Gold medal AT 0058 ON MONDAY, December 6, 1976, the honorary secretary of Torbay lifeboat station was informed by the Coastguard that the motor vessel Lyrma had requested immediate assistance six miles east of Start Point. Her exact position was uncertain, her radar was unserviceable, her steering gear had broken down and she had developed a list.

Torbay's 54' Arun class lifeboat Edward Bridges (Civil Service No. 37) slipped her moorings at 0115. The lifeboat's coxswain had been caught out at sea by the storm while fishing and Second Coxswain Keith Bower therefore took command.

The wind was southerly force 9 to 10, having been building up from that direction for about eight hours, and, as soon as all was secured for sea, Acting Coxswain Bower ordered everyone inside and all doors and hatches closed.

He was able to steam at full speed, nearly 19 knots, in only a slight to moderate sea eastwards towards Berry Head. As the lifeboat rounded the headland and set course southwards, however, huge seas were immediately encountered head-on, so that Acting Coxswain Bower felt obliged to ease the throttles drastically. It was almost a spring tide which was now running at about 1 knot against the wind. The seas were therefore steep and the largest waves were estimated at 40 feet. They were the worst ever experienced by his crew.

After rounding Berry Head, accurate navigation was entirely dependent on Decca fixes. It was out of the question to use the parallel rules, which were twice caught in mid-air, while the dividers were completely lost and could not be found again until next day.

Acting Coxswain Bower found that, by cutting his throttles almost completely on cresting the largest waves, and then opening up to about 1,500 rpm (13 knots) again, he could prevent the boat from becoming airborne too often and from pounding too hard. In this way, with the aid of the 1 knot tide going with her, the Decca fixes show that the lifeboat made good about 10 knots over the ground or 9 knots through the water. Such was thenumber of times it was necessary to reduce speed.

As the sea conditions worsened, Acting Coxswain Bower thought he could make better and more comfortable progress by keeping the sea more on the bow, so he steered about 20° to the east of his intended track until about 0154, when a radar contact was obtained five miles on the starboard bow only about one mile from the originally reported position of the casualty.

Acting Coxswain Bower then altered course towards this contact, which put the sea and wind across his port bow.

The navigator plotted the contact by taking its range and applying this to his own Decca fixes, from which, even using rough estimates, it soon became apparent that the contact was making good progress on a northerly course and was therefore not the casualty.

All except Acting Coxswain Keith Bower, Assistant Mechanic John Hunkin, who manned the VHP throughout, and one other crew member, suffered seasickness on this outward journey, but all performed their duties nevertheless. Particularly noteworthy in this respect was John Dew, who acted as navigator in the seat beside the coxswain.

His task was vital, as visibility was severely restricted by rain, spume and spray, and he carried it out very efficiently.

At 0215 the Coastguard up-dated the casualty's position to 114°T, 7.5 miles from Start Point, and the lifeboat altered to port to a course of 169°T for the new position. Two echoes then appeared five miles ahead and, ten minutes later, Acting Coxswain Bower sighted lights about three miles ahead.

Start Point Radio now gave the wind as force lOjto 11.Keith Bower made an assessment of the lifeboat's chances of being able to effect the rescue and decided that it probably would prove impossible, or at least highly dangerous for the survivors, to attempt to take them on board the lifeboat. He therefore asked for them to be taken off by Sea King helicopter.

The Coastguard eventually replied that there was no Sea King available.

The lifeboat arrived on the scene at about 0240 and Acting Coxswain Bower went to the upper conning position, taking John Hunkin with him to man the VHP and talk to Lyrma's captain. Two other vessels were standing by. Lyrma had a heavy list to starboard and wasslowly steaming in a circle to starboard, pitching and rolling so that her well deck was awash on her rolls to starboard, and the captain said he feared a further shift of cargo would capsize her.

He wanted everyone taken off.

At about this time the wind was starting to veer a little, but with no reduction in intensity. The very heavy swell continued from the south and, as the wind veered, the sea became more confused, so that conditions were steadily worsening.

The lifeboat told Lyrma's captain that he should put his liferaft over the side and get his crew into it, so that the 'lifeboat could then pick them up safely.

It was apparent, however, that there was much confusion on board Lyrma, no English apparently being spoken except by the captain, and the lifeboat had difficulty in getting any real acknowledgement of suggestions or instructions.

