ON the night on 9th January signals of a vessel in distress were seen off Tor Ness at the south-west end of the island of Hoy in the Orkneys. She was found later to be the trawler Dorbie of Hull.

It was then ten minutes past seven.

The news was telegraphed to Longhope, and at 7.30 the Motor Life-boat put out. A wind which had been blowing a gale from the South-West had backed to South-South-East and increased.

The night was exceptionally dark, with rain and squalls of sleet. It was bitterly cold, and a very heavy and confused sea was running.

The Life-boat searched along the shore by Tor Ness, looking for the wreck with her searchlight, and from time to time burning white flares. But nothing could be seen of the Dorbie.

Not only did the rain and the sleet squalls make visibility very poor, but the Life-boat was continuously en- veloped in spray, and the Crew were blinded by the white glare of their lights on the mist of water round them.

Nor could the Dorbie do anything to show her position. All her lights had been extinguished when she struck, and she had already burnt up all her flares.

Failing to find any sign of the wreck, Coxswain Swanson thought that pos- sibly the vessel had struck the rocks, fired her distress signals, and then got off again, and that she was at that moment drifting about in the Pentland Firth. This had happened more than once recently. He therefore decided to search the Firth.

Meanwhile Mr. William Sutherland, the Honorary Secretary of the Station, and Mr. W. Marwick, the Chairman, had arrived at Tor Ness, where they found Mr. R. Cutt, a member of the Branch Committee, who lived two miles away at Melsetter, and who had tele- graphed the news of the wreck. They could see nothing of the wreck, but by the light of torches which they carried they saw a man, who had been washed off the Dorbie, lifted by a sea on to the rocks.- They seized him and dragged him to safety. Two other men jumped overboard. They, too, were washed ashore and were dragged up alive, but both injured and in a state of collapse.

Anxiety for the Life-boat.

As time passed and there was no sign of the Life-boat, those on shore grew very anxious for her safety, and Mr. Sutherland hurried to Melsetter and from there telephoned to the Coast- guard at Kirkwall, asking for the Life- saving Apparatus. The Coastguard called out the L.S.A. at Stromness, arranging for the Apparatus and its Crew to be sent by the Stromness Motor Life-boat to Longhope Pier, and Mr. Sutherland arranged for a motor to be in readiness for it there. In this way the L.S,A. was sent, but its services were, as it turned out, not required.

The Longhope Motor Life-boat, in the meantime, finding no sign of the wreck afloat, had approached Dunnet Head Shore Signal Station, on the other side of the Pentland Firth, and had morsed her position. This was telephoned to Mr. Sutherland at Mel- setter, by way of Kirkwall and Long- hope, and he at once sent back a message to Du'nnet Head asking that the Life- boat be signalled to return, if possible, to Tor Ness.

Mr. Sutherland, who had hurried several miles over heather and peat bogs, was already dead beat, but he collected some of Mr. Cutt's men at Melsetter, and with bundles of straw they hurried back to Tor Ness. With the straw, and with casks washed up from the Dorbie, they made a bonfire to light up the wreck and guide the Life- boat. By this time the weather had cleared, the wind had eased to a moderate gale and the strong flood tide had also begun to ease.

Guided by a Bonfire.

At 10.45 the Life-boat arrived, and by the light of the bonfire approached the wreck. She found her about 150 feet from the cliff, lying over on a rock on her port side, at an angle of 70 degrees. The seas were sweeping over her. Coxswain Swanson anchored to windward, and attempted to veer down on her port side. It was impos- sible to do it. The rocks, and the masts sticking out, prevented the Life-boat from getting close to the wreck. He weighed anchor ; anchored again ; and veered down to the starboard side, taking the Life-boat over the rocks into a channel so narrow that it was little more than the width of the boat herself. In this way she got right alongside the wreck, and the remaining eight men of the trawler's crew, by now exhausted from their long exposure, were hauled into the Life-boat. The actual work of rescue took five minutes, but it was one in the morning before the Life-boat reached Longhope again, five and a half hours after she had put out.

It was a dangerous and trying service skilfully and gallantly carried out, and the Institution nas made the following awards :— To Coxswain JOHN SWANSON, a Second- Service Clasp to his Silver Medal, in recog- nition of his gallantry and his most skilful handling of the Life-boat. Coxswain Swansou won his Silver Medal for the rescue in January, 1930, of the crew of the Aberdeen steam trawler Braconmoor.

To the Motor Mechanic, ROBERT JOHNSTONB, inscribed Binoculars in recognition of the way in which, under circumstances of great difficulty he morsed the message to the Dunnet Head Signal Station and took the reply.

To the Coxswain, Motor Mechanic and each of the other seven members of the Crew, the Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum.

To the Coxswain and each member of the Crew an additional £3 to the usual money rewards, making a reward of £4 17*. 6 Z. to each man.

To Mr. WILLIAM SUTHERLAND, an inscribed Barometer in recognition of his energy and initiative in directing operations from the land. During the night he walked and ran nearly ten miles in the gale, over heather and peat bogs.

Letters of Thanks were sent to Mr. W.

MAKWICK, Chairman of the Longhope Branch, to Mr. R. CUTT, of Melsetter, and his men, to Miss TAYLOR, the Post-mistress of Longhope, who kept open the telephone exchange nearly all night, and to Mr. D.

Mackay, Mr. F. Meiklejohn and Mr. Reid who helped on shore.

Awards amounting to £14 0*. 6d. were made to the Stromness Crew which came to Longhope with the Life-saving Apparatus..