.

Assistant Motor Mechanic 24J yearsCrew Member 1J years.Emergency Mechanic 18 years.

Coxswain 7 yearsSecond Coxswain 15 yearsAssistant Mechanic 7 yearsCrew Member 1 year.Emergency Mechanic 13f yearsCrew Member 8 years.

Shore Helper 2 yearsCrew Member 46 years.

Crew Member 22 years.

Coxswain 10 yearsSecond Coxswain 18 yearsBowman 1 yearCrew Member 8 yearsSilver Medal 1974.

Second Coxswain 10| yearsCrew Member 5 years.

Coxswain 3 yearsSecond Coxswain 12 yearsCrew Member 10 years.

Galway BayB. Fitzpatrick

GirvanR. Daly

HolyheadW. H. Condra

IslayM. Mackay

KirkcudbrightJ. Sassoon

T. Thomson

J. Smith

The Lizard-CadgwirhJ. C. Curnow

LonghopeW. Sutherland

G. Taylor

MallaigC. Henderson

NewbigginT. D. Taylor

G. R. Armstrong

NewhavenR. Ingram

New QuayE. G. S. Fowler

North SunderlandD. Mole

PenleeA. N. Bawden

PooleG. Buckby

RamseyR. F. ChristianR. J. CorkishW. I. Gawne

RamsgateT. J. H. Cooper

Bowman 11$ yearsCrew Member 14j- years.

Bowman 8J yearsCrew Member 2£ years.

Winchman 25 yearsShore Helper 3 years.

Coxswain 1£ yearsSecond Coxswain 9f yearsBowman 1 yearBronze Medal 1972Bronze Second Service Clasp 1973.

Second Coxswain 18£ yearsCrew Member 11 years.Assistant Mechanic 16J yearsEmergency Mechanic 2f yearsCrew Member 2 years.Winchman and Shore Helper

35 years.

Head Launcher 34 yearsShore Helper 18 years.

Head Launcher and Shore Helper48 years.

Shore Helper 14 years.

Coxswain 9 yearsSecond Coxswain 14 yearsCrew Member 4 years.

Second Coxswain 7£ yearsBowman 9J yearsCrew Member 13 years.Tractor Driver 26 years.

Winchman 44 years.

Motor Mechanic 10J yearsTractor Driver Helper 5 monthsAssistant Motor Mechanic If yearsSecond Coxswain 1 yearCrew Member 12 years.

Motor Mechanic 4J yearsCrew Member 9 years.

Assistant Mechanic 8f yearsCrew Member 6 years.

Second Coxswain 5 monthsCrew Member 28f years.

Crew Member 51 yearsCrew Member 30 yearsCrew Member 30 years.

Coxswain 12 yearsSecond Coxswain 10 yearsBowman 6 yearsCrew Member 16 years.

(Continued on next page)

139

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THE SQUARECATERHAM, SURREY, CR3 6QA

Tel: Caterham (STD 0883) 44433 & 48704

Awards(from previous page)

SalcombeH. W. Distin(Posthumous)

A. O. Taylor

ScarboroughA. Rennard

SelseyD. Arnell

Sennen CoveW. Hutchens

SkegnessH. A. Burrows

SunderlandT. E. Dobson

SwanageD. R. Dyke

ThursoG. M. Reid

TorbayB. J. Pike

WalmerF. G. Marchant

Weston-super-MareF. E. Watts

WeymouthE. Groves

WhitbyW. Harland

E. Breckon

R. D. Frampton

D. PeartG. Peart

WicklowJames Bonus

M. Malone

Coxswain 10 yearsSecond Coxswain 11 yearsBowman 5 yearsCrew Member 9 years.Second Coxswain 114 yearsCrew Member 10 years.

Motor Mechanic 23J yearsTractor Driver 5i years.

Second Coxswain 6J yearsBowman 5 yearsCrew Member 15 years.

Shore Helper 33 years.

Shore Helper 4 yearsAssistant Tractor Driver 11 yearsTractor Driver 6 yearsCrew Member 9 years.

Bowman 15J yearsCrew Member 4 years.

Second Coxswain 8J yearsCrew Member 13 J years.

Coxswain 7 yearsBowman 2 yearsCrew Member 20 years.

Motor Mechanic 9J yearsAssistant Mechanic (Humber) 7

monthsReserve Mechanic 1J yearsSilver Medal 1973.

Assistant Mechanic 1£ yearsCrew Member 11£ years.

Second Coxswain 22} yearsBowman 1 yearCrew Member 5 years.

Crew Member 20 years.

