Emile Robin award made to Captain WH Smith and Chief Officer GA Kirk of the ss Toronto of Hull for rescuing the crew of the British schooner General Knox of St John’s, Newfoundland, sinking in the North Atlantic on 17 October 1919 in dangerous seas. Silver Medals were also awarded to 17 of the crew.
Emile Robin award made to Captain William Smith Chief Officer Jacques Billowes of the Dover Harbour tug The Deft for courageous determination for the rescue of one man from the Sumnia wrecked on the outer breakwater in winds of over 100 kts on 16th October 1987.
During the strong gales which lashed Southern England on 16th October 1987, the Bahamian registered Sumnia, with a crew of 6, got into difficulties when attempting to enter Dover harbour. The Deft, a small Dover harbour tug, went to her aid, but because of hurricane force winds of over 100 kts it proved impossible to get a line to the Sumnia, nor was Deft able to maintain her position. However, she succeeded in re-entering the harbour by the eastern entrance and then returned to the western entrance, which the Sumnia was endeavouring to negotiate once more. Deft again tried to get a line to the Sumnia, but the exceptionally heavy seas breaking over the deck prevented the crew from securing the line. The Sumnia was driven on to the outer breakwater and wrecked, with 3 crew members being rescued by the Dover lifeboat and a fourth being picked up by the Deft. Sadly, the Sumnia’s Master and Mate were both drowned. In taking the Deft, a tug chiefly intended for harbour work, outside the harbour on a night of such atrocious weather conditions,
Captain Smith, his Chief Officer Jacques Billowes and the crew displayed ship-handling of the highestorder and their courageous determination and perseverance resulted in a life being saved.
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Emile Robin award made to Skipper AG Gook and Mate EA Gook of the mt Trinidad for the rescue of 25 of the crew of the Danish ss Th Adler Svanholm 70 miles east of the Humber in heavy seas on 16th October 1958.
The Th Adler Svanholm was on passage from Oulu to Immingham when she sprang leaks in Nos 1 & 2 holds and sent a distress call at 1750 on 16th October 1958 from a position about 70 miles East from North of the Humber. The Trinidad proceeded to her assistance, arriving at 1900, and was requested to stand by until a salvage tug arrived. By 2300 conditions on board the Danish vessel had deteriorated so much that it was decided to take off the crew. In heavy seas and a WNW gale, Skipper Gook handled his ship superbly during this night rescue which took over two hours. A line having been passed, the Danish vessel launched her boat and 11 men were hauled across to the Trinidad. The boat was floated back and a further 14 men taken off. Every credit must be given to Skipper Gook for his seamanship, which ensured the success of the operation. The Master of the Danish vessel was lost with his ship the next day.
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The EDWARD AND MAISIE LEWIS award presented to Captain David Kinnell and crew of a Bond shuttle helicopter for the rescue of 6 survivors from the Fishing Vessel Whyalla in storm force with 60ft waves, 10m in the North Sea on 16 November 1984.
On Friday 16 November, in storm force 10 conditions, the lnverness registered fishing vessel Whyalla was taking water and in danger of sinking 10 miles north east of the Bp Forties field. The Bp Forties in-field shuttle helicopter, operated by Bond Helicopters, crewed by Captain David Kinnell, Captain Allan Dent, Winch Operator Alex Knight and Winchman John Kelly, the latter a Bp Heliclerk volunteer on his first live mission; was alerted in readiness for SAR. Five minutes after the initial call, Whyalla foundered in tempestuous seas, leaving the 6-man crew adrift in a liferaft. All radio contact was then lost. The duty helicopter co-ordinator, David Keys, immediately contacted RAF Nimrod Watchdog 2, on routine patrol. Rescue vessels and all ships in the area were alerted and the shuttle helicopter was scrambled for an SAR mission.
Co-ordination was hampered because the sinking vessel had given a confusing Decca/geographical position, but a tripartite educated guess by Forties Alpha, the shuttle helicopter and Smit Lloyd L20, who had intercepted the mayday call, established a rescue datum on which all groups converged. Fifteen minutes later, the Nimrod aircraft and Smit Lloyd 120 sighted a red flare and the Nimrod assumed the role of ‘On Scene Commander’. Shortly after this, the shuttle helicopter spotted a life raft – the Winchman was lowered, but the raft was empty. Some 4 minutes later, a second life raft was sighted and the Winchman made 5 descents to rescue survivors.
