Service
Reports
MILLER
William, Boatman
7 September 1826: The Eliza and Jane was wrecked
on the Goodwin Sands in heavy weather. Mr. Miller,
with a crew of 12, launched his boat from Ramsgate
beach at 6 a.m., reached the Sands and then hoisted
out a small boat. In three trips the Master, his
wife and five crew were rescued - they had been
lashed to the rigging for four hours, the vessel
being completely under water. On the first trip,
the Master's wife and the clothes belonging to the
crew were transferred. All were landed safely at
Ramsgate at 1.30 p.m.
GIMAR
Edward, Captain, French Brig Le Norman
18-21 December 1828: En route from Bourbon to
Havre, off Cap d' Antifer, Département Seine
Maritime, France, the brig Le Norman came across
the brig Auguste which had been dismasted 12 days
before some 350 miles out into the Atlantic, while
on passage from Cherbourg to Sète in the
Mediterranean. The vessel was driving fast on
shore, and two men had already been washed
overboard. Captain Gimar decided to get a line on
board and tow her off. He succeeded but, in a heavy
gale during the night of the 19th, lost two
topsails and was injured himself. As his crew were
worn out, he lay to all night and resolved to try
to gain refuge in Dieppe. The morning of the 20th
brought high seas and a gale at tide time, so that
no Pilot would put out which forced them to lay off
all night and make sail to prevent being driven
ashore. The following morning found them off
Dungeness, where a Pilot was taken aboard and the
casualty towed to safety to Ramsgate harbour.
Captain Gimar declined to claim salvage or any
other reward. The French Consul (a Briton) applied
to the 'Royal Institute for Preserving Lives from
Shipwreck' for its medal to be awarded as an
expression of international appreciation of the
fact that he had saved six lives as well as the
vessel.
HOGBIN
James, Coxswain
26-27 November 1857: In a hard north-east gale,
the Lisbon brig Caminha drove on to the Goodwin
Sands, off the east Kent coast. The Ramsgate
Harbour Trustee Beeching lifeboat Northumberland
launched at 9 p.m. Under tow by the steam tug Aid,
she went to the scene and, driving over the shoals
through heavy surf, found the small Broadstairs
lifeboat alongside with her crew on board the brig.
As the brig's crew refused to leave, Coxswain
Hogbin and his men remained alongside until the
brig filled and began to break up, which damaged
and disabled the small lifeboat. With their
combined crews of 30 men and with the damaged
lifeboat in tow, the Northumberland set sail across
the shoals, striking heavily in the broken water.
The two boats came into contact, which totally
destroyed the damaged vessel, but the
Northumberland reached Ramsgate harbour safely. The
medal was awarded, also, in consideration of many
previous rescues, mostly at night from the Goodwin
Sands.
JARMAN
Isaac, Coxswain
3-4 December 1863: On the evening of the 3rd
during dreadful weather, rocket signals were seen
coming from the Tongue Lightship, which indicated a
ship in distress. The Ramsgate steam tug Aid set
out at 8.45 p.m. with the Beeching class lifeboat
Northumberland in tow. In mountainous seas and with
a near hurricane raging, they reached the London to
Melbourne emigrant ship Fusilier fast in the sand
on the Girdler Bank some miles north of Herne Bay,
Kent. Going alongside at 2 a.m., the lifeboat took
off, one by one, 25 women and children and
transferred them to the tug waiting nearly a mile
away in Princes Channel. Returning to the casualty,
the Coxswain repeated the operation three times
during which, with huge seas sweeping over both
vessels, 40 women and children and 36 men were
transferred by 6 am. The Captain and crew remained
on board in anticipation of refloating the ship at
the next high tide. The tug left at daylight to
land the survivors, but the lifeboat, which it must
be remembered was an open one, continued to stand
by, then, an hour and half later, saw the tug Aid
returning. Sailing toward her, the Coxswain was
informed that another casualty had been seen
aground on the Shingles Bank, ten miles north of
Margate. The Greenock ship Demerara was found on
her beam ends with a shattered hull, and had her
crew clinging to the rigging. Running across the
broken waters on the sands, the lifeboat got
alongside the wreck, took off the crew of 18
(including an 11-year-old boy) and the Pilot and
put them aboard the tug. All reached Ramsgate
safely. The lifeboat had been out for over 16
hours.
JARMAN
Isaac, Coxswain
FISH Charles
Edward, Bowman
For long service and in acknowledgement of
Coxswain Jarman's and Bowman Fish's continued
gallant services in the Ramsgate lifeboat.
