|
|
The ‘De La Pole’ 1916
“At a meeting of the committee of management of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for the preservation of life from shipwreck, held at their offices in London on the 11th day of February 1916, the following minute was ordered to be recorded in the books of the society :~
‘That the Silver medal of the R.N.L.I. be presented to William Adams, Coxswain of the North Deal Lifeboat, in recognition of his gallant conduct and skilful seamanship, when the Lifeboat under his command saved eleven of the crew of the Admiralty Steam Trawler ‘De La Pole’, which was totally wrecked on the Goodwin Sands in a whole S.S.W. gale and very heavy sea on the 4th February 1916’”
The crew of the Lifeboat ‘Charles Dibden’ referred to on this occasion were:~ William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh (2nd Coxswain), Frank Adams, Thomas Cribben, William Hoile (junior), Henry Grigg, Richard Williams, Joshua Mockett, Earnest Dean, Robert Betts, Robert Holbourn, William Wells, Walter Redsull, John Webb and Earnest May.
It was at 5.30 on a cold winters morning when Will Adams observed the distress flares sent up by the ‘East Goodwin’ Lightship, the tide was low and the Lifeboat had to be physically dragged across a considerable stretch of level beach, the ‘Charles Dibden’ weighed 10 tons and 6 cwt. when empty, and then their was the matter of waiting for the tide to turn in their favour. Once afloat the craft had to navigate around the wreck of the ‘Africa’ directly in the way. It was about 7 O’clock before they were clear, and with this ordeal behind them they made for the East Goodwins to find the Admiralty trawler stranded, the sea breaking all over her. Her bows being the only visible evidence of her above the water with eight men clinging to the fore~rigging and another three holding fast to the top gallant forecastle. The Captain was isolated and stranded alone on his bridge up to his waist in the water surrounding him. Time was of the essence, and the Lifeboat immediately dropped anchor, albeit well to windward against a tremendous swell and veered down upon the wreck. The distressed Naval mariners lost one of their crew to the waves as the Lifeboat drew near, washed out of the fore~rigging. The huge seas thoroughly swept him away and in spite of great efforts made to retrieve him nothing could prevail the sea to give the Sailor up and he was swallowed in the storm.
The sea continued to break over the vessel with a terrific force but the Deal boatmen got their craft close enough to throw the heaving~line and grapnel aboard, it held fast to the ships rails and they were able to get the first of the crew from the forecastle and only then those off the rigging. By now the Captain was clinging desperately to the bridge rails the sea doing its best to submerge him, aware that the Lifeboat could not get to him nor he to any line he bravely jumped overboard from where he stood and luckily the tide brought him to within about ten yards of the Lifeboat. The cane~line was thrown out but missed on the first attempt at his rescue, but on another attempt it reached him and with all his remaining strength he seized hold of it and was hauled to safety.
The Captain was collapsed upon the deck as though dead and was plainly exhausted from the trauma, four of his men were also terribly exhausted, being almost in a state of collapse. All the party needed immediate attention and the boatmen offered what meagre remedies they had with them being but rum and some biscuits. It was imperative to get the men ashore without delay and as it was impossible to pull up the anchor in such harsh and immediate circumstances so it was sacrificed with its 40 fathoms of cable. They had rowed some six to seven miles out from Deal to reach the ‘De La Pole’ now all they had to do was get back to land against a heavy S’South~Westerly gale, with a lee tide.
The most urgent danger was to navigate clear of the Sands that had claimed the Admiralty steamer, and to do this they had to sail across the highly dangerous Fork Spit of the Goodwins, and as they could not get to windward of it, Adams decided to make for Broadstairs, a point they could reach in the shortest time and where they arrived at 11.A.M. The eleven fortunate mariners were tended to, and all eventually recovered from the terror of the ordeal.
