THE tragic loss of the crew of the Broughty Ferry life-boat was the worst disaster in terms of number of men lost since the Mumbles life-boat capsized with the loss of the whole of her crew in 1947. It occurred on the 8th of December, 1959, five years to the day since the last occasion on which a life-boat, the Scarborough life-boat E.C.J.R., capsized. The result of the Institution's investigation of the causes of the disaster is published in full on page 391. From this it emerges clearly that the hull of the boat, her engines and equipment were in perfect con- dition at the time when the disaster occurred. The crew and the Institu- tion had full confidence in the coxswain.

The loss of the life-boat crew can in fact be attributed simply to the forces of nature. Earthquakes occur and people's lives are lost ; people are lost in blizzards and drowned in floods ; and in certain extreme conditions of wind and weather no boat yet designed is free from the danger of capsizing.

The crews who volunteer for s rvice in life-boats are fully aware that this is so, yet at Broughty Ferry applications were promptly received from some forty volunteers to serve in the new crew.

LIFE-BOAT RECORDS IN 1959 In 1959 the Institution's life-boats were launched on service no fewer than 865 times. This was the largest number of launches in any one year since the j Institution was founded in 1824, with the sole exception of 1940, the year of the Battle of Britain. It exceeded the post-war average by more than 30 %.

551 people were rescued by life-boats during the year, nearly 100 more than the average for the post-war years. In recent years the number of occasions on which life-boats have been called out has increased steadily ; there is no indication that this trend will be re- versed in the immediate future, and the record figures for 1959 may therefore be exceeded before long. Nevertheless the year seems likely to be remembered as a quite exceptional one in the history of the service. During the autumn and early winter there were frequent and prolonged gales, and from a number of stations reports were received of the worst conditions for twenty years, thirty years, or even within living memory. The accounts of services during this period, which begin on page 380, give some impression of what life-boat crews endured. To many seamen, members of life-boat crews and others, both the 27th of October and the 7th of December will be days which can never be forgotten.

GOLD MEDAL WINNER For the first time for ten years the Institution's highest award for gallantry, the gold medal, has been awarded.

The award was made to Coxswain Richard Evans of Moelfre for a service which is described in full on page 380.

The last winner of the gold medal was ex-Coxswain Thomas King of St.

Helier. In each case the service was carried out in one of the Institution's reserve life-boats, for the station boats happened to be away at the time. The St. Helier service in 1949 was carried out in a single-engined life-boat built twenty-five years earlier. The boat in which the Moelfre service was carried out was a 41-feet petrol-engined life- boat built in 1938. A clearer proof of the quality of the construction of the Institution's life-boats could hardly be afforded. In each case a boat taken out of the Institution's active fleet solely because of the year in which she was built made possible a rescue in conditions of extreme danger, in which lives were saved only by the superb seamanship of the coxswain and the crew and the knowledge that their vessel would respond fully to the demands made on it.

DISTRICT ENGINEERS RETIRE Two valuable servants of the Institu- tion have recently retired after long periods of service. One was Mr. W.

Neale, District Engineer of the Irish District, who was thirty-eight years with the Institution. The other was Mr. F. J. Ireland, Western District Engineer, whose service with the Institu- tion lasted thirty-four years. They will both be greatly missed, particularly in the districts where they served so well, and their services were recognized by their colleagues on the Institution's staff by the presentation of gifts. In the Western District a suggestion was made at one station that a gift might also be made by members of life-boat crews. There was a response from every station in the district—an indica- tion of the happy relationship between the Institution's district engineers and the crews of the life-boats—and a presentation was made to Mr. Ireland by Mr. N. O. Mabe, honorary secretary of the Fishguard life-boat station.

"THE STORY OF THE LIFE-BOAT" In the 1960 edition The Story of the Life-boat will be told through the lives of some of the outstanding figures in the history of the life-boat service.

Included among them are famous coxswains such as Henry Blogg, of Cromer, William Fleming, of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, and Lord Mottistone, of Brooke, Isle of Wight; administrators such as the 4th Duke of Northumberland and Charles Dibdin ; and designers including Lionel Lukin, James Beeching and Mr. J. R. Barnett.

Copies can be obtained from branches or from the headquarters of the Institution (l/6d. each, or 2/-d. to cover postage). The Scottish edition, at the same price, will include short biographies of a number of the out- standing Scottish figures in the history of the service..