AT 11.30 on the morning of the 28th August, 1919, during a strong southerly gale with a very heavy sea and thick rain, the Bembridge Life-boat was launched to the help of an American steamer, the s.s. Wakvlla, of Los Angeles, which had driven on shore at . the West Wittering shoal, near Chichester, with a crew of forty-five.

On arriving near the scene the Life- boat was taken in tow by a Govern- ment tug, until she was to windward of the Waknlla, when she dropped down to her through a mile of heavy break- ing sea. With great difficulty she got alongside, and as the Captain feared that the ship would break up, at once began to embark the crew. Owing to the heavy sea it was only possible to take thirteen on board, and this not without great difficulty. , ' The return passage was very dangerous owing to the heavy sea and the flood tide, which had now set in; but the thirteen men were safely landed, and the Life-boat returned at once to the Waliulla. At the request of the captain she " stood by," and remained so, right through the night, although there was a continuous risk that the heavy break- ing seas would throw her against the vessel; and the men had to lash them- selves to the boat, or they would have been washed overboard.

By the morning the wind had shifted to the west, and the weather became less wild, and just before four o'clock, her help being no longer required, the Life-boat returned to Bembridge. She had been afloat in a heavy sea for nine- teen and a half hours.

It was* decided to award the Silver •Second Service Clasp to Coxswain J.

Holbrpok, and an additional monetary reward to him and to each member of the crew. A Letter of Thanks' was also sent to Mr. D. G. Watney, Jun., of the Bembridge Sailing Club, who served with the crew as a volunteer. The Silver Medal, to which Coxswain Hoi- brook was awarded a Second Service Clasp, had been won by him for a gal- lant service during the war, when the, Bembridge boat, -with great difficulty, rescued 110 men from, the military transport Empress Queen, which went ashore in the neighbourhood of the Foreland on the 3rd February, 1916.

North Deal.

In then* long record of service the.

men of the North Deal Life-boat have rarely been so severely tried as they were in the galea, at the beginning of last November. A whole gale from E.N.E. started on Friday, the 1st No- vember. It blew through the Saturday and the Sunday, and at times rose to hurricane force. On -the Saturday night two of the Goodwin Sands light- ships were .firing guns and rockets at the same time, and just before eleven o'clock the Charles Dibdin was launched, with two extra hands on board.

Against the head-wind, even with the extra hands, it took the Life-boat three hours to reach the Sands, where she found a three-masted schooner—the Toogo, of Esthonia, with eight souls on board,, including the captain's wife— being swept broadside on towards the Sands. Some of the crew were in the rigging crying for help. Before the Life-boat could reach her, the Toogo struck and sank. Owing to the dark- ness and the heavy seas the Life-boat could do little or nothing. She cruised among the wreckage, for her men could hear cries for help, but it was not until daybreak that she found two of the crew clinging to an overturned boat. They appeared to be the only survivors of the eight who had been on board. With great difficulty, and only after repeated failures, they were got into the Life- boat, terribly exhausted and on the verge of collapse. Throughout the work of rescue the Life-boat had been continually washed by heavy seas, and one of these, breaking right in the boat, had knocked down and injured the Coxswain, the Second Coxswain and two of the crew.

The shore was reached again at half- past seven in the morning, just as preparations were being made for the FEBRUARY, 1920.] THE LIFE-BOAT.

17 launch of the Reserve Life-boat, for two other vessels had been, seen to be in difficulties on the Sands. The Charles Dibdin was at once taken over by the crew of the Reserve Life-boat under Coxswain William Stanton, and put to sea. The gale was, if anything, heavier than before, and it took the Life-boat between five and six hours to make the passage. She was full of water nearly the whole way, and by the time the Sands were reached her crew were all but ex- hausted. .There the Coxswain sighted a wreck, with three men in the rigging. It was the ketch Corinthian, of London, homeward bound from Antwerp, with four on board. ?She had been caught in the gale on the Friday night, and had had her mizzen sail blown away. Her captain decided then to run for Dover, but on the Saturday his mainsail gave way also, and early in the night the boat, being now out of control, went aground on the Sands. By the time the Life- boat reached them her crew had been clinging to the rigging in the full fury of the gale for sixteen hours, and one of them had already been washed away.

A line was thrown into the rigging, and the three men were got aboard the Life- boat, but one of them was already dead.

The Life-boat reached the shore again eight hours after she put out. : Meanwhile, as it was reported that a man had been seen floating on wreckage, the reserve Life-boat put out under the command of William Hoile as Coxswain, and made a thorough search, but found no survivors from the Toogo, the Corinthian, or the third vessel which had been ob- served to be in difficulties. Her crew, however, took on board and landed a third member of the crew of the Toogo, ,who had been picked up by a steamer.

It was-not the least heroic feature of these gallant rescues that William Stanton, who was Coxswain to the second crew, was not only in very bad health, but knew that in a day or two he was entering a hospital to undergo a serious operation.

