At 6.25 A.M. on the 29th December the watchman re- ported that the Lightship off Newhaven was firing distress signals; the Motor Life-boat Sir FitzRoy Clayton was there- fore dispatched. It was blowing a strong N.N.W. gale at the time, and the sea was very heavy. The barge Nell and Jess, of Ipswich, was found about ten or twelve miles S.B. of Beachy Head, with her mast and sails carried away. By the time the Life- boat reached her the weather had moderated somewhat, and it was un- necessary for the crew to be taken off.

The Life-boat, therefore, stood by the vessel until a steamer arrived upon the scene and towed her into Newhaven..