THE LIFE-BOAT FLEET Motor Life-boats, 139 :: Pulling & Sailing Life-boats, 25 LIVES RESCUED from the foundation of the Institution in 1824 to November 30th, 1938 - - - - 65,989 To Five Vessels in One Day.

Bronze Medal to the Southend-on-Sea Coxswain.

DURING the exceptionally heavy gales at the end of May and the beginning of June, 1938, the Southend-on-Sea motor life-boat went to the help of five vessels in one day, 2nd June, and from three of them rescued seven lives.

One of the other two did not need her help. The fifth she found sunk, with no one on board.

The first call came twenty minutes after midnight of 1st June, from the yacht Wimpie, of Southampton which was in distress east of the pier. A full gale was then blowing, with a very heavy sea and rain. The motor life-boat Greater London (Civil Service No. 3) put out, rescued the yacht's crew of two men, and landed them on the pier.

She put out again at once in response to flares from the Shoebury Sands.

There, in the darkness, she found the barge Glenrosa, of London. The barge had sunk, and the three men of her crew were in the rigging. She was lying athwart the wind. Her decks were entirely submerged, and she offered no lee to the life-boat. The coxswain approached from leeward and took the life-boat right over the barge's decks until her starboard fender was against the mainmast, where the men were in the rigging.

Twice her keel came down on the barge's bulwarks and was damaged, and the weight of the life-boat against the shrouds brought down the barge's top- mast. It fell across the life-boat, causing more damage to her, and slightly injuring three of the crew. In spite of these injuries, and the perilous position of the life-boat on top of the wreck, the rescue was successfully accomplished, but only after two attempts. At the first the life-boat took off two of the three men. Then, running on to the barge again, she rescued the skipper. All three were completely exhausted.

Out for the Third Time.

As soon as the life-boat arrived back at the pier she learned that the barge Maid of Munster was in distress inside Low Way Buoy. She went to her, but the skipper said that he thought that he could ride out the gale. On her way back to Southend the life-boat saw that the Nore Light-vessel was firing rockets.

She went to her, and was told that a barge was driving out to sea before the gale with her sails blown away. She went eastwards and found the barge Audrey, of London, in a sinking con- dition near Maplin Spit. She rescuedthe mate at the first attempt, but the barge was at times three or four feet under water, and the life-boat had great difficulty in rescuing the skipper and his dog. She was thrown against the barge, and was again damaged. This time it was her belting.

The skipper told the coxswain that there were other barges in distress.

The life-boat searched for them. She found a sunken barge, but no trace of her crew, and as nothing further could IDC seen, she returned to her station.

The Walton and Frinton motor life- boat E.M.E.D. was also launched to the help of the Audrey, but she arrived to find that the crew had already been rescued.

It was 10.50 in the morning when the Southend life-boat returned from this last service. She had then been at sea for ten and a half hours in very bad weather.

The Rewards.

It was only through the fine judg- ment and seamanship of the coxswain that the life-boat was not more severely damaged on the services to the Glenrosa and the Audrey, both of them dangerous and difficult rescues, and the Institution has made the following awards: To Coxswain SIDNEY H. B. PAGE, of Southend-on-Sea, the bronze medal for gallantry, accompanied by a copy of the vote on vellum; To each of the eight members of the crew a framed letter of thanks; To the coxswain and each member of the crew a reward of £l in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £1 17s. 6d. Standard rewards to the crew, £16 17s. 6d.; additional rewards to the crew, £9; total rewards, £31 14s. 6d.

Rewards to Walton and Frinton, £7 8s. 6d,.