Launches 59. Lives rescued 46.

SEPTEMBER 3RD.- WEYMOUTH, DORSET. At 7.50 P.M. information was received from the naval authorities at Portland, through the coastguard, that three trawlers or drifters were ashore between St. Albans Head and Durdle Door, Weymouth Bay, and the motor life-boat William and Clara Ryland put out at 8.10 P.M. The weather was calm, but there was a dense fog.

By 9.20 P.M., in spite of the darkness and dense fog, the life-boat had found the minesweeper Ceresio on the rocks at the north side of Weymouth Bay. She stood by until daylight, and at high water got a tow rope aboard the minesweeper and pulled her bows clear of rocks. A little later the Ceresio refloated, and the life-boat returned to her station at 7.30 A.M. - Property salvage case.

SEPTEMBER 3RD. - SWANAGE, DORSET.

At 7.30 P.M. it was learned from the coastguard that a vessel was ashore under St. Albans Head. The sea was calm, but there was a very thick fog. The motor lifeboat Thomas Markby was launched at 8.15 P.M., and at 9 P.M. found the armed trawler Olvina. She had a crew of twentyfour, and she asked the life-boat to stand by.

The life-boat stood by all night, and ran out a kedge and wire from the trawler. Salvage pumps then arrived, the holes in the trawler were plugged and the water pumped out, and she refloated on the high tide on Friday morning. Escorted by the life-boat she went to Portland under her own steam, and the life-boat went back to her station, arriving at 4 P.M. on the 5th. She had been out for forty-four hours. - Rewards, £20 16s.

SEPTEMBER 4TH. - PORT ASKAIG, ARGYLLSHIRE. At 10 A.M. a message was received from the Kilchoman coast-guard that a vessel was ashore on the east side of Mull of Oa, and at 10.30 A.M the reserve motor life-boat Duke of Connaught, on temporary duty at the station, was launched. The sea was calm, the weather clear, and there was no wind. The life-boat found the Norwegian steamer Isbjorn, of Stavanger. She had gone aground in thick weather at about 5 in the morning, but was in no immediate danger. Her captain asked the life-boat to help refloat the steamer, and she went to Port Ellen, where the coxswain telephoned for permission to help in this salvage work. permission was given by the honorary secretary on the understanding that the life-boat would be informed through Port Ellen if she was wanted for any other service. With the help of the life-boat, the Isbjorn was refloated at 5.35 P.M. The lifeboat then called at Port Ellen to see if there were any instructions for her, and returned to her station at 11.30 P.M. - Property salvage case.

SEPTEMBER 7TH. - FRASERBURGH, ABERDEENSHIRE. At 8.57 P .M . the Kinnaird Head coastguard reported that a vessel was being attacked by aeroplanes several miles to the N.E. of the head. She was the S.S. Trsat, of Cardiff (late of Jugoslavia), and was bound, laden with fish, from Iceland to Hull. Later the coastguard reported red flares, and at 10.7 P.M. the motor life-boat John and Charles Kennedy was launched. A light N.E. wind was blowing, with a moderate swell. The life-boat stopped a patrol trawler, told her of the distress signals and then went on. She found first an empty boat, then wreckage, and then a water-logged boat with thirteen men and a dead body on board, and another man clinging to the boat. They were all taken into the life-boat and told the coxswain that there were still two men missing. The steamer had sunk. The life-boat handed over the boat and the dead body to a patrol boat, and continued to search among the wreckage, but there was no trace of the two men. Leaving the patrol boat to carry on the search the life-boat returned to her station at 1.15 next morning with the fourteen rescued men. - Rewards, £10 8s.

SEPTEMBER 7TH. - BLYTH, NORTHUMBERLAND.

At about 11.30 at night the coastguard asked the life-boat to go to the help of a balloon drifter which was ashore in Blyth Bay about half a mile S.S.W. of Blyth piers. The night was dark, but clear.