Outstanding services in this period included those
to the brig Zeeploeg and the barque Norma (1865),
the schooner Zephyr (1866), the schooner Mizpah,
the barque Aurora Borealis and the brigantine Amor
(1867), the brig Britain's Pride (1868) and the
schooner Chafton Winkel, the brig Carl, the barque
Highland Chief and the barque Emilie (1869).
READING
Daniel, Master, Ramsgate Harbour Steam Tug
Vulcan
19 March 1872: The Ramsgate lifeboat Bradford,
the steam tug Vulcan and the Broadstairs lifeboat
Samuel Morrison Collins went out in a fresh
north-north-east gale and a heavy sea and saved the
crew of eight of the brig Defènder of
Sunderland which had gone on the Goodwin Sands.
Reading was awarded the silver medal for this
service and for his general gallant services in
assisting to save lives from wrecks on the Goodwin
Sands'.
SIMPSON
James, Mate, Steam Tug Aid
WHARRIER
William, Engineer, Steam Tug Aid
'In acknowledgement of their gallant services
extending over twenty years on occasions when the
Ramsgate life-boats had been towed by that steamer
to vessels in distress and have saved nearly five
hundred lives from shipwreck on the Goodwin Sands'.
Among the services which involved the tug Aid were
those to the barque Norma (1865), the barque Aurora
Borealis (1867), the ship Highland Chief and the
barque Emilie (1869), the brig Volunteer (1870),
the barque India (1871) and the barques Ystroom and
Amazon (1873).
FISH
Charles Edward, Coxswain
GOLDSMITH
Richard, Second Coxswain
BELSEY Henry,
Crew Member
BERRY David,
Crew Member
COOPER Thomas
(Senior), Crew Member
COOPER Thomas
(Junior), Crew Member
FRIEND Thomas,
Crew Member
GOLDSMITH John,
Crew Member
GOLDSMITH
Stephen, Crew Member
MEADER Henry,
Crew Member
PENNEY Robert,
Crew Member
VERION Charles,
Crew Member
PAGE Alfred,
Master, Steam Tug Vulcan
WHARRIER
William, Engineer, Steam Tug Vulcan
AUSTEN William,
Crew Member, Steam Tug Vulcan
KNIGHT Charles,
Crew Member, Steam Tug Vulcan
REVELL Edward,
Crew Member, Steam Tug Vulcan
WOODWARD George,
Stoker, Steam Tug Vulcan
YARE Richard,
Stoker, Steam Tug Vulcan
6 January 1881: At 2 am. on the 5th in tense
darkness, an easterly gale, frequent snow squalls
and below freezing temperatures, the 1,238 ton
barque Indian Chief four days out from
Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, and bound for Yokohama,
Japan, grounded hard on Long Sand at the mouth of
the Thames, off Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. During the
day, apparently, she broke her back, lost her
boats, and two men were drowned. She suffered
further damage in a heavy sea at 5 p.m. The
survivors took to the rigging but, by 3 a.m. on the
6th, only 12 remained after the mizzen mast fell.
Following unsuccessful searches by the Harwich and
Clacton lifeboats, the steam tug Vulcan arrived on
the scene towing the Ramsgate lifeboat Bradford.
Casting off, Charles Fish headed the lifeboat
towards the wreck, then veered a piece of wood down
on a number of ropes' ends, tied together. This
enabled a hawser to be dragged aboard the wreck by
which means the lifeboat's crew hauled their craft
under the wreck's quarter. The lifeboat took off
the 12 survivors, transferred them to the steam
tug, which took the lifeboat in tow again and
returned it to Ramsgate through heavy broken water,
after 26 hours at sea.
Full graphic accounts of this service appeared
in the Daily Telegraph on 11th and 18th January,
and were reprinted in the Lifeboat Journal of 1st
February. On February 11th, H.R.H. the Duke of
Edinburgh, a member of the R.N.L.I.'s Committee of
Management, presented all the medals at a ceremony
at the Ramsgate Coastguard Station.
Click here for full report.
WHARRIER
William, Engineer, Ramsgate Steam Tugs
Awarded to William Wharrier on his retirement
'who had held the position 44 years and during that
period had been in charge of the engines on all
occasions when the tugs had been out with the
lifeboat'.
