On the same day on which the St. Ives motor life-boat was wrecked, the motor life-boat, Princess Mary, at Padstow, Cornwall, was damaged on service. She is the heaviest life-boat in the Institution's fleet.

At five minutes past two in the morning, just eight minutes after the honorary secretary at St. Ives had been rung up by the coastguard, the Padstow station was also rung up. The message from the coastguard was that distress flares could be seen about a mile north of Trevose Head. The life-boat put out in a W.N.W. gale, with exceptionally heavy seas and ground swell, and heavy squalls of rain. She found the ex-mine-layer Medea just out- side the harbour. The Medea had parted from her tug and was drifting towards Doom Bar.

As she tried to get alongside, the life-boat was buried by a very heavy sea. It washed overboard a ventilator, a life-buoy and several fenders, and damaged the electric lighting system, putting it out of action. The position of the Medea was now such that it was not practicable for the life-boat to reach her, so the coxswain signalled with his hand flashing lamp to the coast- guard of Stepper Point asking him to call out the rocket life-saving appliances.

He had lashed a small torch to his compass and put out to sea, to wait for the tide to rise. The mine-layer drifted over the bar, and three of the four men on board her wererescued by the rocket appliances from the shore. The fourth man was drowned.

Meanwhile the life-boat remained at sea until high-water. As she was coming in she was swept by three successive heavy seas which filled the canopy, washed a spare drogue and another life-buoy overboard, and knocked both the coxswain and the second coxswain from the wheel. The life-boat was out for five hours.

The Institution made a reward of £l to the coxswain and each member of the crew in addition to the ordinary scale reward of £2 Vs. each.

Standard rewards to crew (of whom four are full-time employees) £9 8s.; additional rewards to crew, £8. Total rewards, £22 10s. 4?d..