A moderate easterly wind was blowing and a swell was breaking on the beach. The motor life-boat   Joseph Adlam left at 11.47 P.M ., and at midnight found H.M. Balloon Drifter Marcia. It was low water and the Marcia was rolling heavily, with seas breaking over her stern. A tug arrived, and with the help of the life-boat and her line-throwing gun, a tow rope was fixed between the Marcia and the tug, which then tried to get her off, but the tow rope parted.

A fishing yawl now serving with the R.A.F. arrived, with a naval commander on hoard, and he asked the life-boat to take a tow rope from his yawl to the Marcia. This the life-boat tried to do, but the rope was not long enough, and the yawl would not come in any closer. While this attempt was being made the tug’s tow rope was accidentally slipped from the Marcia, and the officer on the yawl then asked the coxswain to try to take off the Marcia’s crew.

The life-boat anchored to seaward and veered down on her cable, and the coxswain took her alongside the Marcia. Here the water was so shallow that the life-boat kept striking the sandy bottom, and the coxswain had to be very careful that he did not go right aground and get washed up on the beach. He had also closely to watch the Marcia, as she rolled in the surf, lest she rolled over on to the life-boat, and there was the added difficulty that he could not use his searchlight, as there was an air-raid in progress on the Tyneside six miles to the south. In spite of these difficulties he held the life-boat alongside for a quarter of an hour and in that time the seven members of the Marcia’s crew jumped aboard. The life-boat then weighed anchor and returned to her station, where she arrived at 3.50 in the morning.

The coxswain had handled the life-boat very well, and the Institution made the following awards : To COXSWAIN JOSIAH WHEATLEY, the Institution’s thanks inscribed on vellum ; To the coxswain and each of the eight members of the crew a reward of £1 in addition to the usual money reward on the standard scale ; Standard rewards to crew and helpers, £11 18s. ; additional rewards to crew, £9 ; total rewards, £20 18s.

SEPTEMBER 8TH - PORT ASKAIG, ARGYLLSHIRE. At 8.10 A.M. a message was received from the Kilchoman coastguard that a vessel was ashore on Chuirn Island, Ardmore Point, Islay. The weather was thick, with a slight N.W. wind and a calm sea. At 9.15 A.M. the motor life-boat Duke of Connaught, on temporary duty at the station, was launched, and found the steamer Auk, of Greenock. She had grounded badly, but as there was little wind her crew were in no immediate danger. The life-boat took messages from the steamer to Port Askaig to be despatched, returned to the Auk and stood by during the night. At daybreak a tug arrived, and the life-boat returned to her station at 9.55 A.M. on the 9th. She had been on service just over twenty-four hours.- Rewards, £22 6s.

SEPTEMBER 8TH. - LOWESTOFT, SUFFOLK.

At 7.30 P.M. the coastguard reported a motor boat flying a distress signal, and the motor life-boat Michael Stephens was launched at 7.55 P.M. The position given was one and a half miles S. by W. from Benacre Lookout, some ten miles from Lowestoft. A strong N.E. wind was blowing, the sea was rough, and in the darkness the lifeboat could see nothing. She searched until 11.30 P.M. and then anchored. Enemy aeroplanes were about and there were raids on shore. At4 next morning she resumed her search further south, and just before 6 A.M. found the fishing boat Happy Days, of Lowestoft, with a crew of three. Her engine had broken down. The life-boat took her in tow and brought her into port at 8 A.M. - Rewards, £11 18s.

SEPTEMBER 10TH. - PORT ASKAIG, ARGYLLSHIRE. At 10.30 in the morning a message was received from the police at Bowmore that an aeroplane had been reported down in the sea near the entrance to Loch Killisport, Knapdale. This was confirmed by the coastguard a few minutes later, and at 12.15 the motor life-boat the Duke of Connnaught, on temporary duty at the station, was launched. A squally N.W. wind was blowing and the sea was rough. The lifeboat spoke a small rowing boat and learned from her that a naval drifter had foundered in the Sound of Jura. She had a crew of fifteen. An aeroplane had seen men struggling in the water and others getting ashore by raft. The airman had then flown over Ormsary and had dropped messages. Two rowing boats had at once put out to the rescue. Of the drifter’s crew ten were safe.