FISH
Charles Edward, Coxswain
A service award 'on his retirement through
ill-health, from the post of Coxswain … He had
been out in the lifeboats belonging to that station
three hundred and fifty-three times during the past
twenty-six years and had thus helped to save eight
hundred and seventy-seven lives from different
shipwrecks'. This was the first gold clasp to be
awarded. Appointed Second Coxswain in 1866 and
Coxswain in 1870 his previous gold medal was
awarded for the Indian Chief service in 1881 and,
in the subsequent period, major services included
those to the ships Attila and Ganges (1881), the
barque Egmont (1882). the barque Georgia, the ship
Wilhemina and s.s. Boadicea (1883), s.s.
Skandinavian (1884), the barque Rhuddlan Castle
(1885) and the barque Frederike Carolina
(1886).
PAGE
Alfred, Master, Ramsgate Harbour Steam
Tugs
Awarded to Captain Page, 'who has been Master
… since the 1st of April 1874 and has towed
the Ramsgate lifeboat on every occasion of service
since then'. Among his many services, were those to
the barque Bucephalus (1875), the barque Atlantic
(1876), the ships Indian Chief and Ganges (1881),
the barque Egmont (1882), the barque Georgia and
s.s. Boadicea (1883), the barque Rhuddlan Castle
(1885), the barque Frederike Caroline (1886) and
the fishing lugger Verbena (1889).
WATSON
Thomas James, Captain, Smack Britain's
Pride
BURTON William,
Crew Member, Smack Britain's Pride
HURLE Edwin,
Crew Member, Smack Britain's Pride
FISHER Arthur
Edward, Crew Member, Smack Britain's
Pride
12 December 1891: In a very heavy sea during a
strong northerly gale, the Glasgow ship Enterkin
was wrecked on Galloper Sands, off Harwich, Essex.
Captain Watson and his crew were able to save an
apprentice from the wreck.
PAGE
Alfred, Master, Ramsgate Harbour Steam
Tugs
Awarded 'on his retirement in consideration of
his long and gallant services in towing the
Ramsgate lifeboats'. During he period since the
award of his last medal in 1892, services were
given to the barque Telegraph (1892), the schooner
Sarah Elizabeth (1893), the smacks Blue Bell and
Daisy, the steamer Almendral and the brig Hondeklip
(1894), s.s. Beacon Light and s.s. Lady Wolseley
(1895) and the ship Kommander Svend Foyn and the
smack Ismene (1898).
HAWKINS
John, Harbour Boatman, Ramsgate
14 September 1906: An open boat capsized off the
entrance to Ramsgate Harbour in a strong
west-south-west breeze and rough sea. Of the five
persons on board, only the boatman could swim.
Seeing this, John Hawkins lowered himself by a rope
from the East Pier and swam out. One lady and a
gentleman were clinging to the boat but the other
two and the boatman were more or less under water.
Hawkins got hold of the lady, swam with her into
shallow water and dragged her unconscious on to a
sand bank where 'he used the usual method of
restoring the apparently drowned', with success.
The other members of the party were picked up by
two watchmen who had put out in a boat.
COOPER
William, Coxswain
READ Thomas
William, Second Coxswain
20-21 November 1916: Signals were seen at 7 a.m.
from the New York s.s. Sibiria which had driven
aground on the Goodwins in exceptionally bad
weather. The North Deal Reserve lifeboat was
launched and towed out to the wreck but, although
she made four attempts, nearly capsizing on the
first three and finishing on her beam ends on the
fourth, she was unsuccessful. Her mizzen mast and
sail were torn out of her and a thwart carried
away, so she was forced to return to Deal.
Meanwhile, the Ramsgate self-righting lifeboat
Charles and Susanna Stephens was being towed out by
the tug Aid and reached the scene at 11.30 a.m. She
veered down across the Sands several times,
constantly filling with water until one of her
bollards was wrenched out, injuring two of her
crew. With her cable parted, the lifeboat was
compelled to return to Ramsgate which she reached
at 4.30 p.m. Later, she received an urgent message
to say that, with the crew still aboard, the
Sibiria's decks were almost under water. She set
out again at 7.15 p.m. but found that the
Kingsdowne lifeboat had fought her way through and
had just taken off the last of the 52 man crew.
They were landed at Kingsdowne at 12.45 a.m. on the
21st.