For the meritorious service of the Lifeboat crew each man received a special gratuity from the Institution, in addition to the regular launching fee, and at a ceremony at Deal Town Hall the Coxswain, Will Adams, received his commendatory silver medal. This was on the 5th April 1916 and also happened to be the occasion of his 66th birthday! Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson, KCB, Chairman of the Downs branch of the R.N.L.I. presided and paid a very high tribute to the bravery and humanity of the Coxswain and his crew.
In his retirement, William Adams was to remark in his memoirs concerning this rescue, that ‘The De La Pole’: “was one of the most terrible experiences in my recollection. My crew behaved splendidly. One hand got up onto the fore air~box and hanging on to the fore~stay, in danger of being washed overboard every minute, caught hold of the De La Pole men one by one and pulled them by sheer force into the boat as she was put into a position for him to reach them. Other men did wonders, but it is impossible to remember details.”
The ‘Bess Mitchell’ 1916.
It was on the 23rd of February 1916 that a strong gale was blowing from E’N’East with a very heavy sea, it was also snowing hard and consequently bitter cold. The Schooner ‘Bess Mitchell’ of Goole was attempting to ride out the winds at anchor in the Small Downs
Such trivial detail was not going to be allowed to stall the men of Deal from their mission, and on reaching the Schooner four of the Lifeboatmen managed to get on board, to be told by the Captain that he wished to abandon ship, for fear that she would be driven ashore. The Coxswain, however did not take quite such a despondent opinion of the situation, so three more of his crew boarded the vessel, giving the Schooner more chains and setting down from her, another anchor with a stout wire hawser bent to it. It was all the same not prudent for them to remain on board longer than was required to secure the boat, they continued by trimming and hoisting the riding light before removing the Captain, his wife and the crew of four aboard onto the Lifeboat, casting off back to shore where they were all safely landed at 4.30 P.M.
Following this fine accomplishment the next day, the gale having moderated somewhat the Lifeboat again launched to put the Captain his wife and crew back again aboard the Schooner, and with four of the boatmen to assist, they processed to recover the anchors and set sail for Ramsgate Harbour. The Schooner being in a damaged state and not fit to resume her voyage without first gaining the attention of a local Shipwright for some repairs. The following boatmen formed the crew of the Charles Dibden on this occasion :~
William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh (2nd Cox’n.), William Hoile junior, Thomas Adams junior, Thomas Cribben, Henry Marsh, Richard Williams, Richard Riley, Henry May, Frederick Mockett, Thomas Adams, Ernest May, Frank Budd, William Foster and Robert Holbourn.
The ‘Mary Watkinson’ 1916
At about 1 P.M. during a whole gale of terrific force on the 5th of November 1916, with a very heavy sea and in conditions of intense coldness a three masted Schooner was observed having difficulty in riding at anchor on the edge of the South Break Sand. Although she was not quite aground such was the violence of the gale that she was riding ‘bows under’ and at any moment with a little dragging of her anchor their was the gravest of danger that she would beach on the Sands where, under such fierce conditions it was a real possibility that she would have broken up. The Schooner’s crew were well aware of their plighted, and made in succession, two signals of distress; being ‘send Lifeboat to save crew’ followed by ‘send assistance immediately’. A crew to man the Lifeboat was readily assembled despite the difficulties presented in the launching, always great in such conditions, but on this occasion was further hampered by the presence of the wrecked steamship ‘Africa’, one of several vessels beached during the War, and positioned right in their way. The state of the tide and the fearful sea rolling in onto the beach almost caused the Lifeboat to collide with the beached wreck before it had launched. Once away and clear of the dangerous wreck they made sail for the Schooner which was identified as the ‘Mary Watkinson’ of Barrow, with a crew of five.
