FEBRUARY 26TH - 27TH. - CAISTER, AND GREAT YARMOUTH AND GORLESTON, NORFOLK. About 2.45 in the morning the coastguard telephoned to Caister that the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston life-boat had just launched to a vessel on the east side of Scroby Sands, and that there was another vessel aground on the west side. The Caister motor life-boat Jose' Neville was launched at 3.20 in an east-north-east wind, with a choppy sea. She found the Gorleston lifeboat standing by the Empire Clara, which was aground on the west side of the Sands.

She then went to search for the other vessel on the east side, but the vessel was not showing any lights and it was not until 7.15 that the life-boat found her in a very difficult position on the east side of the sand, one mile east of Scroby Elbow Buoy. She was the Dutch motor vessel Caribia, of Delfzyl, with nine people on board, including the skipper’s wife and her two babies. They were only seven and nineteen months old. Although herself bumping heavily on the sands the lifeboat succeeded in reaching the Caribia, bow on, and rescued the skipper’s wife, the two children and the crew of five. The skipper declined to leave, and the life-boat took the rescued people to Great Yarmouth.

She then returned to the Caribia to find her high and dry, and made for her station again, arriving at 11.45 that morning.

At 12.26 in the afternoon of the next day, the 27th, the coastguard  telephoned to Gorleston that a doctor was needed by the Caribia, and the life-boat put out at 1.12 with a doctor. She found that some of the Caribia’s crew had already returned to her and that the skipper had broken his collar bone in his efforts to refloat his ship. His men took him in a small boat to the life-boat where he was examined by the doctor, and the life-boat brought him to Yarmouth, arriving at 2.20. - Rewards : Caister, £36 7s. ; Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, £6 11s.