The Coastguard now advised that RFA Engadine was approaching and had a Wessex helicopter which she hoped to get airborne at 0315. Acting Coxswain Bower therefore decided to lie off and await the helicopter's arrival.

At 0257 Lyrma put her liferaft over the port side forward, but it appeared that no one was willing to get into it.

She then appeared to stop her engines and lay bows west, port beam to the sea.

At 0330, Engadine's helicopter arrived and a winchman was lowered over Lyrma's after superstructure. He swung like a pendulum in the wind and a second approach had to be made. On the second attempt the winchwire became fouled on a boat's davit on the casualty and the winchman himself wasinjured and had to be recovered. The pilot of this helicopter later said that his instruments showed a rise and fall in the freighter's deck level of 30 feet during this time. He reported that helicopter lifts were impossible except from a liferaft.

Acting Coxswain Bower now made one more plea to Lyrma's captain to get his crew into the liferaft, but there was no response. So, at 0345, he decided to make a trial run on to the casualty's starboard quarter.

The 27,000 ton Eurofreighter was trying to make a lee for the rescue operations, but if anything, her presence appeared to make the sea even more confused. The trial run was encouraging, however, and the captain now agreed to muster his crew on the starboard side aft to be taken off.Crew Members John Dew and Michael Mills went forward to place fenders and take the survivors aboard, while Crew Members Nicholas Davies and Richard Brown prepared to lead them aft and inside the lifeboat.

On the first run alongside the only woman passenger was successfully pulled aboard. The lifeboat then went astern and tried again. This time the motion between the two vessels forced Acting Coxswain Bower to come hard astern again at the last minute.

On the next approach two more were pulled aboard by John Dew, standing between the forward guardrails and the inner pulpit rails to catch them. Next time only one could be got aboard before Keith Bower was obliged to withdraw again. Another abortive approach followed, then run number six was begun. As the lifeboat's port bow came alongside, Lyrma rolled heavily to starboard, crushing nine guardrail stanchions inboard, the foremost ones as far as 45°, and sending the lifeboatmen leaping for safety over the pulpit rail as the guardrail bolts sheered like rifle shots, so that all thought some severe structural damage was taking place.

The lifeboat was trapped under the casualty's gunwales, and, as the freighter rolled down on top of her, John Hunkin, standing beside Keith Bower on the upper conning position, leaned over to fend off the casualty's lifeboat, still in its davits, about five feet inboard of Lyrma's side. He could reach it with his hands. One more survivor jumped to the lifeboat's deck while another hesitated. Then John Dew came forward over the pulpit rails again and dragged this man aboard as Keith Bower put both engines full astern and the lifeboat shrugged herself free.

On the next run, the seventh crew man came aboard and this left only the captain visible on deck. He shouted that the other two crew members had taken to the liferaft over the port bow and he would now leave the ship himself. It took two more rurfs, however, before he could be taken aboard.

During this entire evacuation, Engadine's Wessex stood by and the pilot said that he considered the lifeboat displayed 'fantastic seamanship'. He would not have believed it possible to get anyone off safely by lifeboat in those conditions.

The lifeboat now manoeuvred to the windward side of Lyrma and the lifeboatmen tried by sign language to indicate to the two occupants of the liferaft that they should cut themselves free and allow the raft to drift clear so that they could be picked up. It took a long time, but they finally understood.

The liferaft duly drifted aft, a hand reached out to grab the line thrown from the lifeboat's bow, Acting Coxswain Bower turned to port to make a lee, and the last of the ten survivors were soon safely pulled aboard over thelifeboat's starboard side. It was 0410.

All the rescued were then placed inside the lifeboat and the after door closed. Acting Coxswain Bower, with Assistant Mechanic Hunkin, remained on the upper conning position because he felt that from there he could better observe the large following seas and thus more readily take action to prevent broaching. Visibility had also improved so that he could easily navigate visually from the upper bridge. The wind having veered to about south west, the seas had reduced somewhat in comparison with the outward passage, and, although full speed was maintained all the way home, only two broaches occurred.

The lifeboat reached her refuelling berth at 0510.

For this service the gold medal for gallantry has been awarded to Acting Coxswain Keith W. Bower. A bar to the bronze medal has been awarded to Crew Member John Dew and the bronze medal to Motor Mechanic Stephen J.

Bower, Assistant Mechanic William John Hunkin and Crew Members Michael Mills, Nicholas Davies and Richard R. Brown..