FEBRUARY 13TH. - WHITBY, YORKSHIRE.

At 3.5 in the afternoon the coastguard telephoned that German aeroplanes had dropped bombs and later that a vessel was reported to be firing red flares. At 3.50 the No. 1 motor life-boat Mary Ann Hepworth was launched. A light north-east wind was blowing, with a moderate sea. The lifeboat found that the vessel which had been firing the red flares was the S.S. Westcliffe Hall, of Montreal. Her steering gear had been put out of order, and she had a large hole in her side and an unexploded bomb on board. What she wanted was a tow, so the life-boat fetched a patrol ship. A destroyer also came up. The life-boat got a hawser fixed between the steamer and the patrol ship and then returned to her station, arriving at 6.45 in the evening. The patrol ship later towed the Westcliffe Hall into Hartlepool. - Rewards, £10 11s. 3d.