SILVER MEDAL SERVICE AT TORBAY DEC. 16TH. - TORBAY, AND SALCOMBE, DEVON. In the early afternoon the schooner Henrietta, of Truro, with a crew of seven men, was carried by the strong spring tides and a gale from the east-north-east to the edge of the dangerous reef the Skerries, south of Dartmouth There she succeeded in getting one anchor down. The coastguard saw her signals of distress and passed the news to the Torbay life-boat station at 1.30. Ten minutes later the motor life-boat George Shee was launched. She reached the Henrietta about 3.15. A Dartmouth tug and a Brixham steam trawler were standing by, but they were powerless to h e l p .

A heavy, confused sea was breaking over the Skerries. The tide, which was one hour short of high water, was running strongly. The light was failing. The schooner was rolling gunwale under. She was rolling so violently that the yard on the foremast would make it very difficult to get alongside. To add to the difficulty the starboard anchor, which had fouled the hawser, was hanging over the side.

The safer method of rescue was to anchor, fire a line to the schooner, and rig a breeches buoy, but the coxswain would not use this method, for he was certain that he could never drag the schooner’s crew through that surf alive. Instead he went in at once close to the starboard side of the schooner to see how she lay. Then hesheered off. The captain of the schooner, watching the life-boat as she manoeuvred, thought it impossible for her to come alongside. He reckoned without the skill and daring of the coxswain. A second time the life-boat went straight in and the coxswain put her right along the starboard side of the schooner, cleverly avoiding the anchor. Then he moored her fore and aft. In three minutes the Henrietta’s crew had jumped aboard. They were three very dangerous minutes for the life-boat. Once the fore yard, stabbing down towards her, as the schooner rolled, only just missed her radio telephony mast. Then the schooner’s bulwark crashed down on the lifeboat’s wale, and split twelve feet of it.

That the life-boat was not severely damaged was due to the splendid seamanship of the coxswain.

The seven men were rescued, the mooring ropes were chopped away, and the life-boat drew clear of the schooner and made again for Torbay. She arrived at 5.40 that evening.

The Torbay coxswain had made no attempt to salve the schooner owing to the very heavy seas. At 5.20 the Salcombe station received a message from the Prawle Signal Station that she was adrift a mile and a half off Prawle.

At six o’clock the motor life-boat Samuel and Marie Parkhouse put out to tow her out of the shipping track, but she could not find her. After searching unsuccessfully for two hours she returned to her station.

The Institution made the following awards to the Torbay crew : To COXSWAIN WILLIAM H. H. MOGRIDGE, a clasp to his silver medal for gallantry, and a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To SECOND COXSWAIN WILLIAM PILLAR, F. C. SANDERS, bowman, and RICHARD T. HARRIS, motor mechanic, bronze medals for gallantry, with copies of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To each of the other members of the crew, E. LAMSWOOD, assistant motor mechanic, A. DISNEY, W. ROGERS, W.

COLEMAN and E. CRONIN, the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum ; To the coxswain and each of the eight members of his crew, a rewardof £2 in addition to the scale reward of £1 8s. 6d. Standard rewards to crew and launchers, £12 8s. 3d. ; additional rewards to crew, £18 ; total rewards, £30 8s. 3d.

Standard rewards to Salcombe, £13 2s. 6d.

Total rewards for the service, £43 10s. 9d..