Coxswain 12 yearsBowman 6 yearsCrew Member 6 yearsBronze Medal 1970.Emergency Mechanic 5J yearsCrew Member 7 years.Second Coxswain 8 monthsAssistant Mechanic 2£ yearsBowman 6} yearsCrew Member 14 years.Shore Helper 15 years.Head Launcher 15 yearsShore Helper 5 years.

Motor Mechanic 30£ yearsReserve Mechanic 5J years.Winchman 26 yearsCrew Member 18 years.

140

Lifeboat Services(from page 118)

spectacles and dived into the water tohelp the woman. At the same time JohnWall threw a line to the man approach-ing with the children.

On reaching the woman RichardWheeler, a trained life-saver, gave hersupport and reassurance that she wasnow out of danger and, using the 'closechin tow' method and lifesaving back-stroke, towed her towards Sandpiper.The tow was hampered by the occasionalbreaking swell and by the dog whichkept trying to climb on to the rescuerand his casualty; Richard Wheeler infact sustained scratches to his face, armsand body.

When about 5 feet from the boatRichard Wheeler was able to grab a lineand pull the woman alongside. She washelped from the water by John Wall andthe other man, her husband. RichardWheeler climbed into the boat, grabbed

Services by OffshoreLifeboats, September,October and November,1975

Aldeburgh, SuffolkSeptember 15.Ballycotton, Co. CorkNovember 3 and 6.Baltimore, Co. CorkSeptember 13, October 10,26 and November11.Barrow, CumbriaSeptember 2 and November 15.Barry Dock, South GlamorganSeptember 14 (twice), 20, 27, October 14,19, November 2, 23 and 30.Bembridge, Isle of WightSeptember 3, 13, 14, 29, October 12, 31,November 17 and 30.Berwick-upon-Tweed, NorthumberlandSeptember 5, 6 and 21.Bridlington, HumbersideNovember 16 and 27.Calshot, HampshireSeptember 14 and November 30.Campbeltown, ArgyllSeptember 30.Clacton-on-Sea, EssexSeptember 3, 11, 14 (twice) and 19.Clogher Head, Co. LoughSeptember 20.Cloughey-Portavogie, Co. DownSeptember 19 and November 2.Courtmacsherry, Co. CorkSeptember 1, 19 and November 10.Clovelly, North DevonSeptember 13, October 24 and 27.Cromer, NorfolkSeptember 8 and October 26.Dover, KentOctober 11,31, November 9, 12 and 30.Dungeness, KentOctober 25 and November 30.Dun Laoghaire, Co. DublinSeptember 1, 10, 13 and November 21.

the dog swimming alongside, dragged itin over the gunwale and then checkedto see if any of the survivors neededresuscitation. The time was now 1720.

Another speed boat, crewed by PaulDavies and Wyn Evans, arrived along-side Sandpiper and was asked to go toAberystwyth to call out the ILB.Sandpiper was got under way, took thesmall pram dinghy in tow and markedoff the sunken speed boat with an air-tight plastic container. She then set outfor Aberystwyth, meeting the ILB asshe rounded the southern breakwater at1730. The ILB went on to recover thespeed boat, while Sandpiper landed thesurvivors at Aberystwyth at 1735.

The ILB found the sunken boat at1740 and managed to tow it back intoharbour some 15 minutes later. The ILBwas rehoused and ready for service at1800.

For this service, framed letters ofappreciation signed by Major-GeneralRalph Farrant, the Chairman of theInstitution, were awarded to RichardWheeler and John Wall.

Dunmore East, Co. WaterfordOctober 3.Eastbourne, SussexSeptember 13 and November 16.Exmouth, South DevonSeptember 25 and November 10.Falmouth, CornwallOctober 26, November 9 and 26.Filey, North YorkshireSeptember 7 and November 16.Fishguard, DyfedSeptember 13, 23 and 27.Fleetwood, LancashireSeptember 14, October 4, 5, 19 andNovember 2.Fowey, CornwallSeptember 24.Galway Bay, GalwaySeptember 17, 30, October 9, 21, November10 and 16.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkOctober 9, 19, 24, November 4, 12, 22, 23and 27.Harwich, EssexSeptember 8 (twice), 9, 14, 18, October 24,November 15, 19 and 30 (twice).Hastings, SussexSeptember 16, 20, 25, October 19 andNovember 7.Holyhead, GwyneddSeptember 8.Howth, Co. DublinSeptember 27, November 16 and 17.Humber, HumbersideSeptember 9, 14, 19, October 2, 8, 12, 20and November 21.Ilfracombe, DevonSeptember 8.Islay, StrathclydeSeptember 28 and October 3.Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and GallowayOctober 15.Kirkwall, OrkneyOctober 10 and 20.Lerwick, ShetlandOctober 3, November 15 and 20.The Lizard-Cadgwith, CornwallSeptember 18 and October 3.Llandudno, GwyneddOctober 12 and November 15.

