Storm Warriors; or, Life-Boat Work on the Goodwin Sands — John Shaqi
Storm Warriors; or, Life-Boat Work on the Goodwin SandsGilmore, John
History
Storm Warriors; or, Life-Boat Work on the Goodwin Sands
Gilmore, John
Goodwin Sands (England); Lifesaving -- Great Britain; Shipwrecks
There the coastguard were ready to receive them, and did their best to
revive the exhausted men. As soon as it was discovered at Margate that
the first life-boat was disabled, the large life-boat, the _Friend of
all Nations_, was got ready with every speed, and with much trouble
dragged round to the lee side of the pier, where it was launched. Away
she started, her brave crew doing all they could to battle with the
gale, and force their way out to the wreck; but all their efforts were
in vain; the tremendous wind was right against them; the sea completely
overpowered them, and prevented their beating to windward; the tiller
gave way, and after a hard struggle her crew had also to give up the
attempt, and this life-boat in turn was driven ashore about one mile
from the town. With both their life-boats wrecked, the Margate men
almost gave up all hopes of saving the crew of the vessel and the men
that were left on board; but this should not be the case until every
possible effort had been made; but it was with small hope for the
shipwrecked, and with much apprehension for the boats themselves, that
the people watched two luggers--the _Nelson_ and the _Lively_--undaunted
by the fate of the life-boats, stagger out mid the sweeping seas to the
rescue.
The fate of one lugger, the _Nelson_, was soon settled; a fearful squall
of wind caught her before she had got many hundred yards clear of the
pier; it swept her foremast out of her, and her crew had to make every
possible effort to avoid being driven on the rocks, and there wrecked.
The _Lively_ was more fortunate; she beat her way out to sea, but found
so heavy a surf breaking over the Sands, that it was evidently
impossible to cross them, or to get near the wreck.
The Margate people became full of despair, and many a bitter tear was
shed for sympathy and for personal loss as they watched the wreck, and
thought of the poor fellows perishing slowly before their eyes,
apparently without any possibility of being saved.
A rumour spread among the crowd that the lieutenant of the coastguard
had sent an express off to Ramsgate, for the Ramsgate steamer and
life-boat; but this scarcely afforded any hope, as it was thought
impossible that the steamer and life-boat could make their way round the
North Foreland in the teeth of so tremendous a gale, or that, if they
did so, it was supposed impossible that either the ship could hold
together, or the crew live, exposed as they were in the rigging, during
the time it would of necessity take the steamer and boat to get to them.
We now change the scene to Ramsgate.
From an early hour on the Monday morning, groups of boatmen assembled
on the pier at Ramsgate; they were occasionally joined by some of the
more hardy among the townsmen, or by a stray visitor, attracted by the
wild scene that the storm presented.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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