Passengeryessel on Tee shore in tiny cove During a six-hour service in gale force winds Angle's Tyne class lifeboat The Lady Rank was able to snatch a disabled passenger boat from the foot of 80ft cliffs, saving the lives of the four crew aboard the vessel.

The service, which involved manoeuvring in a tiny cove battered by an onshore gale, won her coxswain Jeremy Rees, the RNLI's Bronze Medal.On 5 May 1997 the 36ft passenger boat Dale Princess anchored in North Haven on Skomer island - some 9 miles north-west of Angle lifeboat station - to attend to engine damage caused by a fouled propeller.

A northerly gale began to make conditions difficult, and by 1730 she was dragging her anchors towards the shore and in need of immediate help.

Milford Haven Coastguard contacted Angle lifeboat station and, at 1 740, the Tyne was on her way under Coxswain Jeremy Rees.

As soon as she cleared the entrance to Milford Haven she could feel the full force of the wind, although the land was still providing some shelter, and made best speed for Skomer Island.

Notorious As she drew near both an auxiliary coastguard ashore and another vessel nearby confirmed that the situation was now desperate, so Coxswain Rees decided to take the shortest route to the casualty.

This meant going through the notorious Jack Sound- with some 5 knots of tide running against a full gale funnelling through the narrow opening.

The sea looked like a boiling cauldron, and as The Lady Rank went into it at around 1 0 knots she started to ship green water overall. Visibility was near-zero in the driving spray and the 'clutter' from the sea made the radar impossible to use. The cliffs lining the sound could just be glimpsed through the wheeelhouse windows - the outersteering position was completely untenable in these conditions - and with the help of the compass and occasional sight of the cliff faces Jeremy Rees brought the lifeboat safely through the raging sound and out into clear water.

Here the sea was more regular - although still around 10ft high -and the Tyne could gain a I ittle searoom.

Stern-first At about 1820 the lifeboat approached North Haven, where the casualty could be seen lying in the surf line less than 30ft from the sheer cliffs and being battered by seas up to 10ft high which were rebounding off the face in a confused pattern.

The Haven is so small that Coxwain Rees had to take the lifeboat in stern-first, easing down to Dale Princess through fishing markers and mooring buoys which complcated the approach.

It took three attempts to get a tow line aboard the casualty, but with it made fast there was still the problem of getting the passenger boat clear of the cliffs. She was so close-in that she could not afford to lose any ground as she recovered her anchor, so Jeremy Rees paid out some 60m of line and then took the strain, getting Dale Princess to cut her anchor cable at the same time.

Drogue The rnanouvre worked and the lifeboat eased the casualty out of North Haven and into more open water.

Returning via Jack Sound was out of the question, so a long and painstaking tow around the seaward side of Skomer Island began. To the west of the island the seas were up to 15ft high, and tyres were streamed from Dale Princessas a drogue to keep her under control.

The coxswain nursed both vessels along, making less than two knots over the ground against the strong north-going stream and with the casualty out of sight in the troughs of the larger waves.

Eventually some shelter was gained from the land and the tow could proceed at around 5 knots - with the lifeboat eventually putting the casualty alongside in Neyland Marina at 2246.The Lifeboat Tyne class 47-011 The Lady Rank Bronze Medal Coxswain Jerernv Rees Medal Services Badges and jomt Chairman's Letter of Appreciation 2nd Coxn Daniel Richards Asst Mech Adam Stringer Crew members David Lawrence Bernard Jonker, Roger O'Callaghan Derek Richards.