Lochinver, HighlandSeptember 24 and October 3.Longhope, OrkneySeptember 20.Lowestoft, SuffolkSeptember 14, November 20, 22 and 27.•Macduff, GrampianSeptember 20.Margate, KentSeptember 12,26, October 31 and November17.Moelfre, GwyneddSeptember 19.The Mumbles, West GlamorganSeptember 27 and October 31.Newhaven, East SussexSeptember 14, 18, 24 and October 16.New Quay, DyfedSeptember 14.Padstow, CornwallSeptember 8 and October 11.Peterhead, GrampianSeptember 27.Plymouth, DevonOctober 18.Poole, DorsetOctober 4, 12, 29 and November 12.Port Erin, Isle of ManSeptember 11, October 11 and 25.Porthdinllaen, GwyneddNovember 20.Porrpatrick, WigtownshireSeptember 15.Portrush, Co. AntrimSeptember 23.Pwllheli, GwyneddOctober 4.Ramsey, Isle of ManSeptember 9 and 27.Ramsgate, KentSeptember 4, 11, 22 and November 24.Redcar, ClevelandSeptember 28.Rhyl, ClwydNovember 11.Runswick, ClevelandOctober 10.St Helier, JerseySeptember 13, 27, November 16 and 19.St Ives, CornwallSeptember 5, November 12 and 24.St Mary's, Isles of ScillySeptember 12.St Peter Port, GuernseyOctober 26, November 11,16,17,19 and 30.Salcombe, DevonSeptember 3, 17, 26, 28, October 4 andNovember 2.Seaham, Co. DurhamSeptember 10 and 12.Selsey, SussexSeptember 14, 25 and October 7.Sheerness, KentSeptember 7, 25, 27, 29, October 5, 12, 13,25, November 14 and 15.Sheringham, NorfolkSeptember 9.Shoreham Harbour, SussexSeptember 25.Skegness, LincolnshireSeptember 6, October 20, November 12, 15and 24.Southend-on-Sea, EssexSeptember 17, 27 and November 9.Stornoway, Western IslesOctober 3 and 27.Stromness, OrkneySeptember 20.Sunderland, Tyne and WearOctober 20.Swanage, DorsetSeptember 18, October 11, 28, November 2,12 and 28.

141

Teesmouth, ClevelandSeptember 12, 25, November 2 and 13.Tenby, DyfedSeptember 3, October 17 and 18.Thurso, CaithnessNovember 20.Torbay; DevonSeptember 13,14,21, October 22, November4, 10, 17 and 21.Troon, StrathclydeSeptember 24, October 15, 25, November17 and 29.Tynemouth, Tyne and WearSeptember 24.Walmer, KentSeptember 11.Walton and Frinton, EssexSeptember 14, October 24 and 31.Weymouth, DorsetSeptember 27 (twice), October 4, 10, 11 andNovember 30.Whitby, North YorkshireSeptember 10, 29 and October 25.Wicklow, Co. WicklowOctober 25.Workington, CumbriaSeptember 13, November 21 and 27.Yarmouth, Isle of WightSeptember 14, 29 and November 30.Youghal, Co. CorkSeptember 30.

Services by InshoreLifeboats, September,October and November,1975Abersoch, GwyneddOctober 10 and November 5.Aberystwyth, DyfedSeptember 19 and 21.Bangor, Co. DownOctober 5.Barmouth, GwyneddSeptember 21.Barrow, CumbriaSeptember 4.Beaumaris, GwyneddSeptember 1, October 3 and 4.Berwick-upon-Tweed, NorthumberlandSeptember 21.Blackpool, LancashireSeptember 18, October 11,15,19, November8, 9, 23, 24 and 30.Borth, DyfedSeptember 2.Bridlington, HumbersideSeptember 10, 23 and 28.Brighton, East SussexOctober 14.Broughty Ferry, TaysideSeptember 1,24, October 4 (twice), 7 and 18.

