A LIFEBOAT DISASTER may have been narrowly averted last December. Soon after the Padstow lifeboat had launched late in the evening of December 7, she was struck by three exceptionally heavy seas. A considerable weight of water dropped almost vertically on to the canopy forward of the wheelhouse smashing the windscreen glass. The coxswain, Anthony Warnock, was concussed and temporarily blinded from a head wound, but the second coxswain,Trevor England, was able to take control and bring the lifeboat safely back.

In his official report on the incident Commander Bruce Cairns, Chief of Operations, wrote: 'By the grace of God no one was lost overboard although all the circumstances were present for this to happen'. He added that the incident emphasized again that 'lifeboat work is a very dangerous occupation, regardless of modern development in lifeboat construction'.

The conclusion he reached was that in lifeboat design and construction any tendency 'to subordinate strength to speed, and perhaps economy in some cases' must be avoided.

From the description of the service on page 259 it will be seen that the crew, with great faith in their boat, would have launched again before repairs had been made, and that in fact temporary repairs and extra strengthening were completed on the slipway in less than 24 hours. A full and urgent investigation is in progress into the possible need for further strengthening.

Further success of the Arun lifeboat That the RNLI has succeeded in combining greater speed both with the strength and stability which are required, was effectively shown in a service carried out nearly two months earlier.

After an intense cyclone with winds of.

hurricane force had been moving steadily up the south coast of England the night before, the Arun class lifeboat stationed at Weymouth had launched on the afternoon of October 14. Second Coxswain Victor Pitman, who was in command, later described the seas asthe worst in his 28 years of experience as a lifeboatman. Force 12 winds were encountered and more than once the lifeboat rolled heavily over almost on to her beam ends. An estimate of the worst roll experienced was that it reached 70 degrees. Nevertheless the lifeboat succeeded in taking a yacht in tow and thus rescuing eight people, one of them the daughter of the well-known actress Moira Lister.

Some of the Weymouth crew had felt apprehensive about the possible behaviour of the Arun lifeboat in the conditions which prevailed. They returned, in the words of the inspector who investigated the service, Lieut.- Commander Roy Portchmouth, with 'the conviction on the part of every Weymouth crew member that the Arun has proved herself completely'.

Detailed descriptions of the Weymouth service appear on page 258.

Queen's Silver Jubilee In the Silver Jubilee year HM The Queen will honour the RNLI by naming the new Hartlepool lifeboat on July 14.

This is the Waveney lifeboat which the Scout Association provided through 'Operation Lifeboat' which was launched in 1974 to mark the RNLI's 150th anniversary.

HM The Queen, who is Patron of the Civil Service and Post Office Lifeboat Fund, has graciously agreed that, to celebrate her 25 years on the throne, the new Rother class lifeboat being donated to the RNLI by the Fund shall be named Silver Jubilee. This lifeboat is Civil Service No. 38 and will be stationed at Margate; she was on the RNLI stand at the recent Boat Show, where she was visited by a large number of people.

The RNLI has itself decided to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee by naming a lifeboat in honour of its President, the Duke of Kent. In reaching this decision the RNLI's Committee of Management have expressed the wish that this lifeboat 'should be a symbol of their appreciation for the work of lifeboat crews and for the voluntary support given to them by station and financial branches and by ladies' lifeboat guilds.' A number of branches have already planned special events this year to raise additional funds to help pay for the new lifeboat.

Among the national celebrations of the Queen's Jubilee in which the RNLI will participate, will be the River Thames Pageant on June 9 and the Fleet Review at Spithead on June 28.

New lifeboats will take part in both these events.

American view Speaking at the Mansion House in London on December 1 last year at a reception held to launch the American/ British Lifeboat Appeal, Mrs Anne Armstrong, the United States Ambassador, said: 'The appeal which we observe and honour this evening has the officialblessings of the US Bicentennial Commission.

That's nice, but just as important, even more important, is that it has the support of an important segment of the American community here and across the Atlantic. So it should have.

For the Institution doesn't ask a person's nationality when he is in trouble.

'It's too early to say yet whether the drive for the new Waveney lifeboat will go over the top. But if I know my Americans, if I know what touches them (and opens their pockets and purses) it is a voluntary cause and a good cause.

'Britain has many friends and wellwishers in America—more, I think, than you realise. And with this appeal, it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate our friendship and support in a rather different fashion.'The growing support which the RNLI is receiving from American citizens both in this country and in the United States encourages us to believe that the Ambassador's hope, so happily expressed, will be fulfilled.ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING: The AGM of the Institution will be on Tuesday, May 17, at the Royal Festival Hall, London. Principal speaker at the Presentation of Awards in the afternoon will be Lord Inchcape, President of the General Council of British Shipping.

* * * Raymond Pope, district organising secretary (City of London), has been appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.

* * * Portpatrick lifeboat station has been awarded a centenary vellum on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its establishment in 1877. North Sunderland has been awarded a vellum on the 150th anniversary of the establishment of this station in 1827..