Margate, Kent.—At 7.3 on the morn- ing of the 4th of April, 1957, the coast- guard telephoned that two vessels had been in collision one mile north-east of Spit buoy. The life-boat St. Mary's, on temporary duty at the station, was launched at 7.12 in a smooth sea.

There was a light, variable breeze blowing, and the tide was ebbing.

Fog had reduced visibility to fifty yards. The life-boat found one of the motor vessels, the 3,000-ton Sir John Snell. She had a crew of twenty-two, and her master informed the life-boat coxswain that his vessel was only slightly damaged, but that the other vessel, the 900-ton Lizbeth M, had apparently sunk. He had been calling her on his radio-telephone but had received no reply. Shouts had been heard and a boat had been lowered from the Sir John Snell, with seven men on board, to look for survivors.

The life-boat searched the area and found an oil patch where it was pre- sumed the Lizbeth M had sunk, but no survivors could be found. The posi- tion, approximately one mile north- west of the north-east Spit buoy, was marked by a buoy. The master of the Sir John Snell was by this time becom- ing anxious for his seven men in the ship's boat, which had been away for two and a half hours. A little later the Deal coastguard wirelessed that the boat had landed at Kingsgate with twelve survivors and the bodies of three men from the Lizbeth M. The life-boat went to Kingsgate, towed the boat back to the Sir John Snell, and put her crew of seven back on board their vessel. She then searched again in the fog for two men who were still missing, but found nothing and re- turned to her station, arriving at 3.20.—Rewards to the crew, £17 9*.; rewards to the helpers on shore, £4 4s..