Burnham-on-Crouch, SuffolkSeptember 27 (twice).Clacton-on-Sea, EssexSeptember 19.Craster, NorthumberlandSeptember 9.Criccieth, GwyneddSeptember 30.CuUercoats, Tyne and WearSeptember 24 and October 20.Eastbourne, East SussexSeptember 16, 28 and October 10.Eastney, HampshireSeptember 13, 14 (twice), 21, October 12,18 (twice), 19, 29 and November 30(twice).Filey, North YorkshireSeptember 1, 7, 26 and October 25.Fleetwood, LancashireSeptember 22 and October 19.Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, NorfolkOctober 1, 3, 23, November 2 and 27.Hartlepool, ClevelandNovember 2, 5, 13 and 29.Harwich, EssexSeptember 14 and October 23.Hayling Island, HampshireSeptember 11, 14, 23, 26, October 4, 11, 12,23, 31 (twice) and November 5.Holyhead, GwyneddSeptember 13.Largs, StrathclydeSeptember 13,14,26,27,29 and October 26.Littlehampton, SussexOctober 26, November 16,23 and 30 (twice).Littlestone-on-Sea, KentSeptember 12.Llandudno, GwyneddSeptember 3, October 13, 26 and November15.Lyme Regis, DorsetSeptember 12, 13, October 4, 11, 23,November 14 (twice) and 29.Lymington, HampshireSeptember 5, 11, 29, October 12, 22,November 9 and 30.Lytham St Anne's, LancashireSeptember 6.Mablethorpe, LincolnshireSeptember 21 (twice).Margate, KentSeptember 27 and November 21.Minehead, SomersetSeptember 6, 7, 13 and 14.Moelfre, GwyneddSeptember 2 and 8 (twice)Morecambe, LancashireSeptember 11, October 12 and 29.Mudeford, DorsetSeptember 3, 24, 28 and October 2.The Mumbles, West GlamorganSeptember 14 and October 31.Newquay, CornwallSeptember 8, 15 and 30.North Sunderland, NorthumberlandOctober 4.Oban, StrathclydeSeptember 4 and October 5.

Poole, DorsetSeptember 16, 27 (twice), October 1, 11, 12,22 and November 9.Port Isaac, CornwallSeptember 13 and October 5.Port Talbot, West GlamorganNovember 19.Pwllheli, GwyneddSeptember 3.Queensferry, ForthSeptember 22 (twice), November 7, 13, 16and 23.Ramsgate, KentSeptember 10, 19, 22, 23, 28 and November2.Red Bay, Northern IrelandOctober 19.Redcar, ClevelandOctober 10.Rhyl, ClwydOctober 10 and 19.Selsey, SussexSeptember 28, October 7, 13 and 25.Sheerness, KentNovember 3, 8 and 14.Shoreham Harbour, SussexSeptember 10, 21 (twice), 24, October 5,12, 26 and November 1.Silloth, CumbriaSeptember 6.Skegness, LincolnshireSeptember 6 and October 30.Southend-on-Sea, EssexSeptember 2, 5, 13, 14, 19, October 4, 5, 11,12 (twice), 18, 24 and November 30.Southwold, SuffolkSeptember 1, 13, 19 and October 11.Stonehaven, GrampianSeptember 6, 7, October 10 and 25.Stranraer, WigtownshireSeptember 6.Tenby, DyfedSeptember 6 (twice) and 8.Tighnabruaich, ArgyllSeptember 27 and 28.Torbay, DevonOctober 18.Tramore, Co. WaterfordSeptember 21.Trearddur Bay, GwyneddSeptember 4.Tynemouth, Tyne and WearSeptember 21 and 24.Walmer, KentOctober 2, 18 and 29.West Kirby, MerseysideSeptember 13.West Mersea, EssexSeptember 11,12,14,27, 28, October 12, 13,26, November 1, 8 and 29.Weston-super-Mare, AvonSeptember 4, 5, 13, 14, 20, October 22, 31,November 2 and 4.Whitby, North YorkshireSeptember 7.Whitstable, KentSeptember 3, 13, 18, October 31 andNovember 15.

SERVICES AND LIVES SAVED BY OFFSHORE AND INSHORE LIFEBOATS

January 1, 1975 to December 31, 1975: Services 2,840; lives saved 1,026

134 offshore lifeboats

THE STATION FLEET(as at 31/12/75)

123 inshore lifeboats operating in the summer47 inshore lifeboats operating in the winter

LIVES RESCUED 100,904

from the Institution's foundation in 1824 to December, 31, 1975

142

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Apart from the MERMAIDType 595-TP TURBO-PLUSMarine Diesel Engines beinginstalled in the newWAVENEY Class R.N.L.I.44ft Steel Lifeboats, twinMERMAID type 397 arecurrently being installed in anumber of this type ofROTHER Class R.N.L.I.Self-Righting Lifeboats nowunder construction atWilliam Osborne Ltd ofLittlehampton.

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144110

Outside Back Cover140

Inside Back Cover140

Inside Front Cover144143

Loose InsertInside Back CoverInside Back Cover

Loose Insert144

Inside Back Cover143144144

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