During a thick fog in the early morning of the 22nd June, the s.s. Clara, of London, bound from Malta to Rotterdam with a cargo of grain, collided with another vessel in the vicinity of the Royal Sovereign Light - vessel. She was seriously damaged, and quickly com- menced to settle down in the water, but a tug coming upon the scene of the accident, took the sinking steamer in tow. In the meantime a message was received at Winchelsea stating that the Life-boat was required by a steamer in distress, and the John William Dudley Life-boat was launched with all haste.

On reaching the Clara, which was in tow of a tug, it was seen she was so low in the water that her decks were awash. At the request of the master, the Life-boat stood by. Finally the damaged vessel foundered when off Pett Coastguard station, and the crew having been transferred to the tug, the Life- boat returned to her station..