As the fifth man was being pulled clear, the life raft overturned, trapping the sixth man underneath. The Winchman was thrown clear and as he was drifting away he had to inflate his life jacket to stay afloat. The Winchman was recovered while the sixth man righted the liferaft. As the hi-line weak link had broken, a second hi-line was rigged to recover the sixth survivor. The weather conditions were appalling, with seas averaging 10 metres. The helicopter reported maximum wave heights of 18 metres (60ft) every third or so wave. The Pilot of this commercial aircraft actually had to lift over the wave crests and descend again into the troughs, as he had only a limited length of winch wire paid out.
The professionalism and remarkable flying of the Pilot and his crew ensured a very well coordinated and successful rescue in hazardous conditions. Moreover, the exceptional courage and determination displayed by Winchman John Kelly under these dangerous conditions are especially worthy of recognition, particularly so, as this was his first operational mission.
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The EDWARD & MAISIE LEWIS award presented to the four crew of the ‘Rescue Bond 1’ of Bond Offshore Helicopters for the rescue of eleven crew members of the safety vessel Vos Sailor on 15th December 2012.
At 0455 on Saturday 15th December 2012 ‘Rescue Bond 1’ – RB 1 – a Super Puma, operated by Bond Offshore Helicopters was tasked to go to the assistance of the 43 metre long 516 ton standby rig safety vessel Vos Sailor with a crew of 12 onboard. The ship had been struck and damaged by a particularly large wave in heavy seas approximately 122 nautical miles east-north-east of Aberdeen and 2 nautical miles north of the Balmoral oil platform. The ship had lost all power and one fatality was reported with the bridge superstructure having been badly deformed. All communications had been lost apart from a handheld radio. Coastguard Rescue 102, a helicopter based at Sumburgh, had also been tasked to attend the incident.
The four crew were; Captain Graham Stein, Aircraft Commander; First Officer Nick Smalley, Co-Pilot; Senior Aircrewman Paul Walters, Winch Operator and Aircrewman Andy Cowx, Winchman.
RB 1 arrived on scene at 0640, two hours before sunrise with sufficient fuel for 2 hours 20 minutes flying. Vos Sailor was lying across the sea, dead in the water and without electrical power. The Balmoral platform reported the wind as easterly at 58 kts, gusting 73 kts, with 8-10 metre seas which were causing the vessel to move erratically, with its heading varying between NE and SE.
After some difficulty, the winch operator established contact with the 11 survivors (one of whom was reported as having a head injury) and all of whom had gathered for shelter in a stairwell on the port side close to the winching area on the after deck.
With the movement of the vessel in the heavy seas and the darkness, a hi-line was lowered to the winching area but the survivors appeared unfamiliar with the technique so the winchman was deployed directly to the heavily and erratically moving stern by standard transfer.
It was still dark with no visible horizon, yet despite considerable heave the winchman was successfully lowered to the vessel but landed heavily on the deck as it pitched and sustained significant damage to his foot. Undeterred by his injury, Andy Cowx took charge of the shocked and frightened survivors and co-ordinated their rescue. The only available position from which to evacuate the survivors was a very exposed location high up and near the stern, and thus particularly susceptible to the movement caused by the high sea state. The ship’s motion was such that the only way Andy could keep himself in place while assisting the survivors was to secure himself between some oil drums by wedging one leg through the strapping which attached them to the ship. Andy Cowx was a relatively inexperienced winchman and throughout the ensuring casualty transfers he was assisted by Paul Walters using the radio connection available to the crew. Maintaining their team effort in this way, the pair brought 8 survivors to the aircraft while Graham endeavoured to provide a stable winching platform in challenging conditions. As the sky slowly brightened, Graham kept the remainder of the crew aware of the remaining time available on scene while Nick Smalley, co-pilot, was able to provide advance warning of particularly heavy waves to the rest of the crew as they concentrated on the situation below them. The Coast Guard Helicopter, Rescue 102, helped by orbiting the scene and using its search and flood lights to illuminate the vessel.
