THREE LIFE-BOATS TO A TRAWLER'S HELP Peterhead, and Fraserburgh, Aberdeen- shire, and Buckie, Banffshire.—At 3.5 in the afternoon of Jaimavy 6th, 1947, the coastguard telephoned to the Peterhead life-boat that the steam trawler St. Stephen, of Hull, was sixty- five miles to the north-east of Peter- head, leaking badly with her pumps out of order. A sixty-miles-an-hour gale was blowing from the south-east and the seas were very heavy. They were running up the slipway right into the boathouse when the motor life-boat Julia Park Barnj, of Glasgow, was launched at 3.30. The coxswain brought her skilfully into the open sea, and he had run on an east-north-east course for about eight hours when he was recalled by wireless, as H.M.

Destroyer Ulster was making for the trawler. As Peterhead Bay was too dangerous to enter he was instructed ,to make for the Moray Firth, and arrived at Macduff at 4.30 in the morn- ing of the next day, January 7th.

There he waited until the weather moderated and brought the life-boat back to her station on the 10th.

Meanwhile, at 9.15 in the morning of January 8th, the Fraserburgh life-boat mechanic had picked up a wireless message from the St. Stephen that she needed a doctor and a pilot from Fraser- burgh. No doctor was available, and the motor life-boat John and Charles Kennedy put out at 10.30 in charge of Captain A. Stephen, the joint honorary secretary, as the coxswain was absent from the station. A strong south-east breeze was then blowing, with a rough sea, and the weather got worse later.

The life-boat found the trawler at 11.45 in the morning in Aberdour Bay to the west of Rosehearty, and another trawler, the Cape Cleveland.

One of the St. Stephen's crew was injured. As she could only make four knots and would have to steam through a heavy head sea, it would be impossible to reach Fraserburgh in time for the tide, so the life-boat advised her to make for Macduff and offered to pilot her.

A message to this effect was sent by wireless to Macduff, but an answer came that it was impossible to enter Macduff harbour, so the life-boat carried on to Buckie with the St.

Stephen following her, accompanied by the Cape Cleveland. There they arrived at 5.0 in the afternoon and the life-boat, leaving the St. Stephen outside the harbour, brought the injured man ashore. When it had become known at Buckie that the St. Stephen was making for that port the crew of the Buckie motor life-boat K.B.M. had assembled, and at ten o'clock they and some of the Fraserburgh crew went out in the Fraserburgh life-boat, put a pilot on board the St. Stephen, and escorted her into the harbour at 12.45 next morning.—Rewards, Peterhead, £39 14*.; Fraserburgh.

£30 17s.; Buckie, £4..