THE LIFE-BOAT FLEET 155 Motor Life-boats 1 Harbour Pulling Life-boat LIVES RESCUED from the foundation of the Life-boat Service in 1824 to December 31st, 1953 78,497 Notes of the Quarter THE terrible disaster at Arbroath, following on the disaster of a similar nature earlier in the year at Fraser- burgh, has made the record of the Life-boat Service in 1953 a tragic as well as a magnificent one. In all, 14 life-boatmen lost their lives in the ser- vice of their fellow-men. All 14 were members of Scottish life-boat crews.

Tragic though these disasters are, it should be remembered that what hap- pened in 1953 was altogether excep- tional. In the whole of 1952 only one life-boatman lost his life on service, and it is not since 1947, when the Mumbles life-boat capsized, with the loss of her crew of eight, that a dis- aster comparable to those of 1953 occurred.

In the last 25 years there have been altogether nine capsizes of life-boats, resulting in the loss of the lives of 36 life-boatmen. During these 25 years life-boats have been out to the rescue 13,000 times. That is to say there has been one capsize for approxi- mately 1,450 times life-boats have gone to the rescue, and in capsizes 36 life-boatmen have been lost out of over 100,000 life-boatmen who were at sea in the course of those rescues.

THE YEAR'S RESULTS Life-boats were launched on service in 1953 598 times. They rescued 351 A lives. The figure of lives rescued is five more than the figure for 1952, although there were 59 fewer launches.

A striking fact about the launches last year was that the three busiest months for life-boats were August, July and September. There were 81 launches in August, 70 in July and 62 in Sep- tember, whereas in November, the least busy month in 1953, there were only 33 launches. These facts confirm the trend which has been apparent in the last quarter of a century; 25 years ago, for instance, there were only 92 launches in the whole of the six summer months from April to September inclusive.

Of the total number of launches 18.6 per cent were to yachts—a category which includes sailing yachts, sailing dinghies, sailing boats, motor cruisers and motor yachts; 19.5 per cent of the launches were to fishing boats of all types, and 23.6 per cent to steamers, barges and other motor vessels. The fourth in order of the nine categories into which the services of the life-boats are now divided was that of aircraft.

13.2 per cent of the launches being as a result of reports of crashed aircraft.

Small boats, canoes and rubber dinghies provided the surprisingly high figure of 7 per cent.

Sixty-four of the launches were to foreign vessels, and from these 41 liveswere rescued. Vessels from 16 foreign nationalities in all were helped.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting of the Institution will be held this year on Tuesday, the 23rd of March, at the Central Hall, Westminster. H.R.H.

the Princess Royal has kindly con- sented to attend and will present the medals awarded for gallantry since the last meeting was held. Among those who will be receiving these awards .will be Coxswain Thomas Richards, who won the silver medal, and Bow- man William Thomas and Motor Mech- anic William Rogers, who each won bronze medals. All three are members of the Tenby life-boat and won their awards when they helped to rescue seven men from the St. Gowan light- vessel on the 21st of September, 1953.

The principal speaker, who will move the resolution of gratitude to the life-boat crews and honorary workers, will be the Rt. Hon. Clement Davies, Q.C., M.P.

The resolution will be seconded by the Rt. Hon. Sir Norman Birkett, Q.C", J.P..