While preparing for recovery of the ninth survivor, and during the passage of a particularly large wave, the winch cable became fouled and as the vessel dropped away, the wire parted. Having established that his winchman was safe and well enough on the deck, Graham Stein took the decision that although RB 1 had another hoist fitted, this device was not as effective as the primary hoist on the other aircraft: in particular it was not as fast and less able to deal with the depths of the wave troughs that were still moving the winching area around in three dimensions: Rescue 102 was now best placed to complete the rescue. While the co-pilot explained the situation to the crew of Rescue 102 and coordinated their moving in to complete the rescue, Andy Cowx was briefed and asked if he was able to continue the operation with Coast Guard helicopter. Unperturbed, as the rest of his crew departed for Aberdeen with 8 survivors, he continued in his duty as the sole winchman on deck, working now with an unfamiliar crew and aircraft type to complete the rescue of the remaining 3 survivors. Good leadership, outstanding professionalism and teamwork, courage and determination ensured that eleven men were successfully evacuated from the Vos Sailor.”
A COMMENDATION was also awarded to Aircrewman A Cowx the Winchman, played a pivotal role in this rescue and the awards committee considered that his actions merited an individual commendation. It was dark with no visible horizon yet despite the severe pitching of the vessel Andy was successfully lowered to the deck but landed heavily sustaining significant damage to his foot. Undeterred he took charge of the shocked and frightened survivors who were in a very exposed location high up and near the stern, and thus particularly susceptible to the vessel’s erratic movement. To keep himself in place while assisting the survivors he had to wedge himself between some oil drums. While preparing for the recovery of the ninth survivor, the winch wire parted and Coast Guard Rescue 102 was tasked to complete the rescue. Andy remained on deck as the sole Winchman, working now with an unfamiliar crew and aircraft type to complete the rescue of the remaining 3 survivors. In spite of the appalling conditions, the pain of his injured foot and the prolonged exposure of over an hour on deck, Andy Cowx displayed outstanding courage, composure and selflessness in effecting the rescue of all 11 survivors from the stricken vessel without further injury to any of them – an impressive feat.
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Gold Medal awarded to Cdr Edward Franklin RN for his gallant efforts to get help for 300 French and English sailors wrecked in a terrific gale off the Crimea on 14th November 1854.
A letter was read from Vice-Admiral Sir J Deans Dundas, KCB., late Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean, and from Captain Carter, RN., of his flag ship Britannia, and others, detailing the most gallant and praiseworthy conduct of Commander Edward Franklin, RN, who, at great hazard and personal risk pulled upwards of 4 miles in a small gig through a heavy surf, for the purpose of procuring assistance from the Admiral, (which was obtained after the gale abated, so as to make it possible to send boats with safety), and proceeding to the succour of nearly 300 French as well as English sailors, in the transports wrecked in the terrific gale of the 14th November, off the coast of the Crimea, when the Prince Resolute and Capt. Franklin’s own transport the Rodsby were lost, and in her, all his clothes etc.
It appeared that the exposure to which he was subjected brought on an attack of sickness, which obliged him to be invalided; and it having been reported that his gallantry on a previous occasion of shipwreck, in 1835, off Hove, near Brighton, had won for him the Silver Medal of the Life Boat lnstitution, the Committee, feeling that such conduct was deserving of the highest honour, unanimously conferred upon him the Gold Medal of the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, and it is to the credit of the Board of Admiralty, that they have since appointed him to a command in the ordinary at Portsmouth.
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Silver Medal and Aneroid Barometer to Captain G Summers of the Steamship Strathugie of Aberdeen for the skilful and courageous rescue of 5 men from the Dutch motor schooner Marta in heavy seas off Fair Isle 9th October 1929. Silver Medals and pecuniary awards were also made to the crew, Brown, Carnegie, Lochiel, Pearce, Porter, J Sutherland, Voight and Young
The Committee had their attention called to the very skilful and courageous rescue of five lives from the Danish motor schooner Marta (177 tons),which, with a crew of seven, left Thorshavn, Faroe, on October 9 1928, carrying 200 tons of salt fish for Hull. The following day she encountered rough weather and in the early morning of the 11th, when off Fair Isle ran into a full gale from the north-west. The heavy seas put the motor engine out of action, and the crew had to work hard at the pumps, but it was soon evident that the vessel was doomed. Attracted by the rockets and flares from the Marta, the st Strathugie (90 tons), of Aberdeen, stood in as near as possible, and the Skipper (G Summers) endeavoured to signal to the Danes to put out ropes to facilitate their rescue, but this was misunderstood, and they launched their boat, which soon capsized, and the Captain, who was the only one of the crew not wearing a lifebelt, was engulfed in the heavy sea and disappeared. It took over an
hour and a half for the crew of the Strathugie to pick up the men scattered about in the water, but they succeeded in saving 5 lives, the cook having been injured when the boat was smashed and being dead before he was got on board the trawler. The work of rescuing the men was made the more arduous from their all being heavily clad, with oilskins on, and wearing sea-boots. It took seven and a half hours for the Strathugie to reach Lerwick (40 miles) in the teeth of the gale. The Danish Vice Consul took charge of the five men, whilst the cook was buried at Lerwick, and a large number of persons attended the ceremony, the survivors being subsequently taken home in the Faorese ss Tjaldur. The Committee regarded the case as a very exemplary one, and awarded to the Skipper, Captain G Summers, an Aneroid with inscription, a purse of £5, also the Society’s Silver Medal, and to the rest of the crew, Mr A Brown, Mr D Carnegie, Mr J Lochiel, Mr W Pearce, Mr E Porter, Mr J Sutherland, Mr JC Voight and Mr JD Young, the Silver Medal and a purse of £3.
