Sick man taken off in gale AN IRISH CONTAINER SHIP, Bell Rover, contacted Dover coastguard on the evening of Tuesday November 20,1984, seeking medical advice about one of her crew members who was sick. After consultation with a doctor, the ship asked if the man could be taken off by lifeboat.

Hastings lifeboat station's honorary secretary agreed to launch and as the case of sickness involved drug abuse, he considered that the station's honorary medical adviser, Dr Adrian Head, should be taken afloat. Bell Rover was requested to steam from her position which was 24 miles south east of Hastings on a closing course for the lifeboat.

When the relief 37ft Oakley class lifeboat, Calouste Gulbenkian, on temporary duty at Hastings, launched into the eastern harbour at 2023, the weather was very bad. A south-south-westerly force 8 to strong gale force 9 was blowing with heavy breaking seas and poor visibility in the driving rain. It was half an hour before high water. A deliberate delay in launching the lifeboat had been calculated to allow the container ship to close Hastings, thus reducing the distance the sick man would have to travel aboard the lifeboat in the heavy weather.

Coxswain Joe Martin was at the lifeboat's helm and, once clear of the harbour, he set a course of 160°M. The rendezvous was seven miles south east of Hastings and the outward passage was extremely uncomfortable with seas breaking continuously over the lifeboat; waves were estimated at between 15 to 20 feet in height.

Bell Rover's lights were sighted at 2113 and VHP radio contact was made.

The ship's master agreed to steam slowly on a north-westerly heading to provide a starboard lee so that the sick man (who, it was now reported, weighed some 22 stone) could board the lifeboat by pilot ladder. Coxswain Martin steamed at half speed, making a starboard turn so that he could assess the height and other details of the ship, anticipating that he might have to put the doctor on board.At 2119 the lifeboat came under the decklights of Bell Rover and all hands were astonished to see the sick man already on the pilot ladder. He was facing outboard and was being held at the shoulders by two men leaning over the bulwarks.

The wind by now had increased to force 9 and was backing slightly to south by east; waves were reaching 30 feet in height. Shouting to his crew forward that he was going to run straight in, once only, Joe Martin approached the ladder with the lifeboat's port bow. The ship appeared to be stopped in the water and was drifting round to a westerly heading, rolling heavily.

With the lifeboat's port bow pinned against the ship's starboard side, Second Coxswain Douglas White, Doctor Adrian Head and one other crew member waited for the ship to roll so that they could grab the sick man into the forward well. As the two vessels rolled, the man was moving some 12 feet vertically in relation to the lifeboat but within seconds he had been taken securely inboard. Once the coxswain had been told that it was all safe forward he put the lifeboat's engines full astern. However, a combination of the container ship's drift to port and the urgency of the approach meant that the lifeboat was now parallel to the ship. As the lifeboat came astern, Bell Rover rolled heavily on to her, damaging her port side fittings. (In fact, when back at station, blue paint from the ship was discovered on the lifeboat's port engine- room coach top.) As he lost sight of the lifeboat beneath his after starboard accommodation, the ship's master, believing he had severely crushed her, called the lifeboat on VHP radio. Once clear of Bell Rover's port quarter, Coxswain Martin was able to reply that all was well. The sick man and doctor were brought aft to the shelter of the cockpit where it was found that the man was not in need of very urgent medical attention. This made the situation easier for the ten occupants of the confined space.

A course was set for Hastings pier at 2125 and half an hour later Coxswain Martin hove to half a mile south of the pier so that he could set the drogue for the run in to the beach. By now the entire lifeboat crew were soaked to the skin by the constant seas taken aboard which flooded the cockpit.As the lifeboat rounded the harbour arm all the crew and the sick man were moved forward in case the lifeboat took stern seas as she hit the beach. At 2220 the lifeboat was safely ashore and hauled clear. The sick man and doctor were taken to a waiting ambulance and the lifeboat was back on her carriage, refuelled and ready again for service at 2300.

For this service the bronze medal was awarded to Coxswain/Mechanic Joe H. W. Martin. Medal service certificates were awarded to Second Coxswain G. Douglas White, Assistant Mechanic Steven N. D. Martin and crew members Steven J. Barrow, Charles E. Sharrod, Frederick White, Robert D. Ball and Derek H. W.

Ryder. A letter of appreciation, signed by Rear Admiral W. J. Graham, director of the RNLI, was sent to the honorary medical adviser, Dr Adrian Head..