;_• For these gallant and arduous services ; it was decided to award a Third Service i/Clasp to the Silver Medal to William I Adams, and the Bronze Medal to ijWilliam Stanton. Extra monetary re- Iwagds were made to the two Coxswains r"- v and to all the members of the crew who took part in the three services, and the Thanks of the Committee of Manage- ment, inscribed on Vellum, were sent to the Secretary of the Branch, Mr. John Prior, who had taken charge of affairs throughout the day.

The ceremony of presenting these awards took place in Deal Town Hall, on the 15th January, with Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson} G.C.B., J.P., the chairman of the Branch Committee, presiding, and the presentations were made by Lady Henderson.

Sennen Cove.

On Saturday, the 29th November, 1919, three naval motor launches left •Queenstown, escorted by a destroyer, oa their way to Southampton to be paid off. During the night the wind got up from S.S.W., and by Sunday morning it was blowing a gale. One of the launches was being towed by the destroyer, but the other two were under their own power. All the launches were shipping a great deal of water, and in the middle of the forenoon, as a result of this, the engines of launch No. 378 stopped. The little flotilla was then" off Land's End. The destroyer with the launch in tow was now some way ahead, but the .third lauuch, No. 173, managed to get a rope to her disabled sister, and took her in tow. For a time the two made headway. Then the tow-rope parted.

Another rope was got across. This also 'gave way, and the disabled launch was helpless in the gale, which blew with ever-increasing strength. Less than a mile to leeward of her was the danger- ous reef of the Longships Lighthouse, and she was drifting rapidly towards it.

The launch was now in extreme peril; she began to fire minute guns,, and, at one in the afternoon, word reached the Life-boat Station at Sennen Cove.

The Life-boat put out at once, but by the time the helpless launch was reached she was already close to the Longships reef, where .a furious sea was breaking. The crew had put on their life-belts, and now, as a last hope, were taking to the dinghy; but such a boat had no chance in such a sea. She capsized almost at once, and the nine 18 THE LIFE-BOAT.

[FEBRUARY, 1920.

men aboard her were thrown into the breaking water. Four of them managed to get aboard the launch again, and with her were flung upon the rocks; the other five were left struggling in the sea.

But by now the Life-boat had anchored, and was veering down towards the reef.

She was just in time to save four of the five, but the fifth, who was the second in command of the launch, was drowned before the Life-boat could help him.

Then began the hardest part of the Life-boat's task. While the four men were being rescued the launch, with the other four aboard, had broken to pieces.

Within a few minutes of being flung on the reef she had disappeared, and the /nen were left clinging to the rocks, and half - buried in the water. But they managed, in spite of the cold and of the seas breaking furiously over them, still to hold on.

There was only one way of reaching them, and it was taken, although it involved the greatest risks. The anchor was got up and the Life-boat was worked through a gap in the reef.

There she was carefully manoeuvred close under the rocks, the anchor let go again, the four men dragged on board with life-lines, and the Life-boat got safely away. From first to last the actual work of rescue had lasted an hour, and the slightest mistake during that time would have meant disaster, the certain loss of the crew of the launch, of the Life-boat, and of all the Life-boat men. But no mistake was made, and a most gallant and skilful rescue was successfully aceom- 'plished. The Committee of Manage- ment felt that so fine a service deserved some special recognition, and it was decided to award Thomas Henry Nicholas, the Coxswain, the Silver Service Medal of the Institution, and Thomas Fender, the Second Coxswain, and each member of the crew the Bronze Service Medal. Double mone- tary awards were also given.

Kessingland.

On the night of the 11th December, with a gale blowing and a very heavy sea, the Kessingland Life-boat was called out to the rescue of a sailing smack, the A.J. W., of Rye, which had stranded on the New'coinbe Sands. As she was being launched", the Life-boat shipped three heavy seas, the haul - off warp parted, and she was driven back almost to the beach; but sail was made very smartly and she drew clear, still shipping heavy seas as she went through the broken water. It was a cold night and very dark, and when the Sands were reached no vessel could be found. After cruising about for some time the Life- boat heard shrieks, and by their help found the two masts of the sunken smack showing above the water and four men clinging to them. The seas were breaking heavily over the wreck, and she was rolling to the shock of them, so that it was a difficult and dangerous task to approach her. The Coxswain anchored, veered, down, and made fast with a grapnel to the rigging.

The first man was then dragged through the water and got aboard the Life-boat in a 'state of collapse, for during four hours he had been lashed in the rigging with the seas breaking continually over him. To rescue the remainder of the crew in the same way was found to be impossible, for they were higher up in the rigging. There was orfly one way to do it, and the risk of it to Life-boat and crew was very great, but the risk was taken. The Coxswain veered the Life-boat right over the rail of the sunken vessel, until she was between her masts. From there it was possible to reach the three men, and all were saved, but only just in time. The tide was flowing, and had the Life-boat come only half-an-hour later all four men would harve been drowned.

Such a rescue was only made possible by great daring and skill on the part of the Coxswain and crew, and the Com- mittee of Management felt that the service would be fitly recognised by awarding the Silver Service Medal of the Institution to both the. First and Second Coxswains, G. Knights and E. Smith, and the Bronze Medal to each member of the crew. A double monetary reward was also given.

Photographs of the Coxswains and Second Coxswains of the Sennen Cove and Kessingland Life-boats will appear in the next issue..