ON the afternoon of 16th September, 1962, Mr. Kenneth Johnson and his brother, Mr. Frank Johnson, with six of their children aged between two and twelve, went on board Mr. Kenneth Johnson's cabin cruiser, which was one of the Dolphin class and was moored to head and stern anchors off Morfa beach in the Conway river.

A fresh to strong south-south-wes- terly breeze was blowing and it was raining heavily. The spring tide was ebbing at about 4 knots, and there were choppy seas and a confused swell in the estuary. It was about an hour after high water. The weather was growing steadily worse.

One of the anchors started to drag after the family had gone on board, and as the boat swung to the stern anchor the cockpit filled over the transom.

Children put into Cockpit The two men put five of the children into the cockpit for safety and then tried to weigh the stern anchor in an attempt to ride to the bower anchor.

The yacht dragged rapidly into mid- stream and then capsized. She was swept rapidly out to sea by the strong ebb tide.

The two men and the eldest boy, Frank Johnson, who was aged twelve, were thrown into the water, but they managed to hang on to the keel of the capsized boat. The other five children were trapped in the cabin. They were under water but were able to breathe because of a pocket of air.

As soon as they saw what had hap- pened Mr. G. G. Wright and Mr. L. S.

Bettison launched a 12-foot fibre glass dinghy, which was driven by a 40 h.p.

outboard engine. When they reached the cabin cruiser they found her near the mouth of the estuary. They went alongside and hove a line, but this fouled their own boat's propeller, put- ting her engine out of action.

Two Girls Unconscious Mr. Wright and Mr. Bettison were able partially to right the upturned cabin cruiser and to expose the cabin door. One young girl floated clear and was grabbed by her father, who was still clinging to the upturned boat.

While Mr. Wright held open the cabin door one of the other children, a ten- year-old boy named Michael Johnson, pulled out two girls who were uncon- scious. Another boy and another girl were then rescued, and an unsuccessful attempt was made to start the dinghy's outboard engine, although it was still fouled by a rope. Meanwhile, Mr.

Wright applied artificial respiration to two of the young children.

A number of other boats attempted to put out, but nearly all were forced to turn back in the heavy broken water.

One of the boats was a 12-foot dinghy manned by Mr. & Mrs. H. Rowley, both of whom are in their fifties. They per- sisted in their efforts and finally reached the cabin cruiser. They made three attempts to rescue Mr. Johnson and his daughter although their boat was swam- ped repeatedly. At the third attempt they managed to bring the bow close enough for Mr. Johnson to grab the dinghy and to thrust his daughter on board before rolling in on top of her just as the dinghy was washed clear.

Almost immediately afterwards the cabin cruiser sank.

The launch Satellite also succeeded in putting out. This was manned by four men: two of them were local boatmen, Mr. J. D. Craven and Mr. T. Hughes, and two were police officers, Sergeant R. H. Jones and P.C. T. J. Edwards, who had been summoned by a 999 call. All the children and one of the two men who had been in the water were transferred from the fibre glass dinghy to the launch, and artificial respiration con- tinued to be applied to the two-year-old girl who was still unconscious. The rescued people, after being landed, were taken to Llandudno hospital, where they all recovered.

For this service the thanks of the Insti- tution, inscribed on vellum, were-accor- ded to Mr. G. G. Wright, Mr. L. S. Betti- son, and to Mr. and Mrs. H. Rowley.

Inscribed wrist watches were awarded to Michael and Lizette Johnson. Framed letters of appreciation were sent to Sergeant R. H. Jones and P.C. T. J.

Edwardsandmonetaryawardsweremade to Mr. H. D. Craven and Mr. T. Hughes..