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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The EMILE ROBIN Award was made to Captain G Hindmarch and Chief Officer R Couch of the coaster MW Londonbrook for the rescue of 3 crew of the stricken Waldrian off the NW cost of Scotland in big seas on the 10th October 1985.
On 10th October, 1985 the coaster Londonbrook picked up a message about a vessel in difficulties off the NW coast of Scotland; she closed the scene and after a hour, sighted in the darkness the 54 ft Waldrian. Visibility was poor in driving rainsqualls – winds of 60 kts gusting to 70, big seas running and a heavy groundswell. There was danger of the Waldrian being embayed in Gruinard Bay. Waldrian was trying to reach the shelter of Loch Eve, but in the appalling weather conditions was making water, with the pumps unable to cope and the engine room flooding. A helicopter was scrambled from Lossiemouth, but had to turn back because of the dangerous flying conditions. Seeing the perilous situation and realising that Waldrian was beginning to sink, the Master of the Londonbrook decided to attempt an alongside rescue. This was a most hazardous manoeuvre in heavy seas and ferocious gusts of wind. However, the approach was successful and, of the three crew, two managed to scramble on board from the sinking fishing vessel, but tragically, the Skipper of the Waldrian lost his footing, slipped between the heaving vessels and was lost. Despite a search, he was, sadly, never seen again. But for the outstanding seamanship of Captain G Hindmarch, Chief Officer R Couch and crew of the Londonbrook the entire crew of the Waldrian would undoubtedly have been lost.
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The Society’s Gold Medal awarded to Captain Holdsworth and Silver Medals to 9 others of the barque Decapolis for rescuing 22 crew of the Elbana of Liverpool in tremendous seas in the South Western approaches to the English Channel on 10th October 1878.
Captain Holdsworth brought to the notice of the Committee the following act of heroism as reported in the daily papers:- The large iron ship Eblana, of Liverpool, 1,351 tons register, commanded by Captain Liver, left Liverpool for Madras on Thursday, 3 October, and experienced bad weather, until reaching the Smalls Lights. The wind was from south and south-west, and it got worse from that time until Sunday, when there was a heavy gale from the southward, which, however, moderated towards Monday, when the weather became a little finer. On Tuesday it commenced to blow again from southsouth- west, increasing to a heavy gale, and became still worse on Wednesday, with mountainous seas.
On Thursday, at 2am when in Lat. 48 52′ N Long. 10 33′ W, a tremendous sea struck the vessel, throwing her over on her side, shifting the cargo, washing away the lifeboat, and smashing the bulwarks. Towards morning the main and mizzen masts were cut away, and the vessel was quite over on her side, and settling down fast. At 6 o’clock in the morning the barque Decapolis, of London, Captain Almond, from Adelaide for London, hove in sight, and signals of distress were made to her, and she bore down and stood by them for about 14 hours, until all the crew were rescued and taken aboard. When she first approached the Eblana, the latter’s boats were launched, but were stove in by the seas, one of the crew being badly injured. A boat with 6 men was then sent from the Decapolis, and she succeeded in rescuing 6 of the Elbana’s men. There was a great gale on and tremendous seas, and it was impossible to get the boat close to the ship, and a communication was made between them by lifebuoys and lifelines. All the crew was saved by this means, by being hauled through the water to the boat. On returning to the Decapolis with these men, the boat was stove and became useless, and the mate of the barque, who was in charge, was hurt in the arm and shoulder. A second boat was then sent, and in five trips rescued 22 men. The service was attended with considerable difficulty and danger, and the Eblana’s crew spoke well of the gallantry of the others especially of that of the carpenter, named David Stephen, of Stepney, London, who with three hands, had charge of the boat on four successive trips, and George Bourne, an apprentice, who went every time first in the boat that was stove in, and afterwards in the second boat, and managed the lifelines, pulling all the men from the ship to the boat. The unfortunate men lost all their clothes and effects. The Captain, officers and crew of the Decapolis behaved very kindly towards them during the two days they were aboard her, and gave them various articles of clothing. A letter was also read from Captain Almond, giving the names of the men who manned the boats, with the number of trips taken by each. When, it was proposed from the chair, and unanimously resolved, that Captain Thomas M Almond, be awarded the Gold Medal of the Society, and that Silver Medals should be awarded to the nine others. GWR Bourne was also presented with a sextant in addition to the Medal, as the Committee considered his conduct most praiseworthy in volunteering to go with each boat to the rescue of the unfortunate men, who, but for the assistance of Captain Almond and his crew, would in all human probability have perished. The Secretary was also instructed to convey to the Captain and crew of the Decapolis the Committee’s full appreciation for their gallant and successful efforts to save the lives of their fellow men, and also their earnest hope that this acknowledgment of their heroism would be an incentive to future exertion in the same noble work, should necessity arise.
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The EDWARD AND MAISIE LEWIS award was presented to Lieutenant NA King and crew of Helicopter ‘Rescue 701’ of 819 Naval Air Squadron, Prestwick for the rescue of the crew of the fishing vessel Poseidon taking in water North of Skye on 9 November 1982.
At 0923 on 9 November 1,982, a request for assistance was received by HMS GANNET Air Operations (Prestwick) from the Rescue Co-Ordination Centre at Edinburgh. The Poseidon was in distress to the north of Skye and was reported to have suffered a mechanical breakdown and to be taking water.