Once within veering range they dropped anchor and positioned the ‘Charles Dibden’ as close as the weather permitted alongside, but the difficulties they experienced in taking off the Schooners crew were very real and dangerous. The Lifeboat being filled with water over and again with several tremendous waves crashing directly upon them. Undaunted and with great skill and patience the rescue was accomplished, the five men and the ships dog being safely brought on board. This was another of those many occasions where it proved impossible to retrieve their anchor or to do any thing to secure the floundering vessel, and so they slipped the anchor and attempted the homeward journey. Again owing to the great violence of the gale and with the boat being some miles to leeward they could not make a direct line for Deal and were forced to make for nearby Ramsgate Harbour, where they safely arrived at 3.30.P.M.
Still drenched, the Cox’n. and his crew caught the train back to Deal to return for the Lifeboat the following morning, when they were luckily able to get a tow from a steam drifter and arrived at Deal by about 11.30.A.M. Described as if by a miracle, the Schooner’s anchor held and she did not actually ground on the Break Sand. The weather having moderated her crew were put aboard again on the 6th November, when the Lifeboats slipped anchor and cable were also retrieved.
The ‘Charles Dibden”s crew was formed as follows :~
William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh, (2nd Cox’n.), William Hoile junior, William Foster, Thomas Cribben, Thomas Adams junior, Thomas Brown, George Brown, Henry Hook, Walter Redsull, Frank Budd, William Nicholas, Philip Betts and Robert Holbourn.
The S.S. ‘Sibiria’ 1916
Jeff Morris, Lifeboat historian, and archivist of the ‘Lifeboats Enthusiasts Association’, in his book ‘The story of the Ramsgate Lifeboats’ make reference to an event coinciding with the death of Charles Fish. The year was 1916, it was mid November and a fierce storm had been blowing in the Channel throughout the previous day. The mood of the local boatmen had been somewhat depleted with the recent death of Charles Fish, a much respected veteran of the Lifeboat service in Thanet. Nevertheless a Schooner ‘Girl of the Period’ was reported to be aground in Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate. The ‘Charles and Susannah Stephens’ set off mid~afternoon, into very heavy seas and successfully got along side to accomplish the rescue of the crew of seven there stranded. The storm continued unabated into the next day, Sunday and come the evening a full blown hurricane was raging, with mountainous seas cascading into torrents of foaming white surf on the Goodwin Sands.
Come Eight P.M. distress signals were observed and every attempt was made to launch the Kingsdown Lifeboat, yet the tremendous waves of the storm laden sea crashing onto the exposed shingled beach, threw her back each and every time. ~ After two hours the Deal Lifeboat was launched, in to ‘exceptionally heavy seas’ that were so immense that the Lifeboat, once it had reached the scene of the wreck was regularly raised to a great height above the vessel, and then in turn fell into a deep trough beside it.
A rescue necessitating great skill and caution throughout requiring each of the shipwrecked to be taken of one at a time was concluded without incident. Each and every man on board was saved and thus the crew of thirty from the SS “Val Salice” were safely landed at Deal at 4 A.M. The Italian Government, later specially honoured this courageous deed of service to its nationals by presenting Coxswain Adams and all his crew medals and diplomas to commemorate the action, the ceremony taking place at Deal Town Hall on the 9th August 1924.
The storm had continued throughout the night, so that the situation was not improved at daybreak, when at about seven A.M., further distress signals were spotted. Consequently the North Deal Reserve Lifeboat ‘The Francis Forbes Barton’ was launched into conditions of worsening weather. Fortunately their was a tug available to tow the Lifeboat close to the spot, whereafter Coxswain William Stanton, a Deal Pilot, repeatedly attempted to get alongside the large wrecked steamer SS ‘Sibiria’ from New York. ~ The violence of the sea prevented him from getting even close to the casualty, that was ashore on the South West Goodwins. On the forth attempt the Lifeboat all but capsized, following this a tremendous wave hit the Lifeboat from above, throwing her completely over onto her beam ends, with the mast and sails completely submerged. Being of the self righting design the little craft re emerged from the ordeal momentarily, but with the loss of the missen mast, which had been torn asunder and a thwart also carried away, and several of her crew being injured Coxswain Stanton had no option but to return to Deal, the rescue being better attempted in a Lifeboat intact their being 52 persons shipwrecked to contend with.