The other five had been drowned, and three of the bodies had been picked up. This was the position when the life-boat arrived. She searched and found the two remaining bodies, which she put on board an R.A.F. pinnace.

She also found the drifter’s boat, with no one on board, took it in tow, and handed it over to H.M. Trawler Wolves. She then returned to her station, arriving at 8.10 in the evening. - Rewards, £7 13s.

(See Ormsary, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 102.)

SEPTEMBER 15TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

At 6.28 in the morning the Cromer coastguard reported a vessel awash about five miles N.N.E. from Cromer, and the No. 1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey was launched at 7.5. A strong N.E. wind was blowing, with a moderate sea. The life-boat found that the vessel was the motor vessel Pontfield, of Newcastle, laden with petrol.

She had struck a mine and had been broken into two parts. A destroyer had the after part in tow, and was trying to keep it from drifting ashore. She told the life-boat that the survivors of the crew had been taken to Harwich. The coxswain of the life-boat then went alongside the fore part and found that there was no one aboard. The captain of one of H.M. trawlers then asked him to stand by the fore part until he returned and put some of his men on board. This the life-boat did for over an hour, but it was clear that the fore part was sinking rapidly.

The coxswain made for the after part, as he saw that the attempts to tow it had been abandoned and that it was now only about three-quarters of a mile from the shore. He put some life-boatmen on board it, and half an hour later two tugs arrived and got the after part of the Pontfield in tow. At the request of a salvage officer the life-boat stood by until the tug had taken the after part into Yarmouth Roads, where they arrived at 2.30 in the afternoon of the following day. The life-boat then returned to her station, arriving at seven in the evening. She had been out on service for thirty-six hours. - Property salvage case.

(See Sunderland, “ Accounts of Services by Life-boats,” page 73.)

SEPTEMBER 16TH. - CLACTON - ON - SEA, ESSEX. At 11.45 A.M. an aeroplane was seen to crash into the sea, and at 11.52 A.M.

the motor life-boat Edward Z. Dresden was launched. A light northerly breeze was blowing and the sea was calm. Four miles S.E.

of Clacton Pier, on Gunfleet Sands, the lifeboat, found a British bomber, with a crew of three. They were standing on the wings, but were in no immediate danger. The water was so shallow that the stern of the life-boat touched the sands when she was still 100 yards away. She fired two lines with her line-throwing gun, but they fell short. The life-boat then asked the airmen to paddle towards her in their dinghy, and they were about to do so, when a speed boat from Brightlingsea came in and took them on board. The life-boat was then asked by wireless to get in touch with a drifter close by, and to help in an attempt to salve the aeroplane. The life-boat lent tools for the immediate removal of certain parts of the aeroplane, and after the aeroplane had been buoyed, so that it could be lifted later, the life-boat returned to her station, where she arrived at 5 P.M. - Rewards, £4 6s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 17TH. - NOVEMBER 6TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK. The S.S. Teddington, of London, with a valuable cargo on board, had been attacked by German aeroplanes and set on fire. Her crew had been taken off by a naval vessel and the steamer had stranded about three miles S.E of Cromer. On the 17th September the Admiralty salvage officer asked for the services of the No.1 motor life-boat H. F. Bailey to take firemen and motor pumps to the vessel. Later in the day she took out acetylene plant, and on subsequent days carried the salvage men and stevedores between Cromer and the wreck. Working in relays the life-boatmen gave rnuch help with the work of salving cargo, and it was not until the 6th November that the last life-boat trip was made. On several occasions the No. 2 motor life-boat Harriot Dixon went out in place of the H. F. Bailey, and between them these two boats were engaged on twenty-eight days as follows : The No. 1 life-boat, September 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 29 and 30th ; October 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17 and 18th ; and November 6th ; the No. 2 life-boat, September 19th ; October 1, 19, 21 and 22nd ; and Novemher 4th. - The expenses were paid by the Admiralty.