Although another fishing vessel, the St Kilda, was in attendance, the tow passed was continually parting; moreover, although not in immediate danger, the vessel was in the proximity of a lee shore.
Due to the distance involved and appalling weather conditions, it was decided to recall and send a second crew as mutual SAR. Weather conditions at the time were gale force 9, wind 210 at 45 kts gusting to 56kts, visibility 5km in heavy rain with 6 octas of cloud at 500ft. Forecast conditions were west storm force 10, rain and hail, with a possibility of thunder and lightning and a warning of moderate to severe turbulence at low level.
By 2330 the duty crew, comprising Lt NA King, First pilot and aircraft Captain, Lt SJ Westwood, Observer, Sub-Lt AJ Read, Second pilot, Leading Aircrewman S Revell, plus PO R Gardiner, were changed and briefed. The decision was made to fly low level, remaining below the cloud base and accepting the turbulence, navigating by radar and visual means.
The aircraft c/s ‘Rescue 701’ took off from Prestwick at 2351. A second crew in ‘Rescue 707’ took off from Prestwick at 1010, following the same route as Rescue ‘701’. As they approached the scene, Stornoway Coastguard were contacted and initially directed ‘Rescue 701’to proceed to fu Sea Otter, sheltering tn Lub Score, to transfer a pump to Poseidon . ‘707’ was asked to locate Poseidon, although the datum position passed proved to be approximately Snms north-east of the distress vessel. With radar picture being severely degraded by weather clutter, and visibility reduced to a few hundred yards, this effectively put ‘Rescue 707’ out of the action. A radio message from the St Kilda indicated that conditions were getting worse and the tow was parting every few minutes. Shortly afterwards, the following message was received from St Kilda: ‘Poseidon is on the rocks and sinking men are in the water’. ‘Rescue TOf immediately closed Fladda Chuain to assist ‘7O7’ in locating Poseidon. St Kilda fired 4 red flares, positively identifying 2 faint lights, approximately 2 nautical miles north of Rescue 701-, as the St Kilda and Poseidon. The aircraft closed the scene. ‘7O1′ approached Fladda Chuain into wind from the north and let down approximately half a mile from the coastline. At ranges less than half a mile, all land was lost on the radar due to clutter. The aircraft was being constantly buffeted by wind, rain and spray and would not turn out of wind. ’70L’ moved sideways and backwards, conned by the Second Pilot from the left hand seat. This manoeurve was carried out with extreme caution, as visibility within the limit of the aircraft lights had been reduced to between 25 and 50 yards by the dense spray and driving rain. In this fashion , ‘7O1′ crabbed towards the Poseidon. As ’70L’ approached, the aircrewman, in the door, became visual and took over the con. Almost immediately, a survivor was spotted, standing up to his waist in rough water, with waves breaking over him. The observer was lowered, in a double lift harness, on to the rocks and into the sea. The aircrewman provided an exceptionally good con, considering the difficulty the Pilot had in hovering, with crashing waves breaking over the rocks changing all the visual references and cues. The first survivor was winched into the aircraft with some difficulty. The observer, by now soaking wet, was lowered back down into the water to collect the second survivor. This man turned out to be a non-swimmer, clinging spreadeagled to a partially submerged rock, with waves breaking over him. With great difficulty the observer put the man into a double lift harness, all the time in constant danger of being swept clear by the rough seas. This survivor was winched into the aircraft, stripped and put into a sleeping bag. The aircraft was now conned by the Second Pilot towards the third survivor, who was standing on a rock, with waves breaking against him. The Aircrewman took over the con and the Observer carried out a winch transfer, collecting the survivor, again using the double lift harness. One crew member still remained to be found and for the next 10 minutes ‘701-‘ moved sideways across the rocks in either direction in an effort to locate him. Meanwhile, concern was mounting over the deteriorating condition of the rescued crew members, who were suffering from intense cold and shock. However, the agonizing decision to break off the search to take the survivors to medical care never had to be taken, as the fourth crewman suddenly walked into view on the shore line. The Observer was lowered and the survivor winched up. ‘Rescue 701’ then joined ‘707’ and both aircraft proceeded to Stornoway. Whilst in the aircraft all the survivors were kept as warm as possible, using blankets and sleeping bags; the condition of the non-swimmer was the most critical and upon landing at Stornoway, it became clear that he would not have lasted much longer. After refuelling and inspection,’707′ and ‘701’ returned to Prestwick, having been nearly 7 hours on task.
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The Society’s Silver Medal was award to skipper Henry Saffrey of the steamship Queenstown of Grimsby for saving the crew of the Norwegian barque, St Joseph, on 9th October 1905. Also medals to JD Farman and Thomas Tovey who manned the rescue boat.
On October 9 the st Queenstown, of Grimsby, saved the crew of the Norwegian barque St Joseph, and the skipper (Henry Saffrey) was rewarded with an aneroid and £3, two men who went in a boat to the barque (JD Farman and Thomas Tovey) being also presented with a Silver Medal and a purse of £2 each.
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In the case of the FV Sweet Home, of Whitehills, for the rescue of the Master and five others composing the crew of the FV Comet, of Nairn, while clinging to the bottom of their capsized boat, in a heavy sea after violent squall, off Kinnaird Head, on July 24 1883. To the Master of the Sweet Home, John Watson – one of the Society’s Marine Aneroid Presentation Barometer; and to the other members of the vessel’s crew (John Levine, Mate, James Watson, John McIntyre and John McKennon), the pecuniary reward of nine pounds six shillings.
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