So ferocious was the sea at the moment of the occasion that the men were later to describe the situation as so confusing that they did not know whether they were in the boat or overboard! At Ten O’clock following this ordeal, with no thought of surrender the ‘Charles and Susannah Stephens’ left her moorings at Ramsgate, assisted in tow by the tug boat ‘Aid’ and embarked on a very rough passage of one and a half hours duration to finally reach the Goodwin Sands, whereupon Coxswain Cooper slipped the tow, dropped anchor and began to veer across to the ‘Sibiria’, again the Lifeboat nearly capsizing several times under the treacherous conditions. In an instant and without any warning an enormous wave crashed down upon the Lifeboat, completely ripping out one of her bollards and injuring two of the crew. The next thing to happened, equally suddenly was that the cable snapped forcing Coxswain Cooper also to return to Harbour, by which time it was 4.30 P.M. Undaunted, urgent repairs were carried out by the Shipwrights, and additional men taken aboard, the crew were ready to try again, it was already 7.15.P.M. When they at length reached the ‘Sibiria’ at Nine O’clock,~ they arrived just as the last of the crew were being taken off by the Kingsdown Lifeboat.
The Kingsdown Lifeboat, although much smaller than the others was closer to the wreck and in a better position against the weather. It has been pointed out that the failure of the Deal and Ramsgate Lifeboats to effect this rescue indicates just how ferocious was the storm. It was thus to fall to Coxswain James Pay, and his much diminished crew of 16 supplemented with the assistance of 12 men from Deal (the lesser populated village of Kingsdown, having for some time been associated with the Deal boatmen, especially since many of the regular crew were serving at the Front), got its boat afloat at about 7.PM. Its launch had been accompanied with the greatest of difficulty so that no sooner had the Kingsdown Lifeboat ‘Charles Hargrave’ been launched she was hit by a wall of rolling sea that threw the lifeboat back onto the shore ‘like a piece of cork’, with the crew almost washed out of their craft. With the lifeboat dragged back up the beach and prepared to launch a second time the boatmen were able to get her afloat and were assisted with a tow out to the Goodwin Sands by a Naval vessel, which also stood by awaiting the return journey. ‘To windward of the ‘Sibiria’ the Lifeboat cast off. The tow rope was being swept away, but just at the right moment James Pay ~ veteran of many a night on the Goodwins~ let go his anchor. Then, foot by foot the bowman let out the cable and, foot by foot the ‘Charles Hargrave’ veered down on the stricken ‘Sibiria’.72 The wreck presented a pitiable spectacle, in the blackened sky with the bridge being the only visible part above the all engulfing seas, with all of the 52 passengers huddled upon it exposed to the biting cold winds and the continuous drenching of 14/18 hours, in those relentless waves. At last rescue was at hand and although two of the Lifeboatmen were injured during the precarious attempt all hands were got onto the small craft and ferried to the HMS ‘Charles Hargrave’ which then brought all victoriously to ‘Kingsdown hard by Deal.’
The shipwrecked men on board ‘The Sibiria’ must have viewed the initial failed attempts of the Deal and Ramsgate Lifeboats with an anxiety leading up to dispair. The failure of the two Lifeboats to reach their objective being not only due to the enormous force of the wind, and the tremendous sea running at that time, but also to the extraordinary wayward set of the tides which are known to swirl and eddy in various and uncertain directions thereabouts. That the shipwrecked seamen did not know of the fibre and determination of the gallant men in whose hands, under providence, rested their salvation from a watery grave, was to give cause to be the miracle that they had undoubtedly craved. James Pay succeeded in getting his little boat along side the wreck, and although in constant danger of being smashed to pieces against the jagged metal of the damaged bridge, the exhausted crew were taken aboard the lifeboat. Some were able to jump in themselves whilst others had to be lowered over the side, ‘which at one moment was as much as eighteen feet below the bridge and then the next moment almost above it.’ The last to leave was the Captain, who jumped and was caught by Fred Sutton ‘As Sutton held him one of the Pritchards cut the anchor cable with a small axe.’ The lifeboat was taken swiftly back to the position of the awaiting Naval vessel, and made a perfect landing at the beach.
