January storm BRONZE MEDALS AT 1137 ON WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1988 the Blackpool station honorary secretary, Mr Rowland Darbyshire was alerted by Liverpool Coastguard MRSC that a small vessel had fired red flares 11/4 miles north north west of the lifeboat station and another had capsized I3/* miles south west.

The lifeboat crew pagers were activated and, on arrival at the boathouse, the two senior helmsmen, Keith Horrocks and Philip Denham discussed the weather conditions with the SHS.

The wind was north-westerly force 5 with a north-westerly sea. Broken seas extended for some 200 yards to seaward from the promenade to the surf edge, where there were waves of 9 to 10 feet.

High water was due at 1230 and although a nominal northerly flow of half a knot would have been expected, the wind and undertow gave a southerly flow of about three knots.

Both helmsmen were confident that they could cope with the conditions, despite their being at the upper operating limit for the two 16ft D class inflatable lifeboats stationed at Blackpool.

At 1149 D310, with Helmsman Horrocks and Crew Members Stuart Cottam and Terence Rogers on board, launched from the steps adjacent to the boathouse and proceeded towards the southernmost casualty.

D300 was meanwhile towed towards Squires Gate by a police Land-Rover, but as the northernmost casualty was seen to be signalling desperately, Helmsman Philip Denham decided to launch from the Slade at Manchester Square.

PC Pat Jackson, the police driver, backed the Land-Rover down to the water's edge and then helped to launch the lifeboat (saving a delay while the launch crew reached D300 from the boathouse where they had launched D310).

PC Jackson, dressed in standard policeuniform, was soaked up to his chest, having entered the water with boat and trolley to assist the launch. D300 launched at 1152 with Helmsman Denham and Crew Members Robert Browell and Alan Parr on board.

D310 meanwhile proceeded westwards to clear Central Pier, constantly filling with water in the surf. The lifeboat closed the casualty Dijon and told the occupant to head to sea and wait for D300, as the capsized vessel was in urgent need of attention.

Helmsman Horrocks then took D310 southwards, running down sea and squaring up again to gain sea room as the lifeboat approached the surf edge.

On finding the upturned bows of the capsized casualty Peebles Helmsman Horrocks used skill and judgment in circling the boat before establishing that no-one was with her.

It was obvious that any of Peebles' crew in the water would have been swept south and so the lifeboat continued to search the surf in that direction.

An object was sighted 50 yards to the north north west and was found to be a person face down in the water.

Helmsman Horrocks slowed right down and held D310 in line with this casualty, drifting rapidly towards the lifeboat. Sea conditions at the scene were seven foot waves of broken surf with reflected waves causing a confused cross sea with steep peaks. The man was hauled aboard and both crew started trying to resuscitate him while Helmsman Horrocks ran the lifeboat into and up the beach.

The survivor was not breathing by himself and had a weak, erratic pulse.

He was transferred to the police Land- Rover and taken up to the ambulance standing by.

D300 also came ashore and Helmsman Denham and Crew Member Rogers —both qualified first aiders—continued resuscitation and heart massage until the ambulance crew took over.

Although alive when landed, sadly the man was declared dead in the intensive care unit at Blackpool Hospital three hours later. While D310 had been pulling the man from the water, D300 had intercepted Dijon which was drifting south at about four knots and closing the surf edge, where there was a danger of swamping or capsize.

The wind was north west 25 knots, with short, steep seas of 10 to 12 feet, confused by reflected waves from the promenade wall.

D300 approached Dijon's port quarter and Helmsman Denham instructed the occupant to let go his anchor, as themotion of the casualty precluded going alongside, with serious risk of injury to the lifeboat crew members or damage to the D class.

Once the anchor had been dropped the casualty steadied bow west, with the seas breaking over the starboard shoulder.

D300 again closed the port quarter and instructions were passed that the lifeboat would make a much closer approach when Dijon's occupant should jump.

However, as the lifeboat turned away to port, the survivor tried to leap the gap of 10 to 15 feet, landing partly in the water and partly on the starboard sponson of D300. The crew hauled him inboard.

D300 headed seawards, partly to drain excess water before turning and partly to clear the area of reflective waves. Dijon meanwhile was swamped and sank.

Once clear of the reflective waves, Helmsman Denham worked D300 south before running south east and then east to the beach at Squires Gate where the survivor, who was uninjured, was landed at 1206 and taken to hospital for a check-up.

He first confirmed that there had been two people on board Peebles and, after the ambulance had left, all the lifeboatmen agreed that this second occupant would be close inshore, drifting south, in an area inaccessible to the larger lifeboats from Fleetwood (44ft Waveney class Lady of Lancashire) and Lytham St Annes (47ft Watson, The Robert), which had also been launched.

Both D class crews insisted on relaunching, D310 leaving the beach at 1210 with Helmsman Horrocks and Crew Members Parr and Cottam, followed five minutes later by D300, with Helmsman Denham and Crew Members Rogers and Browell (after the latter had changed over the fuel tank on D300 while his colleagues attended the injured man).

Both lifeboats searched the area for !3/4 hours, first with the help of an oil rig support aircraft from Bond Helicopters, Blackpool Airport and later by two SAR helicopters, a Wessex from RAF Valley and a Sea King from RAF Boulmer.

The wind force increased as the search continued, one gust registering force 9. Various items of flotsam were seen and investigated, two lifejackets were recovered and items observed by the helicopters and marked with smoke floats were also investigated.

D300's engine tilt mechanism was damaged in shallow water while one such object was being investigated.

Sea conditions remained treacherous throughout the search and both helmsmen were acutely aware of the danger of being capsized bow over stern. Both boats shipped a lot of water—coped with by the transom drains—and on each seaward leg of the search pattern flying spray made conditions very difficult, with the saltwater and suspendedsand affecting the eyes of all crew members.

Following this service, carried out at and beyond the upper limits for this class of lifeboat, the bronze medal for gallantry has been presented to Helmsman Keith Horrocks and Helmsman Philip Denham in recognition of their superb seamanship and skill displayed in the handling of their craft.

The thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum has been awarded to Crew Members Stuart Cottam, Terence Rogers, Robert Browell and Alan Parr for the part they played in this arduous service.

In addition, a letter of thanks signed by the director, Lt Cdr Brian Miles, commending the actions of PC Pat Jackson, has been sent to Blackpool's chief superintendent of police..