ON the evening of the 7th October, 1938, a small coaster was reported by the coastguard watchman at Rhosneigir to be making distress signals between Rhosneigir and Porthdinllaen. The Porthdinllaen and Holyhead life-boat stations were informed. Later the coastguard reported that no signal of distress could be seen. At 10.15 next morning the Holyhead life-boat station received definite information from the coastguard that a vessel could be seen flying distress signals 8 to 10 miles S.S.E. of Rhoscolyn. The Holyhead motor life-boat was away for repairs, and two days before she had been replaced by the reserve life-boat City of Bradford I. With the reserve boat had come the motor mechanic attached to her. He was strange to the station.

The life-boat was launched at 10.40.

A moderate gale was blowing from the west with a rough sea. The weather was clear at first, but later there were heavy rain squalls. The life-boat found the vessel at 12.30. She was then between eight and ten miles S.S.E. of Rhoscolyn, or twenty miles from Holyhead. She was the steamer Kyle Prince, of Liverpool, of 408 tons, bound for Liverpool from Barry. Her engine had broken down; she was making water; she had lost one of her two anchors; the other anchor would not hold.

The steamer was in shallow water, and a very heavy cross sea made it very difficult to get alongside her and rescue her crew of nine men. In fact, the life-boat had to go alongside her four separate times before they were all able to jump on board her. All the time the seas were breaking clean over the steamer and she was rolling gunwale under every minute.

The rescued men were very ex- hausted and were given rum, biscuits and chocolate from the life-boat's emergency rations. One of them had been burned in the steamer's engine- room and had to be taken to hospital on landing. It was 3.15 in the after- noon when the life-boat reached Holy- head again. She had been out for just over four and a half hours.

Coxswain Richard Jones handled the life-boat, with which he was not yet familiar, with much skill, and he and the motor mechanic worked in closest co-operation.The Institution has made the follow- ing rewards: To Coxswain RICHARD JONES, its thanks inscribed on vellum; To Motor Mechanic G. E. BARRS, its thanks inscribed on vellum; To LIF.UT. L. A. C. MAY, R.N., the honorary secretary of the station, a letter of thanks for his good work on this and other occasions; To the coxswain, motor mechanic, and each of the other six members of the crew, a reward of £1 in addition to the ordinary scale reward of 19s., making a total reward of £l 19*. to each man.

Standard rewards to the crew, £5 14.?.; additional rewards to the crew, £8; total rewards, £13 14s.

The owners of the steamer, the Walton Steamship Co., Ltd., of New- castle-on-Tyne, sent £21 to be divided among the crew..