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A Society Aneroid Barometer was awarded to the John Howe Skipper of the Smack Clement for saving the life of Captain Wilson and 4 hards from the SS Blanche of Newcastle on 11th October 1885 50 miles east of Leman. Pecuniary awards were made to William Edwards (1st Mate) Henry Howe (2nd Mate), and to apprentices, William Hallam and William Loveridge.
In the case of the smack Clement, for saving Captain JS Wilson and four hands from ss Blanche, of Newcastle on Tyne, bound to Amsterdam, which sprung a leak and had to be abandoned, on October 11 1885, about 50miles E of the Leman – the service being accomplished, at imminent peril, in the smack’s boat, manned by the Master and his First Hand, and the rescued being landed at Lowestoft on October 13. The Master, John Howe was rewarded with a Marine Aneroid Presentation Barometer; and to the First and Second hands, William Edwards and Henry Howe, a pecuniary reward of two pounds and one pound each; and to the two apprentices, William Hallam and William Loveridge, the sum of ten shillings each.
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Gold Medal awarded to Mr John Blampied, Master of the Wave Queen, for saving the lives of the Master and crew of the Briton screw steamer 11th January 1857.
A letter was read from the Jersey Hon. Agent, Captain Bisson, calling the attention of the Committee to the gallant and humane conduct of Mr John Blampied, the Master of the Wave Queen, and one of the crew, John Romeril, in rescuing, at the great peril of their own lives, the Master and crew (21 in number) of the Briton screw steamer, which foundered at sea in a great storm on the 11th January. It appeared that the rescue was effected in a small boat, which was so much damaged that on the last trip she was cut adrift as useless. It was, therefore, proposed by Rear-Admiral Bertie C Cator, seconded by William Stuart, Esq., and carried unanimously, that the Committee, highly appreciating the noble conduct of the brave seamen before mentioned, and especially that of the Master, Mr John Blampied, who was the first to volunteer on the occasion, to award the Gold Medal to him, and the Silver Medal to John Romeril.
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EDWARD & MAISIE LEWIS award was made to Lieutenant Sean Kreuger, United States Coast Guard and crew of RN Helicopter ‘Rescue 193’ for evacuating a critically ill fisherman from the Spanish fishing vessel Pesca Verdes at night in mountainous seas on 10th November 2008.
At 2352 on 10 November 2008, 1.4 hours into their duty, the crew of the Royal Navy helicopter ‘Rescue l-93’were scrambled by the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre Kinloss at the request of Medico Madrid to aid a fisherman onboard the 29.5 metre Spanish fishing vessel Pesca Verdes Tres. The vessel was reported to be l-SOnm SW of the lsle of Scilly in a westerly gale force g with rough seas. The casualty was reported to have suffered a severe abdominal injury and his condition assessed as life threatening. The fishing vessel had turned towards the UK and although steaming at full speed, it would only be at the extreme range of the Sea King at the time of the anticipated rendezvous. The crew of ‘Rescue 193’ comprised Lieutenant Sean Krueger United States Coast Guard (1-st Pilot, Aircraft Commander), Captain Martyn Roskilly Royal Marines (2nd pilot), Lieutenant Jonathan Hounsome Royal Navy (Observer) and Chief Petty Officer Aircrewman Dave Rigg (Winchman/Paramedic). Assessing the likely weather conditions on scene, the crew elected to depart RNAS Culdrose with a full fuel load and re-fuel en-route at St Mary’s on the lsle of Scilly in order to gain maximum endurance.