|
The ‘Alma’ 1917
Their was no doubt in the minds of those who were afloat during the storm of the 28th of August 1917 that it was one of the worst that they ever had to contend with. The gale blowing from the South West frequented upon them fierce squalls of hurricane force thick with rain. The last place you would want to be on such a day was out to sea, nevertheless albeit with great difficulty attendant upon the prevailing conditions the boatmen of Deal wasted no time in getting their Lifeboat afloat in response to a message received from the small Downs Coastgaurd Station, that a Ketch was flying signals of distress and required urgent assistance. The crew were summoned at about eight thirty and were away within half an hour, proceeding toward what proved to be the Ketch ‘Alma’ which was riding out the storm, at anchor directly over the Break Sand in two fathoms of water with enormous seas breaking continuously over her. After some time occupied in manoeuvering and veering at her with its anchor dropped to windward, they secured a rope from the vessel and at great risk and with some difficulty removed the crew of five from the Ketch.
Conditions had been so severe during these manoeuvres, that the Lifeboat had been thrown on her beam ends and filled with water more than once, her crew narrowly avoiding being washed overboard. With the rescue completed, the ‘Charles Dibden’ ‘sheered off’ and attempted to retrieve its anchor, but this proved to be impossible and the cable had to be slipped for the safety of the boat and to enable them to get clear of the overwhelming seas that were chasing one another in rapid succession across the shallow water, on the Sands.
Adding to the immediacy of the situation was the fact that the tide was falling, and by then not much more than a fathom remained beneath them. A long beat to windward would get them home, but during one of the many fierce squalls they encountered, the Lifeboats jib was blown clean away with other damage being done to her gear. The Ketch, by now had lost both anchors and cables and was blown right across the Break Sand and away to sea as a derelict, along with her cargo of coal. The ‘Charles Dibden’ reached her station with the party of five at 2 P.M. Her crew on that occasion was :~
William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh (2nd Cox’n.), Frank Budd, Thomas Cribben, Henry Hook, Robert Holbourn, Walter Redsull, Richard Riley, William Hoile junior, William Foster, John Webb, Alfred Jordan, Thomas Adams, William Betts and Joshua Mockett.
The German Submarine ~‘U48’
It was undoubtedly with mixed feelings that the call was answered on the 24th of November 1917 to go out to a German Submarine that had appeared to have run aground on the North Goodwins. This was at a time when the enemy submarine campaign against merchant shipping was unrestricted by consideration to civilian losses, with all its barbarous horrors toward women, children and non ~combatants in general, and even legitimised the targeting of Hospital Ships, the perpetrators thus placing themselves outside the pale of Humanity and the civilized world. Naturally that sentiment was nowhere more intense than amongst the chivalrous boatmen called upon to the task, and it was, therefore with some relief that it became known that the ‘Charles Dibden’ with a crew had only been commandeered by the Admiralty to take the Dover Harbour Master and a party of Naval Officers to board the wreck of a German Submarine which had drifted onto the North Sand Head.
Nevertheless, it was still rather dirty weather, blowing a fresh westerly gale and the sea was rough, especially on the Sands. The Dover Harbour tug ‘Lady Crundall’ took the Lifeboat in tow until they got near the Sands, whereupon the tow~rope was slipped and the ‘Charles Dibden’ approached her target under easy sail, letting go her anchor and following the usual procedure in getting alongside for boarding. The Naval Officers went on board the U~boat and made an examination of her but the worsening weather conditions hindered the possibility of a long stay. The sea was rapidly ‘making’, and a submarine with its variously dangerous projections is a very difficult vessel to lie alongside of, especially when aground in shallow waters. After confirming that the German crew had been lost and with the discovery of some papers the Officers returned to the Lifeboat, which promptly departed and returned to the awaiting tug, to be towed back to Deal. The short investigation had ascertained that the wreck was the Submarine U 48 and that both of her ends had been blown away, probably attempting to navigate through one of the many mine fields in the waters thereabouts.
