OCTOBER 18TH. - APPLEDORE, DEVON. A south-westerly gale was blowing up the Bristol Channel, with the heaviest seas that had been seen for several years, when at 3.45 in the afternoon the naval officer-in-charge reported that phoenix 194 - one of the concrete caissons used for building the breakwater of the invasion port on the coast of Normandy - was in distress.

The phoenix had a crew of seven and had broken adrift from her tugs when about ten miles north-west of Morte Point. At 3.55 the motor life-boat Violet Armstrong was launched. Conditions on the Appledore bar were extremely bad, and the life-boat took several green seas aboard, but she got safely across and set out to find the phoenix, eighteen miles away. After the life-boat had travelled over twelve of them a wireless message came giving the position as ten miles east of where it had first been reported. The life-boat altered course and travelled another eleven miles, but when she was within two miles of the second position a second wireless message came. The phoenix had now moved yet another seven miles to the south-east. Again the life-boat altered course. The tide had turned.

It was now running against the gale and the seas were much worse.

Shortly after eight at night the lifeboat at last found the phoenix, five miles south-south-west of the Scarweather Lightvessel, more than four hours after she had left Appledore.

She saw the phoenix in the beam of a searchlight from S.S Trentonian, which was standing by.

The life-boat was directed to the weather side, but here she found it impossible to approach. Although the phoenix was rolling heavily and two broken towing wires were trailing from her to leeward, the life-boat went under her lee and in ten minutes rescued the seven men. She set out on her return about nine o’clock that night and shaped course against the gale for Ilfracombe. There she landed the men at eleven o’clock, and returned to her station on the following day.

The Army Council expressed its appreciation of the splendid work done. It was a fine service, marked by the excellent navigation of the coxswain while searching for the phoenix, and his skilful handling of his boat in the actual rescue in a whole gale and very heavy seas, and by the skill with which the mechanic handled his engines and the radio telephone. The Institution made the following awards : TO COXSWAIN SYDNEY CANN, the bronze medal for gallantry, with a copy of the vote inscribed on vellum ; To JOHN HOOPER, the motormechanic and radio operator, the thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum and a special reward of £3.

Standard rewards to crew and helpers, £36 0s. 3d. ; special reward to mechanic, £3 ; total rewards, £39 0s.

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