SEPTEMBER 20TH. - DUNMORE EAST, CO. WATERFORD. During the night of 18th September the sound of bombs and heavy gunfire had been heard out at sea, and on the morning of the 20th a message came from the coast watchers at Hook Pointthat wreckage and a ship’s boat had been seen about 4 miles to the S.S.W. The weather was fine but hazy, with an easterly breeze, and the sea was smooth. At 9.15 A.M.

the motor life-boat Annie Blanche Smith was launched. She found the ship’s boat, but no one was on board, and took her in tow.

About 60 large mahogany logs were floating about, and the life-boat towed back three of them. She arrived at her station at 1.45 P.M.

- Property salvage case.

SEPTEMBER 21ST. - FLAMBOROUGH, YORKSHIRE. At 6.10 A.M. a message was received from the naval signal station that an aeroplane had fallen into the sea near the north landing, and at 6.35 A.M. the motor life-boat Elizabeth and Albina Whitley was launched. A N.E. breeze was blowing and the sea was smooth. When about half a mile off shore the life-boat saw a rubber dinghy with men on board, but when she was still 50 yards from it an R.A.F. speed boat came up at great speed, passed the lifeboat and rescued the airmen. The life-boat, which was then two and a half miles north of Flamborough Head, cruised about and picked up three petrol tanks and the log of the aeroplane. She then returned to her station at 7.35 A.M. - Rewards, £8 12s.

SEPTEMBER 21ST. - BLACKPOOL, LANCASHIRE.

At 12 noon a message was received from the R.A.F. Observer Corps at Squires Gate that an R.A.F. pilot who was on patrol had reported a parachute down in the sea about three miles N.W. of Blackpool station, and at 12.15 the motor life-boat Sarah Ann Austin was launched. Mr. Edgar Law, the deputy chairman of the branch, went with her. A light east wind was blowing and the sea was smooth. The life-boat was piloted from the air by another R.A.F.

machine, and it was not until she had travelled twenty miles N.W. of Blackpool station that she found not a parachute but a meteorological balloon, twelve feet in diameter.

She picked it up and returned to her station, arriving at 5.12 P.M. There the balloon was handed over to the R.A.F.- Rewards, £6 2s.

SEPTEMBER 2 3RD. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

At about 9.40 A.M. a request came from the naval base at Great Yarmouth, through the coastguard, for the life-boat to land an injured man, and the No. 1 motor life-boat H.F.Bailey was launched at 10 A.M. with a doctor on board. A light E.S.E. wind was blowing and the sea was smooth. Three miles to the E.S.E. of Cromer the life-boat found the S.S. J. B. Paddon, of London. Her chief mate had fractured two fingers of his left hand. The doctor attended to it, and the life-boat then brought the mate ashore, arriving at 11.10 A.M. - Rewards, £6 4s.

SEPTEMBER 24TH. - NEWCASTLE, CO. DOWN. At 3 A.M. the coastguard telephoned that a ship was ashore at Ringfad Point, Killough, and the motor life-boat L. P. and St. Helen was launched at 3.20 A.M. A S.E. wind was blowing, with a moderate sea, and there was a dense fog. The life-boat found the 6,000-ton steamer Bereby, of Newcastleon- Tyne, with a crew of 52. She was laden, and bound from Liverpool to West Africa.

The life-boat stood by until after daylight and then went with messages to Ardglass.

