THE first news that the steam trawler Leicester City, of Grimsby, was in dis- tress to reach a life-boat station came in the form of a message from the Wick coastguard to the Thurso, Caithness-shire, honorary secretary.

This was at 1.45 earlv on the morning of the 22nd of March, 1953. The position was then given as some thirty to forty miles south-south-east of Sule Skerry—that is to say, about eight and a half miles west of Thurso.

Nine minutes later the honorary secre- tary at Stromness in the Orkneys received an anticipatory message from the Kirkwall coastguard that a trawler was ashore near Breibuster Head on the Island of Hoy. The position given in this case was about three and a half miles south-west of Stromness, for the Island of Hov lies not west but north- north-east of Thurso. The Kirkwall coastguard's first message said that there were then no signs of any distress signals.

Twenty minutes later, at 2.14, the Kirkwall coastguard told the Strom- ness honorary secretary that the trawler had just fired rockets and was less than a cable off shore. The Longhope life-saving apparatus team were standing to.

Both the Thurso life-boat H.C.J.

and the Stromness life-boat J.J.K.S.W.

were launched, the Thurso boat at 2.10 and the Stroirmess boat at 2.35.

There was a heavy swell, a light southerly breeze and thick fog.

Shouts Heard Through Fog The report that the Leicester City, which had a crew of eighteen, wasaground off Hoy proved to be correet, and it was later learnt that the dis- crepancy in the reports was due to the fact that the message received at Wick had given the trawler's position as south-south-east instead of east-south- east of Sule Skerry.

The Stromncss coxswain groped his way out of Hoy Sound, and at 3.10, when he estimated he was near the wreck, the fog cleared for a few minutes, and a light was seen from the Leicester City. Immediately afterwards the fog closed down again, and the life-boat's engines were stopped to enable the crew to listen. A few minutes later the cox- swain heard faint shouting, and at 3.30 the life-boat picked up four men from a raft. The mechanic, John MacLeod, and the assistant motor mechanic, Edward Wilson, both stood on the bottom of the scrambling net in the sea to rescue the men, but it needed the help of the whole crew to get the exhausted survivors into the boat.

It was learnt from a survivor that the trawler had been abandoned but that there might be another raft near by. Shouting from this raft, however, had ceased half an hour earlier.

Ten Survivors on Raft The Stromness coxswain, William Sinclair, then had to decide whether to continue to search. The condition of the survivors he had picked up seemed critical, and he therefore decided, after searching the immediate area, to return to his station at once. Strom- ness was reached at four o'clock with difficulty, as visibility was nil and by now the tidal stream in Hoy Sound was running strongly against the life- boat. During the journey one of the survivors died. After landing the other three survivors and the dead man, the Stromness life-boat put out to sea again at 4.30 to continue the search.

Meanwhile, the Wick coastguard had realized there was only one casualty, and at 3.56 the Thurso life- boat was diverted to Hoy. She reached the area about 6.15. Visibility was now improving, and by nine o'clock that morning it extended to between two and three miles. Both life-boats searched the area thoroughly, the Stromness boat picking up two empty rafts and one body.

The Stromness life-boat broke off the search at 12.42 and went to Hoy.

From there she brought ten survivors, who had floated ashore on an upturned ship's raft, to Stromness, which she reached at 2.20 in the afternoon. Two of the men she had brought from Hoy later died.

The Thurso life-boat picked up two bodies and reached Stromness at one o'clock. There she refuelled. An air- craft of the R.A.F., whose help the Stromness honorary secretary had asked for, helped in the search during the morning.

In the afternoon the Thurso life- boat continued to search for the one man still missing. She closed to a boat's length of the Leicester City, and at 6.16 she found the missing man's dead body two miles north of the casualty. She landed the body at Stromness, and eventually reached her station at eleven o'clock that night.

The following awards were made: To COXSWAIN WILLIAM SINCLAIR, of Stromness, and COXSWAIN ANGUS S.

MACINTOSH, D.S.M., of Thurso, the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum. To JOHN MACLEOD and EDWARD WILSON, of Stromness, an additional monetary award of £2 each.

To the Stromness honorary secre- tary, MR. T. S. HARVEY, a letter of thanks.

Scale rewards, Thurso, £52; Strom- ness, £32 16s.

The Stromness and Thurso cox- swains received their awards for the determination, skill and initiative they showed in finding all the missing men and bodies in the treacherous tidal water and, for the greater part of the time, in dense fog. The district inspector, who investigated the ser- vices, stated that the decision of the Stromness coxswain to break off the search and return with the survivors of the raft undoubtedly saved their lives. He also commended the actions of MacLeod and Wilson in going partly into the sea and praised the Stromness honorary secretary for the efficient way in which he organized operations from the shore..