The 17m fishing vessel Crystal Sea was returning to harbour with a catch at 3am on 22 November when she hit rocks north of Howth Head.

As she sank, her crew of four jumped onto the rocks, where they activated their emergency beacon just before 4am. Minutes later, relief lifeboat Edna May and Howth’s own Roy Barker III both launched. The former, a D class, approached the rocks and rescued the Crystal Sea’s crew, before transferring them, cold but uninjured, to the Trent class (like the one pictured) for the journey home.