LIFEBOAT MAGAZINE ARCHIVE

Advanced search

Summary of Meetings of the Committee of Management

Thursday, 21st June, 1928.

SIR GODFREY BARING, Bt., in the Chair.

Passed a special Vote of Thanks to H.R.H.

PRINCE GEORGE for graciously visiting the Orkney Islands in order to perform the naming ceremonies of the Stromness and Longhope Life-boats.

Passed a cordial Vote of Thanks to H.R.H.

PRINCESS BEATRICE for graciously attending a Garden Party given for the Institution by Mrs. Hillier Holt, Reported the resignation from the Committee of Management of Mr. HAROLD CLAYTON, and co-opted Engineer Vice-Admiral Sir ROBERT B. DIXON, K.C.B.

Reported that Sir WOODBURN KIRBY had tendered his resignation as a member of the Committee of Management.

Reported the receipt of the following special contributions :— F. Newson, Esq., London & North £ s, d.

Eastern Railway 5 per cent.

Preference Stock to provide an Annual Subscription . . 200 0 0 Anonymous (Additional Donation) 50 0 0 Col. F. J. A. Trench, C.V.O., D.S.O., R.A. (Additional Donation) 26 5 0 To be thanked.

Paid £20,552 12s. for sundry charges in connexion with the construction of Life-boats, Life-boat Houses and Slipways, and the maintenance of the various Life-boat establishments.

Voted £59 2,9. 6(7. to pay the expenses of the following Life-boat services :— Lives Life-boat. Vessel. Rescued.

Hartlepool . Coble Margaret, of Sea- (Motor) ham Harbour. Saved boat and rescued . . 2 The Humbcr . Steam trawler Abelia, (Motor) of Grimsby. Stood byvessel.

Scarborough . Motor fishing boat 1'j'c- (Motor) tory, of Scarborough.

Escorted boat into harbour.

Tenby . . . Fishing vessel Leonora (Motor) Minnie, of Brixham.

Landed 3.

The Porthdinliaen Motor Life-boat saved the yacht Arrow, of London, and rescued her only occupant.

Also voted £116 18s. td. to pay the expenses of the following Life-boat launches, etc., with a view to assisting persons on vessels in distress :—Clacton-on-Sea (Motor), Johnshaven, Montrose No. 1 (Motor), Piel (Barrow) (Motor), Port St. Mary, Rhoscolyn, Selsey and Bognor (Motor), and Wells.

Granted £15 16s. to men who were injured in the Life-boat Service at Folkestone and Winterton.

Voted the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum and framed to ERIC G.

MUNDELL and STANLEY A. DARKIN, schoolboys of about fifteen years of age, in recognition of their plucky conduct in putting off in a 10-feet dinghy during a fresh N.E. breeze with a rough sea, and, at grave personal risk, rescuing a man and a boy whose sailing boat had capsized off Worthing on 2nd June.

Voted £2 to two men for going to the help of the motor fishing boat Spitfire, of Dunbar, and rescuing her only occupant on 24th May.

Also granted 10*. to the owner of the boat for petrol used and loss of gear. While returning from the fishing grounds the Spitfire's engine had failed and she was in danger of being driven on to the Wildfire rocks. The rescuers put out at once, and, at some risk owing to the rocks, succeeded in getting hold of the disabled boat before she got into the surf. A moderate E.S.E. wind was blowing with a heavy ground sea.

Voted £1 to ERNEST HUGEN for rescuing two boys who were adrift in a small boat without oars, off Brighton, on 30th May.

Also £2 15s. to the crew and launchers of a motor boat which made an unsuccessful search, and £1 Os. od. for stores consumed, etc.

At about 5 P.M. information was received from the police that a small rowing boat was drifting out with the off-shore wind. The sea was smooth. Manning his motor boat, the Lifeboat Coxswain, with three other men, put out, but although afloat for five hours saw no sign of the boat. In the meantime Ernest Hugen had also gone out in a small boat, found the two bo}"s and rescued them.

Thursday, 19th July, 1928.

THE HON. GEORGE COLVILLE, in the Chair.

Reported the death of Mr. T. B. GABRIEL, a member of the Committee of Management.

Reported the receipt of the following special contributions :— £ s. d.

Douglas Cow, Esq., special gift to produce an Annual Subscription . . . . 1,000 0 0 Anonymous (Donation) . . 100 0 0 White Star Steamers' Charity Account (Additional Donation) 50 0 0 To be thanked.

Paid £31,312 3s. lid. for sundry charges in connexion with the construction of Life-boats, Life-boat Houses and Slipways, and the maintenance of the various Life-boat establishments.

Voted £111 4s. to pay the expenses of the following Life-boat services :— Lives Life-boat. Vessel. Rescued.