KIRKALDIE
Douglas Stephen, Coxswain
20-21 August 1952: The New York s.s. Western
Farmer, Norfolk, Virginia, to Bremen with coal,
collided with the Norwegian tanker Bjorgholm 18
miles east-south-east of Ramsgate, Kent. Both the
Dover lifeboat Southern Africa and the Ramsgate
lifeboat Prudential launched, the former diverted
to Walmer to pick up a doctor. When the Prudential
arrived the steamer was anchored one and a half
miles north of Sandettie Bank buoy and had started
to break up. Coxswain Kirkaldie took off seven of
the crew, an operation made much more difficult by
leaking diesel oil. The ship's Master ordered all
of his crew into the two ship's lifeboats which got
clear just before the wreck broke into two. The
Ramsgate lifeboat took on board men from one boat
and a man who had jumped into the sea. The Dover
lifeboat took the 13 men from the second boat, but
five men still remained on the wreck's stern part
which was partly awash and drifting. Coxswain
Kirkaldie went alongside, took them off and landed
them at Ramsgate at 3.16 a.m.
PARKINS
Curtis E., Captain, United States Air Force, 66th
Air Rescue Squadron
27 November 1954: Gales of exceptional force had
been blowing for several days off the East Kent
coast and, early in the morning, it was noticed
that the South Goodwin light vessel had
disappeared. Lifeboats at Ramsgate. Dover and
Walmer were warned and, during the night, the first
two launched and carried out searches of the
Goodwins without success. At daylight, the vessel
was located on her beam ends, lying on her side
where she had drifted. The Walmer lifeboat
launched. The combined efforts of all three boats
could not detect any survivors, therefore a call
was made to 66th Air Rescue Squadron. U.S.A.F.,
which provided a helicopter from its base at
Manston, Kent, near Ramsgate. A second sortie at 9
a.m. by Captain Parkins noticed a solitary figure -
a Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries bird
watcher - clinging to the light vessel's
superstructure. Ignoring the normal rules, the
helicopter was brought down to 30 feet and, in
spite of the wreckage and spray, the lone survivor
was plucked from his refuge and landed safely at
Manston.
This was the first R.N.L.I. medal to be awarded
to any pilot of any aircraft and also the first
service given by a helicopter when lifeboats,
although present, were unable to render the
necessary help.
CANNON
Ronald Nicholas, Coxswain/Mechanic
26 December 1985: In rapidly deteriorating
weather, the French trawler Gloire à Marie
II went aground in a storm, south of Ramsgate.
Kent. The Waveney class lifeboat Ralph and Joy
Swann left her moorings at 8.15 p.m. after she
first experienced great difficulty getting her crew
on board from the pier. Despite hazardous
conditions in the shallows, Coxswain Cannon
manoeuvred the lifeboat close to the trawler, and
two lifeboat crewmen boarded her. A tow was passed
and the casualty brought off. The tow was then
dismantled and the trawler, with her seven man
crew, escorted into Ramsgate harbour under her own
power.
Click here for full report.
CANNON
Ronald Nicholas, Coxswain/Mechanic
9 November 1999: HMCG were advised by Falmouth
Coastguard of an Inmarsat alert from a vessel
«RASMUS», giving a position on the north
of the Goodwin sands. At the same time, reports of
red flares were received, and launch of both
lifeboats was requested. The weather conditions
were Force 7 with a very rough sea. On arrival on
scene, Lifeboats found the 18.9 metre yacht
«RASMUS» aground on the North Sand Head,
being driven on by the strong northerly winds. The
yacht was pounding on the ground as it was driven
over shallow patches, and it’s mast had
broken, partially lying across the deck and part in
the water, along with all it’s rigging. The
lifeboats approached, with the ILB sounding in, and
once alongside an ILB crew member boarded the
yacht. It was found that, having fired their
flares, the three yacht crew had taken shelter in
the cabin and were trapped there when the wreckage
of the mast fell across the cabin hatchway, making
it impossible for them to open the hatch. A crewman
from the AWB was now put on the yacht and the
wreckage was shifted from the hatch and the three
survivors extricated with some difficulty. At this
stage, it was apparent that the three survivors
were suffering minor cuts and bruises, aggravated
by hypothermia and shock. Furthermore, the
lifeboats were still in amongst the sands in the
prevailing heavy seas and northerly swell and in
danger of grounding or damage. The Cox’n
therefore decided to take the survivors off the
yacht, and took the AWB stern on to the casualty,
clear of overside wreckage, and held her in
position whilst the survivors were passed over, and
the two lifeboat crew recovered. The Lifeboats then
made full speed for Ramsgate and landed the three
survivors to ambulance at Ramsgate Harbour.
Click here for full report.
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