ABOUT 10 P.M. on the 23rd December the Coast-guard reported a vessel in distress off Saltfleet, near Doona Nook, in Lincolnshire. The Life-boat crew were assembled and the Boat taken down to the beach, but, as nothing could be seen of the vessel, she was taken back to the Boat House, between 4 and 5 next morning. Seven hours later the Coast-guard again reported that distant signals of distress could be seen, and the crew were again assembled. There was a strong gale blowing, and a tremendous sea running. One of the horses was, in fact, knocked over by a wave, and it was only with great difficulty that the crew succeeded in pulling the Boat clear of the surf. Owing to the illness of the Cox- swain, the Second Coxswain had taken his place. It was the first time that he had been in command, and for this reason his father, the caretaker of the Boat House, a man of over seventy, went out as one of the crew.

When the vessel in distress was reached, eight or nine miles out, she was found to be aDanish motorfishing-bo.at.

the Koivisto, with four men on board, Owing to engine trouble she had been drifting about the North Sea for nine days, practically helpless. The vessel herself was water-logged, and her crew were utterly exhausted. They had run short of drinking water, and had been living on fish boiled in sea-water. They were taken on board the Life-boat, but just as she was casting off a tug came in sight. The captain of the fishing-boat thereupon begged that the Life-boat should wait to see if the tug could save his vessel. The Acting-Coxswain agreed, and a line was once more got from the Life-boat to the fishing-boat. The sea was not only very heavy but very con- fused—the Acting-Coxswain described it as a " haycock " sea—and as the Life- boat hung astern of the fishing-boat a tremendous wave struck her, throwing her completely over. Eleven of the crew and the four rescued men were flung into the sea, but two of the crew remained in the Boat clinging to the thwarts. The Boat righted herself at once, and the fifteen men, who fortunately had clung to the float lines, all safely got back into her again. By this time the tug had come up, and all the men from the Life- boat, exhausted by their struggle, were taken on board. The tug also took the Life-boat and the schooner in tow, bringing them all into Grimsby at 8 P.M., seven hours after the Life-boat had been launched. The crew were much ex- hausted, but otherwise unharmed, and the Boat herself was found to be un- damaged. The endurance and courage of the crew stand out the more strongly, in view of the fact that only one was a seafaring man, the remainder being farm labourers.

The Committee, feeling that this gallant service deserved special recogni- tion, awarded the Thanks of the Institu- tion inscribed on Vellum and a double monetary reward to the Acting-Cox- swain and to each member of the crew, and a monetary reward to each member of the crew of the tug..