Hastings . . A small fishing boat, of Eastbourne. Stood by boat.

Lives Lil'e-boat. Vessel. Kescued.

Lowestoft . Sailing boat £' !/, of (Motor) London. Saved boat a n d rescued . . . 1 Lowestoft . Motor fishing boat Mica, (Motor) of Lowestoft. Stood by boat.

Minehead . . S.S. Pelican, oi Cardiff.

Saved vessel and rescued 5 Xewhaven . Fishing boat Mallard, (Motor) of Brighton. Stood by boat. " Rosslare liar- Fishing yawl Jane, of bour (Motor) Wexford. Saved boat a n d rescued . . . 3 Sunderland . Cobles Klondike and (Motor) Frank, of Seaham.

Saved two cobles and rescued . . . . 7 Weymouth . Cutter Jlonny Jean, of (Motor) Poole. Saved boat a n d rescued . . . 2 The Aberdeen No. 1 (Motor) Life-boat rendered assistance to steam drifter Re-gain, of Lowestoft; and the Caister No. 1 Life-boat rendered assistance to the schooner Mary Ann, of Guernsey- Also voted £195 13s. 6rf. to pay the expenses of the following Life-boat launches, assemblies of crews, etc., with a view to assisting persons on vessels in distress :—Abersoch, Bembridge (Motor), Brighton, Caister, Eastbourne. Llandudno, Lowestoft (Motor), New Brighton, Newhaven (Motor), Pwllheli. Walmer, Waltonon- the-Naze (Motor), and Whitby.

Granted £23 Is. fid. to men for injury in the Life-boat Service at Cardigan and Exmouth.

Directed that a Letter of Appreciation be addressed to Captain W. J. OLIVER, Honorary Secretary at Sunderland, for going out in the Life-boat on service on 14th July.

Directed that a Letter of Appreciation be sent to Mr. G. W. SPENCER and six men who put off with him in a motor launch from Littlehampton and saved the barge Lady Maud, of London, and rescued her crew of two. At about 3 P.M. on 26th June the vessel was reported in difficulties in a westerly gale with a heavy sea and the rescuers put off to her help. Three of them boarded the Lady Maud and taking charge worked her to Newhaven.

Voted £4 to four men for rescuing two men at Broadstairs on 1st July. A strong S.W.

off-shore wind was blowing with a heavy sea, and the two men, who were in a sailing boat, found that they were unable to make harbour.

A distress signal was hoisted, and in response the rescuers put out in a motor boat. A tow rope was thrown, but at that moment a heavy sea struck the sailing boat, which heeled over, rilled with water, and sank. The motor boat picked the men up and brov.ght them safely to Broadstairs.

Voted 7*. b' /. to V. WARD, Bowman of the Life-boat at Lvnmouth. for rendering assistance to the crew oi the motor ketch 3/arffc?/ Ann, of Bideford, on 17th June. At about 7 A.M. he saw a small boat about two miles off land, and put out in his motor boat. He found in the boat the crew of the ketch, three in number, in an exhausted condition. Their vessel had sunk, but before they left her they had been at the pumps for sev«ral hours.

They were very glad to be towed in as a strong ebb tide was running.

Voted £4 to WILLIAM BROWX, Second Coxswain of the Life-boat at Newbiggin, and seven other men for saving the pleasure boat Jean, of Wansbeck, and rescuing her ten occupants on XOth June. Also granted 2s. to the owner of the boat for petrol used. At about 8.30 A.M. a message was received from Cresswell that the boat, containing ten miners out for a day's fishing, had drifted out to sea owing to eiiL'ine trouble. The boat was flying signals of distress and a strong N.W. gale had sprung up. As the Newbiggin Life-boat was off service for overhaul, a motor coble was immediately manned, picked up the disabled boat and towed her home, a distance of six miles.

Voted £6 to JOHN WATSON, Coxswain of the Cromarty Life-boat, and five other men, for putting off in a launch on the night of 28th June to search for the motor fishing boat Hyacinth, of Buckie. Also granted £2 l~x. 6/J.

for coal consumed. A report was received that the vessel was on fire about six miles to the north-east, but no sign of the vessel could be found.

Voted £4 to JA.MES GOOOBRA H, Coxswain of the Buckie Life-boat, and three other men for going out in a motor boat on the same occasion. Also granted Is. for stores consumed.

The Hyacinth was found, about sixteen miles to the north-west of Buckie, burnt to the water's edge. Her crew had been rescued by another fishing boat.

Thursday, 20lh September, 1928.

THE HON. GEORGE COLVILLE in the Chair.

Appointed Commander Edward D. Drury, O.B.E., R.D., R.N.R., Deputy Chief Inspector of Life-boats rice Commander Stopford C.

