Whitby, Yorkshire - At 9.9 p.m. on 9th September, 1969, the coastguard informed the honorary secretary that an injured man aboard the motor fishing vessel Susitna needed medical assistance urgently. At 9.30 the lifeboat Mary Ann Hepworth, with a doctor aboard, was launched. It was half an hour before low water. She came alongside the Susitna at 12.37 a.m. on 10th September, 21 miles north east of Whitby. The doctor and two members of the lifeboat crew were put aboard the vessel.

The man's injuries were found to be so serious that it was decided not to transfer him to the life-boat. The life-boat escorted the fishing vessel to Scarborough where an ambulance was waiting to take the injured man to hospital. The life-boat returned to station at 7.15 a.m..