The crew of the Charles Dibden on this odd occasion was :~
William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh (2nd Cox’n.), Ernest Dean, Thomas Adams, Henry Meakins, Charles Pritchard, Frederick Mockett, William Foster, Thomas Cribben, Richard Betts, Walter Redsull, Frank Adams, Robert Holbourn, William Hoile, and Frank Budd. Two over the normal compliment were taken owing to the special circumstance of the request.
The ‘Western Belle’
‘Scud’, The ‘Ethel Ada’, ‘Cambria’, and ‘Corsair’ :
1917
Each and every time a Lifeboat is called out to the distress of another ship the circumstance is different, perhaps some of these descriptions can hardly do justice to the very fact of the efforts of those crews in their endeavors, as the reading of some stories by no means fully reveals the great peril the boatmen would put themselves to, in each and every occasion they set of on a mission. Less dramatic may have been the rescues made to smaller vessels, but the value of the lives saved is as great and the risks taken equally extensive.
Now a rare sight, Sailing barges once proliferated along our rivers and coastal waters and were in no less danger from the perils of the sea than any other ship. Described as the ‘toilers of the sea’ they were very often undermanned with a crew of but three of four during the winter months, for and at which time their design and handling was not ideally suited. Such an event unfolded on the 17th December 1917 with a strong easterly bitter cold gale and a very heavy sea accompanied by frequent blinding snow squalls, a number of distress signals were spotted through the poor visibility created under prevailing conditions. In response to these signals from the Downs the ‘Charles Dibden’ was duly launched at about 5.30 A.M. head on into the gale, which had become more difficult that normal due to the haul~off warp breaking under great strain at a critical moment. With this unfortunate difficulty resolutely mastered the Lifeboat was towed to windward so as to give her the benefit of the weather~gage of the vessels that had signaled their distress. The ‘Charles Dibden’ let down her anchor so as to be able, as was the time honoured practice, to veer down to the barge, ‘Scud’ from which they took off three hands, being the full company therein. This accomplished they raised the Lifeboats anchor and shifted her berth as was necessary, to let it go again so as to veer down upon the barge ‘Ethel Ada’ taking of her crew, also of three. No sooner than the boatmen had raised anchor a second time than distress signals were seen from a further three barges, subsequently discovered to be named the ‘Corsair’, ‘Cambria’ and the ‘Western Belle’ upon which the ‘Charles Dibden’ again shifted her birth. Three times in succession, going along side each of them in turn and taking off the crews, which in each case consisted of three hands. The sea was very heavy and rolling over the low lying barges in great volume and this five fold service occupied ten hours in all with the Lifeboat and its fifteen thankful passengers arriving back at Deal at about 3.30.P.M. On this occasion the Lifeboat was manned as follows :~
William Adams (Cox’n.), William Marsh (2nd Cox’n.), William Hoile junior, Frank Budd, Thomas Cribben, Richard Riley, Walter Redsull, Thomas Adams, James Bingham, Joshua Mockett, Alfred Jordan, William Betts, Robert Holbourn, Henry May and Mathew Hoile.