Douglas, R.N., deceased.

Reported the receipt of the following special contributions :— £ *. d.

Civil Service Life-boat Fund (per Mr. H. A. Clark), in respect of expenditure incurred for the Civil Service Life-boats in 1927 I,(ii'() H 4 Cunard S.S. Co.. Ltd. (Collection on Steamers)— Subscription . . . . 1 0 0 ( ) ( ) Donation . . . . 1 0 0 0 0 !t. Pope, Esq. (Donation) . . 200 0 0 Trustees of the late Win. Thorngate.

Esq. (Subscription) . SO 0 (I Cayxer Irvine & Co.. Ltd. (Subscription) . . . 48 0 0 £ x. d.

Frederick W. Peabody, Esq. (per Philip G. Peabody, Esq.) (Donation) . ." . . 26 5 0 Major Herbert Weeks, A.M. (per Philip G. Peabody, Esq.) (Donation) . .' . . 2( 5 0 Mrs. Emily Best (per Philip G.

Peabody, Esq.) (Donation) . 26 5 0 Reginald Best, Esq. (per Philip G.

Peabody, Esq.) (Donation) . 26 5 0 The late Madame Jessie Hartmann, Gift from Estate of . 25 0 0 To be thanked.

Paid £25,848 10.S. 'Ad. for sundry charges in connexion with the construction of Life-boats, Life-boat Houses and Slipways, and the maintenance of the various Life-boat establishments.

Voted £145 12s. 6d. to pay the expenses of the following Life-boat launches :— Lives Life-boat. Vessel. res uetl.

Berwick-on- Boat of motor vessel Tweed . . Heather Pet. Stood by boat.

Helvick Head . Yacht Estere.l, of Dublin.

Assisted yacht into harbour.

Lowestoft . . S.S. K. Hone, of Yar- (Motor) mouth 8 Montrose No. 1 Motor boat Angora.

(Motor) Rendered assistance.

Newhaven . . Fishing boat Y nntg (Motor) Cecil, of Brighton.

Rendered assistance.

Peterhead . . Yacht Frebi-lle. Stood (Motor) by vessel.

Porthdinllaen . A small boat of Porth- (Motor) dinllaen. Saved boat a n d rescued . . . 4 Southend-on- Motor launches Nunffx Sea (Motor) Queen and tiussejc Maid. Saved boats a n d rescued . . . 4 Stromness . . N o r w e g i a n M o t o r (Motor) schooner Urtt. Stood by vessel.

Worthing . . Motor yacht Si-a Hawk.

Saved yacht and rescued . . . . .'! The Margate (Motor) Life-boat rendered assistance to the motor yacht Musntf, of London, and assisted the motor yacht Frothblower, of Lcridon, into harbour ; the Rosslare Harbour (Motor) Life-boat rescued from shipwreck the crew, eleven in number, of the trawler Oldhani, of Milford Haven, and saved the yacht Temptress and rescued her crew of three. The Galway Bay (motor) Life-boat took out a pilot to the S.S. Yorck, of Bremen.

Also voted £347 '2s. 'Ad. to pay the expenses of the following Life-boat launches, assemblies of crews, etc., with a view to assisting persons on vessels in distress :—Abersoch, Alnmouth, Caister, Caister No. 2, Clacton-on-Sea (Motor), Clovelly, Cullercoats, Folkestone, Great Yarmouth and Gorleston. Holyhead No. 1, Holy Island No. 1 (Motor), Huna, Kessingland, Lowestoft (Motor), The Mumbles (Motor), New Romney, Newcastle, Co. Down, Newhaven (Motor), Palling No. 1, Port Erin (Motor), Port St. Mary, Ramsey, Ramsgate, Redcar and Rosslare Harbour (Motor).

Granted £84 13s. 8d. to men for injury in the Life-boat Service at Flamborough, Scarborough and Winterton.

Reported the death, at the age of 81. of H. F. Belsey, a survivor of the Indian Chief rescue of 1881, who had been in receipt of an allowance from the Institution since 1914.

Granted £17 16*. to defray the funeral j expenses of the late Coxswain Richard j Wedge, of St. Ives, Cornwall, and voted a compassionate grant of £10 to his widow, who was left in poor circumstances.

Voted a compassionate grant of £5 to the widow of the late Sidney Harris, who was in poor circumstances. Harris, an ex-Coxswain, had been connected with the Gorleston Lifeboats for many years.

Granted £8 16-s. to defray the funeral j expenses of Mrs. M. P. Cook, the dependent mother of Wm. W. Lamble, a Life-boatman who was drowned in the Salcombe Life-boat Disaster of 1916.

