St. Mary's, Stilly Islands. At 5.25 on the afternoon of the 26th of April, 1959, the coastguard informed the honorary secretary that a small motor tug was burning flares between Annet Head and St. Mary's. The life-boat Guy and Clare Hunter was launched at 5.40 in a rough sea. There was a westerly wind of nearly gale force and a flood tide. The life-boat found the tug Helen N.

MacAlister fifteen minutes later. She had a crew of nine and had been drifting since the previous afternoon, when her engines had broken down fifty miles west of Bishop Rock light- house. The coxswain asked by radio- telephone for one of the local launches to make for the position as her services might be needed. The tug had lost an anchor and chain, and the coxswain then asked for a coil of rope to be fetched by the launch from St. Mary's.

After a hawser had been connected to the tug she was taken in tow, arriving at St. Mary's at 8.20 in the morning.

Property salvage case..