AT 11.14 on the morning of the 9th of December, 1951, the news came to the Scarborough life-boat station that a ship was sinking twenty-six and a half miles east by north of Scarborough.

She was a Dutch motor vessel of 499 tons, the Westkust, bound from Bo'ness to Hamburg, with a.cargo of coal-dust.

Her cargo had shifted and she was list- ing 35 degrees. She was making water, and her bilge pumps were choked with coal-dust. One of her two life-boats had been lost. The other was dam- aged. She had anchored.

Such was her plight when at 11.30 the Scarborough .life-boat E.C.J.E. was launched. A gale was then blowing from the west, but later it veered to the north-west. The sea was rough; the tide setting south-west; the weather was very cold, with squalls of snow.

A New Position Given Just after half past two in the after- noon, the Westkust sent out a wireless message, giving her position. It was twenty-one miles east by south of Flamborough, which was twenty miles south of the position as first given. No ships, the message said, were in sight.

The new position was sent by radio- telephone to the Scarborough life-boat.

It was received aLo at Flamborough, and the life-boat was launched at 2.30.

It was received at Bridlington, and a number of keelboats set out. At four o'clock the Bridlington life-boat fol- lowed for fear that thev would get into trouble in that heavy sea.

Just after five o'clock the British steamer Ayton reached the Westkust, and an hour later the Grimsby trawler Ottlie. Guided by rockets sent up by the Ai/ton, the Scarborough life-boat arrived about seven o'clock, and at the request of the Westkust's captain, she put two men on board her. They were the bowman, Frank Dalton, aged 57, and the assistant motor mechanic, Thomas J. Mainprize. With their help, and with the life-boat escort- ing him, the captain hoped to bring his ship into harbour, but soon after they came on board he decided to abandon ship, The coxswain thereupon took the life-boat alongside—no easy task in that gale, with the heavv sea run- ning—and the ten men of the Westkust jumped into her. The Flamborough life-boat, which had arrived just before, stood by. The Scarborough life-boat came round again to take off her own two men. Mainprize jumped and landed safely, but at that moment a sea separated the two vessels, and Dalton was left hanging full length from the Weslkusfs rail. With the weight of his oilskins and his sea-boots he could not haul himself up. He remained hanging1 while the coxswain brought the life-boat round for the third time, but at the critical moment a sea flung her against the Westkust and Dalton was crushed between the two. He fell on to the life-boat, with his pelvis frac- tured. The life-boat made at once for Bridlington, but before she arrived, at 1.30 next morning, Dalton was dead.

The life-boat had been out for four- teen hours and her crew and the rescued crew were suffering from their long exposure.

Three Medals Awarded Frank Dalton and Thomas Main- prize had shown great courage in board- ing the Westkust and the coxswain had handled his life-boat very skilfully in rescuing the Westkust's crew in that bitterly cold gale and rough sea. The Institution made the following awards: To FRANK DALTON, the bowman, posthumously, the bronze medal for gallantry, and a certificate recording his gallantry to his widow; To Coxswain JOHN N. SHEADER, the bronze medal for gallantry and a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum; To THOMAS J. MAINPRIZE, the assist- ant motor mechanic, the bronze medal for gallantry, and a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum; To HOLDEN SHEADER, the motor mechanic, the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum.

To each of these four men and to each of the other three members of the crew, a reward of £5 in addition to the reward on the ordinary scale of £4 10s., making a reward of £9 10s. to each man.

Scale rewards, £53 Os. 6d.; addi- tional rewards, £35; total rewards, £88 Os. Qd.

The Flamborough life-boat made for Bridlington after the Scarborough life- boat had completed the rescue, arriving there at two o'clock next morning.— Rewards: £57 5s.

The Bridlington life-boat was re- called and arrived at her station at 1.30 next morning. There she helped to moor the Scarborough life-boat, and towed in the Flamborough life-boat, which ran short of fuel a mile off shore.

—Rewards, £30 55..