Voted a special gratuity of £10 to Donald Smith, Signalman at Stroma in connexion with the Huna Life-boat, on his resignation on account of age and infirmity after many years service.

Awarded Aneroid Barometers, suitably inscribed, to Mr. C. E. Tatham, Honorary Secretary of the Blackpool Branch of the Institution, and to Mr. E. Flower, a member of the Blackpool Local Committee, in recognition of their good services in rescuing the only occupant of the sailing yacht Britannia, off Fleetwood, on the 1st July. Also presented an inscribed copy of " Britain's Life-boats " to Mr. Tatham's son Joseph, who was on board his father's yacht at the time.

(This service was described in the issue of The Lifeboat for November, 1928.) Voted £2 os. to three men for rescuing the crew of four of the fishing boat Kate, of Ballinagoul, Helvick, on the 30th July. During a strong S.S.E. breeze, with a rough sea and rain, the boat was seen about a quarter of a mile from the shore, dismasted and showing signals of distress. Another fishing boat, about two miles distant, saw the signals, went to the rescue and brought the disabled boat and her crew of four safely into harbour.

Voted £1 10s. to two men in a motor coble for saving the coble Vera, of Whitby, and rescuing her two occupants on the 31st July.

Also granted 5s. to the owner of the motor coble for petrol used. The Ytra, containing a man and a boy, was engaged in salmon fishing, when owing to an increase in wind and sea, they were obliged to leave their nets. After exhausting themselves in their efforts to reach the shore under oars, they hoisted signals of distress. The salvors who were in the coble Gratitude, and had a salmon coble in tow, slipped their tow when they saw the signals, and went to the help of the distressed boat, which they towed to Whitby.

Directed that a Letter of Thanks should be addressed to Robert Hooper, Second Coxswain of the Tenby Life-boat, for rescuing the six occupants of the open boat Ivy on the 25th August. Whilst going to sea with a pleasure party, he saw a boat apparently in distress about one and a half miles N.E. of Victoria Pier, Tenby, and went to her help. A strong S.S.W. wind was blowing, but no special risk was incurred.

Voted Is. 6d. to Mr. George Dyke for rescuing a man and woman in a small rowing boat at Swanage, on the 17th August. At about 2.20 P.M. the Coastguard reported the boat to be out of control and getting into difficulties.

The weather at the time was fine, with a slight westerly breeze and moderate sea. Mr.

Dyke at once went to the rescue and brought the boat to shore. Moderate risk was incurred, as the boat was near the Peveril Ledge with a strong ebb tide running.

Voted £5 12s. 6d. to nine men, three of whom rescued and six of whom endeavoured to rescue, the crew, ten in number, of the S.8.

Mellanear of Penzance, on the 4th September.

Also granted 10s. for fuel consumed. The steamer, which was laden with coal, and bound from Cardiff to France, ran ashore at Peel Point, Land's Knd, during thick weather.

On learning that the steamer was ashore, the six men put out from Sennen Cove, but on reaching her found that the crew had been taken off by the three men on the fishing boat Silver Stream, which, when returning from fishing, had heard the vessel's whistle and gone to her help. The boats stood by the Mellanear for about two hours, and then abandoned her.

She became a total wreck.

Voted £2 to four men for rescuing four boys, at Margate, on the 9th September. Also granted Is. Qd. for fuel used. At about 7 P.M.

during a sudden heavy north-westerly squall, the boys' boat was seen to be in trouble about one mile from the shore. The men promptly put off in a motor boat and rescued the boys, together with their boat, which had nearly been swamped. No risk was incurred.

Voted £1 2s. Gd. to three men for landing two men from the fishing boat Korers Belle, at Birr Point, Co. Down, on the 18th August.

At about 3 A.ii. signals of distress "were seeu, and the three men put off and found the fishing boat on Burial Island in a dangerous position.

They landed two men from the boat, and these men went to Sandiland harbour, near by, and obtained help. The boat was got off the rocks the same day.

Voted £1 10s. to the Life-boat Coxswain at New Brighton, and another man, who, accompanied by the two Motor Life-boat mechanics, put off on the 2nd September in the Life-boat's boarding boat, as flares had been reported, by the Coastguard, to have been seen on the Burbo Bank. The weather was fine, with a smooth sea and moderate N.W. breeze, when the boat went out at 8.30 P.M. After searching for two hours, she returned, having found nothing.

Voted £1 10s. to the Coxswain of the Penlee Life-boat and three other men for putting off from Mousehole, on the 4th September, to the help of a fishing boat which the Coastguard had reported as stranded on the rocks. The sea was smooth, but there was a very thick fog.

On reaching the boat, the four men found that she had refloated. After giving the skipper his position and finding out that his boat was undamaged, they returned home..