The ‘Navator’ 1918
This was not the only case of it kind, and on the 2nd of March in 1918 both of the Deal Lifeboats went out in service together against an easterly gale, fully exposed toward the beach and again with a very heavy sea and blinding squalls of snow. The barge ‘Navator’ was badly hindered by the weather and flying signals of distress. The ‘Charles Dibden’ was launched at 9.30 A.M., just after low water creating some difficulties in getting afloat. Before the crew had managed to get fully underway they were struck by a exceptional squall that carried away with it the mizzen and mizzen mast, all lost overboard, thus unexpectedly hindered it became necessary to let go the anchor. In a short time they were underway again, assisted by a tug, that seeing the boatmen’s plight, took them under tow windward of the imperiled barge. Having dropped anchor again and veered down to the barge only two men were aboard, one of whom took it upon himself to then jump overboard toward the Lifeboat, but his judgement failing him, he missed his target and fell between boat and barge, thus putting himself in even greater peril. He was pulled on board the Lifeboat by her crew soon enough though, and then they got the other bargeman safely on the Lifeboat and recovered the anchor, arriving back on shore assisted by a fair wind at noon. As soon as they had reached the beach they saw the barge go under, showing clearly the value to be placed on every last second under such conditions! The crew of the Lifeboat on this rescue was :~
William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh (2nd Cox’n.), William Hoile junior, Frederick Mockett, Henry Marsh, Thomas Cribben, William Cribben, Walter Redsull, Robert Holbourn, Alfred Jordan, Stephen Roberts, Robert Betts, Richard Lill and Earnest Dean.
During these events several other signals of distress from different positions were seen, and the reserve Lifeboat ‘Francis Barton’ was launched, only to find five barges in trouble. From which they rescued the three crewmen off the ‘Countess’ which sank shortly afterwards; three from the ‘Diamond’, which likewise sank; four from the ‘Britannic; three from the ‘Britisher’; and another crew of three from the ‘Western Belle’ during a period of six hours. The last named being one of the five barges from which the ‘Charles Dibden’ rescued the crews only December the previous year.
The ‘Inflexible’ 1918.
As has been mentioned the ‘Charles Dibden’ Lifeboat weighed over 10 tons empty, and on occasion although very well practiced at the procedure its boatmen would on occasion encounter difficulties in getting her afloat. Such was the situation on the 5th of November 1918 when against a very strong S’S’W’ gale, sending an equally heavy sea onto the beach, a call was received at 12.40.A.M., about four hours after high water. With all the usual precautions in place and with a good run down the beach building up to what looked to be a successful launch, as soon as the boat hit the water an enormous sea rolled in with such a rapid succession, its waves stopped all further progress dead, nearly washing the crew overboard and knocking the heavy boat broadside onto the beach. The setback was found to be a result of the failure of the haul~off warp, which generally held the Lifeboat secure against the rolling sea.
Undaunted, the boatmen hauled their heavy pride back up the sloping gravel beach to make a second attempt, after some time this accomplished a fresh launch was successfully realised and all speed to the vessel in distress was made, she was found to be the ‘Inflexible’ of Harwich.
The Lifeboat was immediately put into action in getting her clear of a steamer with which she was in some trouble, and thus avoiding an imminent collision. Four of the Lifeboatmen, their names unrecorded in the original account, boarded the barge to assist in extricating her from her dangerous situation, and to get her prepared for an escort to Ramsgate Harbour. This having been undertaken, on return to Deal the water was found to be too low for the task of beaching the Lifeboat, and so she had to cruise about for some length of time until the tide would permit them to the beach, which was not until 9 A.M. The ‘Charles Dibden’ was manned on this occasion by :~
William Adams (Coxswain), William Marsh (2nd Cox’n.), William Foster, Robert Holbourn, Thomas Adams, Thomas Cribben, Walter Redsull, Richard Riley, Samuel Trice, Henry May, Mathew Hoile, William Riley, Joshua Mockett and Henry Hook.
72 : Arnold. T. : ‘Kingsdown Lifeboat Station’. (Kingsdown and Ringswould. Ed. D Harding, 1999).
73 : Note; Richard ‘Foss’ Roberts, and Edward Hanger were for many years Coxswain and 2nd Cox’n. of the North Deal Lifeboat ‘Mary Somerville’, as was Robert Holbourn in 1917. William Adams became Cox’n. about 1907 when the ‘Charles Dibden’ replaced the ‘Mary Somerville’