Despite being advised by ARCC Kinloss that a Nimrod aircraft would not be able to launch for a further the 30mins to provide top cover for the long-range mission, Lt Krueger elected to launch as planned to minimise any delay in effecting the rescue. After refuelling at St Mary’s, Lt Hounsome obtained an updated position of the vessel and crucially noted that it was heading further north of its expected rendezvous. This was resolved through Falmouth Coastguard and’Rescue l-93’arrived on scene at 0255 in atrocious conditions – gale force winds and mountainous seas, an inky black night with no references or horizon to help the crew stabilize in the hover. To make matters worse, the Pesca Verdes Tres was rolling excessively in the deep south-westerly swell, which was also causing the vessel to pitch heavily, and she was rising and falling by a5ft. Any transfer to the vessel was going to be very challenging made even more difficult by the lack of deck space and the obstructions cluttering her deck, including a plethora of radio aerials. Given the serious nature of the casualty’s injuries, the only safe option was to lower Chief Rigg onto the deck by use of a hi-line in order for him to give immediate medical treatment to stabilize the casualty and co-ordinate his evacuation by stretcher. Captain Roskilly liaised closely with the master of the vessel over the selection of a heading that reduced the degree of deck motion. Maintaining communications with ARCC Kinloss and the Nimrod which had now arrived on scene, he continued to provide vital feedback on aircraft performance and endurance to the remainder of the crew. Utilising a mixture of white light and night vision goggles, his commentary on the approaching wave-sets, swell and the likely motion of the vessel was vital in allowing the crew to seize the fleeting lulls in deck motion and conduct the transfers. Lt Hounsome directed the aircraft into a high hover in order to maintain aircraft safety and successfully passed a hi-line to the vessel’s crew. Lowering Chief Rigg to a suitable height above the sea, Lt Hounsome provided calm directions, translating Chief Rigg’s hand signals into clear manoeuvring orders to the pilots. For a period of 10-15 minutes Chief Rigg remained suspended on the winch wire, composed and selfless, whilst being battered by the elements as they waited for the opportune moment to move over the vessel. At one point during this transfer, the aircraft and the vessel started to part company due to the violent, unpredictable sea. The hi-line parted and Chief Rigg was recovered back into the aircraft in order to re-assess the situation.
Realising that the hi-line procedure was unlikely to succeed, a small area above the well deck on the rear port quarter of the vessel was selected for a conventional transfer. Despite the greater risks involved the crew elected to attempt the transfer. Once again the aircraft stood off the vessel for 1015 minutes with Chief Rigg suspended 60-70 feet below until there was a very short lull in deck movement. He was then deposited firmly on deck, rapidly detached himself from the winch wire and set to work on the casualty below.
The casualty had been critically injured by a cable that had parted and almost severed his upper and lower torso, a condition far more serious than the crew of ‘Rescue 193’ had been informed of. Chief Rigg, a paramedic trained aircrewman, did as much as he could to stabilise the man before returning to the upper deck to take charge of the vessel’s crew. Three further successful hi-line transfers were conducted to pass the stretcher to the vessel, recover the stretcher and casualty, and to recover Chief Rigg to the aircraft. ln total, it had taken 1hr 11mins to conduct these transfers. Conventional Search and Rescue planning allows for 30mins on scene so the decision to re-fuel on the lsles of Scilly was a key factor in the successful recovery of the casualty. Throughout the transfers Lt Krueger demonstrated a high degree of handling skill, captaincy and spatial awareness in minimising the hazards to the aircraft and crew. The motion of the vessel, coupled with limited and at times no hover references, was such that the transfers took all of the crew’s skill and experience. Despite spending over an hour in physically exhausting conditions, followed by a wild recovery to the aircraft, Chief Rigg continued to administer emergency care assisted by Lt Hounsome, successfully resuscitating the casualty on 5 separate occasions. Sadly, the casualty died from his severe injuries before ‘ Rescue 193’ reached the Royal Cornwall Hospital. The aircraft returned to RNAS Culdrose at 0534, by which time the crew had been on duty for nearly 20 hours.
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