She returned to the Bereby and stood by again, waiting for a tug, but before it came a naval patrol vessel arrived, and the life-boat took two officers from her to the Bereby and back again. At 2 P.M. the tug arrived, but her efforts to refloat the steamer failed. As the coastguard life-saving apparatus was waiting on shore in case the crew of the steamer had to be rescued, the life-boat left for her station. As she passed John’s Point she was signalled to return to Killough to bring off a salvage officer. This she did, and it was not until 7 P.M. that she got back to her station.

Three days later, on the 27th September, the coastguard reported that five men, in attempting to land from the Bereby in the ship’s boat, had been wrecked on the rocks between the ship and shore. There they were marooned, waist deep in water. The life-boat was launched at 3.15 P.M. A S.W.

gale was blowing, with heavy seas. The lifeboat found that seven other men had put off in another boat from the steamer, and had rescued the five men, but rescued and rescuers were in a very exposed position.

The life-boat rescued them and landed them at Ardglass, where she also put ashore the ship’s papers, code books and chronometers.

She then returned to her station, arriving at 8.20 P.M. - Rewards : first service, £56 8s. ; second service, £47 4s.

SEPTEMBER 24TH. -LONGHOPE, ORKNEYS. At about five in the evening the coastguard reported that a vessel needed help about a mile N.W. of Duncansby Head, and the motor life-boat Thomas McCunn was launched at 5.30. A S.E. gale was blowing, with a rough sea. The life-boat found the Norwegian motor boat R u n d a . She had escaped from Norway with 24 people on board, had reached Lerwick safely and had landed fourteen of them there. The other ten were bound for Buckie, but their fuel had run short. They were cold and hungry, and the life-boat crew opened their emergency rations for them. The life-boat then took the Runda in tow and brought her into Aith Hope, arriving at seven in the evening. There the Runda was refuelled, and the following day went on her way to Buckie. The life-boat anchored for the night at Aith Hope, but as there was a strong gale from the S.E. right into the bay, the crew stayed on board. In the morning the life-boat returned to Longhope, arriving at 8 A.M. - Rewards, £9 15s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 29TH. - BARRA ISLAND, HEBRIDES. At 5.30 in the afternoon information was received at the life-boat station that five men, who had been collecting cattle from the islands to the south of Barra, were then on Pabbay Island and could not get away on account of the heavy weather.

At six in the evening the motor life-boat Lloyd’s was launched. A S.W. wind was blowing and the sea was heavy. The lifeboat had a small boat in tow, and with the help of it took the five men off Pabbay Island and returned to her station, arriving at 9.45 that night. - Rewards, £11 13s.

The following life-boats were launched, but no services were rendered for the reasons given : SEPTEMBER 4TH. - MARGATE, KENT.

Two airmen had been reported down in the sea, but the life-boat was recalled by wireless when it was learned that it was two balloons that had come down and they had been mistaken for parachutes. - Rewards, £5 12s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 5TH. - DONAGHADEE, CO. DOWN. Two boys in a rowing boat had been reported missing in a thick fog, but the boat was found among the rocks, the boys apparently having left her there and gone home. - Rewards, £8 18s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 6TH. - SENNEN COVE, CORNWALL. An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but the life-boat was recalled. - Rewards, £4 16s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 7TH. - WHITEHILLS , BANFFSHIRE. An aeroplane was thought to have come down in the sea, but it had come down on land. - Rewards, £5 4s.

SEPTEMBER 7TH. - RAMSEY, ISLE OF MAN. An unknown vessel had been reported in a sinking condition off Point of Ayre, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £8 3s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 8TH. - CROMER, NORFOLK.

A bombing aeroplane had been reported gliding into the sea, but nothing was found.

- Rewards, £8 16s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 10TH. - NEW BRIGHTON, CHESHIRE. An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £7 3s.

SEPTEMBER 10TH. - ILFRACOMBE, DEVON. An aeroplane had come down in the sea, but her crew had got ashore in their rubber dinghy. - Rewards, £7 5s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 11TH. - SHERINGHAM, NORFOLK. An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £16 15s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 12TH . - MOELFRE , ANGLESEY. An aeroplane had been reported down, but nothing was found.- Rewards, £5 5s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 13TH. - ST. IVES, CORNWALL.

