1899 Aldeburgh lifeboat disaster - a photo on Flickriver

            On the 7th December 1899 eighteen crew members onboard Aldeburgh’s Norfolk and Suffolk class lifeboat, the Aldeburgh launched into a raging gale and extremely heavy seas. With its shoals and sandbanks, Aldeburgh's coastline is notoriously treacherous for shipping and on this day, a ship had run aground on Shipwash Sands.
Leading the crew that day was former Coxswain Charles Edward Ward. Regular Coxswain James Cable, one of Aldeburgh’s most celebrated lifeboatmen, and Second Coxswain William Mann both had flu and had been forbidden to join the crew by the doctor. The lifeboat crew were doing a sterling job battling against the ferocious onshore wind, which was churning up the sea into a seething mass, but the Aldeburgh’s broadside was taking a pounding by the relentless waves. And as she was crossing the inner shoal, she was savagely struck by two huge waves in quick succession, causing her to capsize and hurling the crew into the tumultuous waters.
Coxswain Charles Ward was one of the first washed ashore. Recounting the horrifying moment when the lifeboat capsized, he said ‘A very heavy sea caught her from stem to stern. We were right under it. The boat was filled, and was forced over on the starboard side. Then another very heavy sea struck us, and the boat went over steadily. The boat could not right herself. I got clear of her and when I could see round there seemed so many of us afloat that I thought all the men had got clear. We were about 150 yards from shore and could all swim. I said to one man, “Don’t muddle yourself, we shall get ashore all right,” but as we got on the beach the waves rolled us up like so many sacks'. The backwash made it extremely difficult for the crew to reach the shore. Selflessly, Charles repeatedly went back into the heavy surf to drag his comrades to safety.
By this time, a crowd had gathered on the beach and were helping with the rescue effort. The Aldeburgh didn't sink, instead she was driven bottom upwards onto the shore. Only then came the stark realisation that six of the crew were missing, feared trapped underneath the boat. Frantically, work began to try and free the crew but with the Aldeburgh weighing over 13 tons and measuring 46 ft. in length it was a gruelling task. The team of volunteers tried to cut a hole in the lifeboat’s upturned hull, but this proved fruitless. Chopping into her stout timber was arduous, hampered by the sea constantly breaking over the boat as the tide rose. At times, people were dangerously up to their necks in water. It was only when the tide began to go down at 3pm, 3½ hours after the lifeboat had capsized, that the volunteers were able to partially raise the lifeboat using heavy spars, the long poles used for launching the lifeboat, as levers and screw jacks. At the same time they dug out the shingle on one side of the lifeboat and finally reached the crew members but it was too late.
Those lost that day were:
John Butcher, aged 52
Charles Crisp, aged 51
Thomas Morris, aged 36
Walter George Ward, aged 33
Herbert William Downing, aged 23
James Miller Ward, aged 21.
Allan Arthur Easter never recovered from his injuries and died on 24th. March 1900, aged 28.
The tragedy stunned the entire Aldeburgh community and remains one of the worst in RNLI history. The community rallied round to raise a relief fund to help the families of the crew left bereft. In tribute to the lives of their loved ones a marble monument was placed in the churchyard of Aldeburgh parish church where the seven lifeboatmen were laid to rest.
And a magnificent copper memorial tablet was placed inside the church, serving as a permanent reminder of the Aldeburgh men who so selflessly gave their lives trying to save others.
For his bravery and dogged determination in rescuing two of his comrades, Charles Ward was awarded a Silver Medal by the RNLI in 1900, his second Silver Medal for gallantry.

 


   

Taken in: UK / England / Suffolk Coastal District / Aldeburgh (show map)

Taken on: January 9, 2020

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Sets appears in: • Lifeboat - Memorials & graves

Groups appears in: • Graves, Tombs And Cemeteries • Suffolk more » • Wood and Stone Carvings • The Cemetery • History is All Around Us • Graveyards • A Place of Rest- Cemeteries, Graveyards, Mausoleums and Tombs. • Lifesavers • RNLI • THE GROUP FOR HAPPY SNAPPERS. • Maritime (anything sea related from all around the globe) • Photographers in Suffolk, Essex & Norfolk • Graves, Tombs, and Cemetaries • Norfolk Photo Takers • Cemetery Photos • Aldeburgh • Cemetery Architecture, Monuments, & Gravestones • Lost at sea • British Gravestones (Nineteenth Century Or Earlier) • UK Graves and Graveyards • Our Suffolk • The RNLI Lifeboats • Images Of Suffolk • 100 YEARS & OLDER « less

Camera: SAMSUNG WB700, f/4.8, 1/250 sec, 4.3mm, ISO 80 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	SAMSUNG WB700
Aperture:	f/4.8
Exposure Time:	0.004 sec (1/250)
Focal Length:	4.3mm
ISO:	80
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	No Flash
Exposure Program:	Program AE
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
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