| " Lifeboats , while performing their
various tasks , found themselves in all sorts of peculiar situations and there
is a story recorded about the Lifeboat "Tyne" which is amusing . One wild
morning in March 1845 , the brig "Electra" , locally owned by the Plues family
and under the command of the young Captain Plues , was observed by the pilots
at about 7.00 am just south of the river in difficulty owing to an Easterly
gale . The ship had sustained storm damage and was trying its best to beat off
the coast into the open sea . The anxious watchers feared that the would be
driven ashore somewhere north of the Harbour , so they decided to go after her
. The lifeboat "Northumberland" was temporarily out of service being repaired ,
so the "Tyne" was manned and launched from So. Shields . Owing to the strength
of the easterly gale it was not feasible to row down the harbour , then around
Tynemouth cliffs to follow the "Electra" . The only way was to chase overland .
The "Tyne" rowed over to North Shields and was placed on the "Northumberland's"
carriage , horses were harnessed and , then with about 30 hefty lifeboatmen in
attendance , the "Tyne" proceeded up the Tanners Bank like a field gun going
into action . At the top of the bank the procession turned right along the road
to Tynemouth village , while her crew climbed up the carriage to sit in the
boat . They did not intend to walk if they could ride . The carriage was
designed to carry the boat for short sharp run across the sands then into the
sea . It was not meant to take a 3 ton lifeboat , plus 30 hefty lifeboatmen on
a day excursion to Whitley Bay , consequently the terrific weight caused the
axles to overheat in the wooden wheel hubs , which suddenly burst into flame .
So it was that the worthy matrons of Tynemouth , while busy with their after
breakfast chores , were suddenly disturbed by urgent , thunderous hammerings on
their front doors ; and they found a crowd of men demanding "buckets of watter
hinny" , while in the roadway lay a smouldering something . Buckets of water
were brought quickly and one bearded ruffian , thinking the lady required an
explanation told her briefly , "the bloody things afire hinny" Soon the
carriage was cooled down and the procession was on the move again . However ,
it is not everyday that a lifeboat goes past your front room window . So ,
putting on their shawls , the good ladies , along with small boys with their
inevitable dogs , joined the convoy . A few young men were dispatched to
scatter along the cliff tops to search for the "Electra" . Meanwhile , the
convoy turned north across the field , through hedges , dykes , and ditches ,
the carriage was manhandled , until it came to a dry stone wall with a gate
about 4 Feet wide . The boat was 11 feet beam . The gate was kicked of its post
while the boatmen began to tear down the wall . The farmer tending his cattle
was furious when he saw what was going on . He came running over demanding to
know the reason for this vandalism . a dozen voices put him in the picture ,
then he called out his labourers and soon everyone was busy tearing down the
wall . At length , the opening was big enough for the carriage to go through .
So on again went the convoy , but a little later , while crossing a field , the
carriage gave up the ghost and collapsed . Jacob Harrison ( coxswain ) and
Joseph Smith ( 2nd coxswain ) held a conference in the middle of the field with
the rest of the boatmen . They decided that having got this far they would not
turn back . They gave the loose gear which was in the boat to the spectators to
carry while they dragged the craft on her keel . A youth came running with the
news that the "Electra" was lying close inshore of Hartley Bates , with both
anchors down , but being pounded by heavy seas . An elegant gentleman neatly
attired in riding clothes , was out exercising his horse , when to his surprise
he observed a rowing boat proceeding slowly northwards through a field of grass
. He cantered up to , and , by turning his ventilators to the wind and
listening carefully to the spectators , he soon became fully aware of the
situation . He thought it advisable to follow . The convoy reached Hartley
Bates . The boat was dragged down to the edge of the sea , the gear retrieved
and placed in the boat , the lifeboatmen took their seats and the boat was
launched . To launch a lifeboat into the sea from a carriage is comparatively
easy , but to launch without the carriage is extremely difficult . Twice the
boat was thrown back on to the beach . The third time they tried to get her off
, four men were tossed out of the boat as her bow reared high in the air .
Three boatmen grabbed hold of the life line looped around outer hull of the
boat , being hauled back in as the craft was tossed back on the beach . A
fourth man was washed back towards the beach , but the receding seas dragged
him back out again while the ebb tide began to carry him further North . At
this point the horseman rode his horse into the sea towards the boatman , then
using his whip like a fishing rod , he held it out towards the victim , who at
last managed to grab hold of it , then the gentleman grabbed hold of the man by
the scruff of the neck , urged his steed towards the shore , and dropped the
boatman like a gasping codfish on the shore . Before the "Tyne" could be
launched again , a terrific sea struck the "Electra" , breaking her cables . A
following sea bore her towards the shore , then with her torn canvas streaming
like tattered banners , the "Electra" struck the shore . The crew ran along the
jib boom , dropped on the shore , and did not even get their feet wet . The
next day , the damaged "Tyne" was towed back to her berth by the lifeboat
"Providence" for repairs and while under repairs she was altered internally to
make her self draining like the "Providence" ". |