A British aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but the life-boat was later recalled, as news was received that the aeroplane had landed at her aerodrome.- Rewards, £6 18s.

SEPTEMBER 15TH. - REDCAR, YORKSHIRE.

Flares had been reported, but the steamer which was in distress got help from tugs. - Rewards, £15 6s.

SEPTEMBER 15TH. - FENIT, CO. KERRY.

A large object, thought to be a raft or ship’s boat, was reported, but nothing was found.

- Rewards, £7 16s.

SEPTEMBER 16TH. - WALTON AND FRINTON, ESSEX. An unknown bombing aeroplane had crashed into the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £17 6s.

SEPTEMBER 1 6TH. - CROMARTY. A British aeroplane had come down in the sea, but the life-boat was overtaken by an R.A.F.

speed boat, and returned to her station.- Rewards, £4 7s. 6d.

(See Brora, “ Services by Shore-boats,” page 102.) SEPTEMBER 16TH. - DUNMORE EAST, CO. WATERFORD. An aeroplane was heard to crash into the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £4 7s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 16TH. - CLACTON - ON - SEA, ESSEX. A German aeroplane had crashed into the sea, but nothing was found.- Rewards, £8 10s.

SEPTEMBER 1 9TH. - PORTPATRICK, WIGTOWNSHIRE. A British aeroplane was reported to have come down in the sea, but the life-boat was recalled as the aeroplane was safe. - Rewards, £7 10s.

SEPTEMBER 20TH. - ALDEBURGH, SUFFOLK.

An aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but nothing was found.- Rewards, £19 17s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 20TH. - HOLYHEAD, ANGLESEY, AND PORTHDINLLAEN, CAERNARVONSHIRE. An R.A.F. Anson trainer aeroplane had come down in the sea, but nothing was found. - Rewards : Holyhead, £5 ; Porthdinllaen, £13 6s.

(See Bardsey Island, “ Services by Shoreboats,” page 101.)

SEPTEMBER 20TH. - FENIT, CO. KERRY.

Lights, similar to flares, had been seen, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £4 10s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 22ND. - HELVICK HEAD, CO. WATERFORD. A ship’s boat had been reported adrift, but it could not be found, and it was learned from boatmen, who had seen the drifting boat some hours earlier, that there was no one on board. - Rewards, £5 18s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 25TH . - LONGHOPE, ORKNEYS. Vessels had been reported in collision and flares had been seen, but nothing was found. - Rewards, £10 18s.

SEPTEMBER 27TH. - HASTINGS, SUSSEX.

An airman had been reported dropped in the sea with his parachute, but the call was cancelled before the life-boat had been launched. Then a second message reported an aeroplane believed to be down in the sea off Bexhill, but nothing could be found.- Rewards, £11 4s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 27TH. - GOURDON, KINCARDINSHIRE.

A steamer had stranded, but her crew were rescued from the shore by the coastguard life-saving apparatus from Johnshaven. - Rewards, £25 15s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 29TH. - NEWQUAY, AND ST. IVES, CORNWALL. A British aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but the life-boats were recalled at the request of the naval officer at Penzance. - Rewards : Newquay, £18 ; St. Ives, £25 1S. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 2 9TH. - PORTPATRICK, WIGTOWNSHIRE A British aeroplane had been reported down in the sea, but the life-boat was recalled before reaching position given. - Rewards, £4 10s. 6d.

SEPTEMBER 30TH. - NEWCASTLE, CO. DOWN. A motor yacht had broken down in Dundrum Bay and had burnt flares, but she had been driven ashore before the lifeboat could reach her and her crew were able to land. The yacht was subsequently salved.

- Rewards, £27 1s. 6d.