DECEMBER 10TH. - SOUTHEND - ON - SEA, ESSEX. At 6.10 in the evening the naval control informed the life-boat coxswain that H.M.S. tug Leigh was sending out an SOS signal. The night was very dark and cold, with a south-east gale blowing and a rough sea. At 6.30 the motor life-boat J. B. Proudfoot, on temporary duty at the station, was launched and ten minutes later found the tug on a sand bank. She was one hundred and fifty yards east of the pier and was driving towards it. The tug had only a few fathoms of chain and her anchor and windlass were practically useless. Her crew of six and three boarding officers were ready to leave, but two life-boatmen were put on board her in the hope of preventing her from smashing into the pier and of getting her to a safe anchorage. The life-boat ran out an anchor for her. This held the tug and so saved both the tug and the pier from damage.

The life-boat returned to the Leigh and, after some time, succeeded in taking off the three boarding officers, but the tug’s crew decided to stay on board. The life-boat landed the officers and returned to the tug to find the anchor still holding. It continued to hold until the tug was able to move under her own power. The life-boat then moored her to the pier and reached her station again at 9.30 that night. - Property salvage case..