LIFEBOAT MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

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Galatea

On the 8th Fe- bruary, the Norwegian barque Galatea ran on shore on the bar at the entrance of Youghal harbour, the captain having mistaken the port for Queenstown: a gale of wind was blow- ing at the time from the south, and there was a very heavy and broken sea on the bar.

The Youghal life-boat, which had been only recently supplied by this Institution, imme- diately put off to the aid of her crew, 14 in number, whom she succeeded in rescuing from their perilous position, after a hard pull of two miles against wind, tide, and sea. The vessel became a total wreck within two hours after the crew were taken off.

This valuable service at once secured the confidence of the boatmen in the life-boat, and was also a striking illustration of the superiority of the class of life-boats adopted by the Institution; for it so happened that, through some difficulty in launching, she got seriously stove, and her deck air-compart- ments partially, if not altogether, filled with water; yet, after such an accident, which would have disabled many life-boats, she proceeded on her way, and performed the service above narrated.

Some pilot-boats had started from the harbour previous to the life-boat being launched, but were unable to approach the wreck from the heaviness of the sea.