Ex CVLS ALB Bernard Matthews 38-01
Bernard Matthews 38-01 -38ft Lochin class AWL
The former Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service (CVLS) all-weather lifeboat (ALB) Bernard Matthews is now in private ownership at Wells-next-the-sea in Norfolk. This one-off boat was built by Goodchild Marine Services at Gt. Yarmouth and is based on a 38ft. Lochin Marine design similar to the RNLI's Brede class but with clear elements of the RNLI Tyne class. The boat was built for Caister and served from 1991 to 2004 with several notable services.
Her longest service was on 25th. December 2001 to the Singapore-registered 2169 tons bulk gas carrier Kilgas Centurian which had run aground on the beach at Horsey Gap. The 81 metre ship had left Teesport and was heading to the Thames carrying 1,025 tonnes of liquid propane gas, 155 tonnes of diesel fuel, and 45 tonnes of gasoil. The ship was refloated with the aid of two tugs, Smit Tak and Anglia Duke. The tugs were assisted by Caister's lifeboat which took depth sounding, transfer equipment and connected tow lines. The lifeboat retuned home after 38 1/2 hours at sea.
What is regarded as Bernard Matthews finest service took place on the 8-9th. December 1993 to the Dutch trawler Vrouwe Grietve which was witnessed by a Royal Navy Captain who wrote the following letter to Lieutenant Commander B Miles, the director of the RNLI.
Dear Lieutenant Commander Miles RD FNI RNR
12 Dec 93
I am presently the Commanding Officer of the destroyer HMS NOTTINGHAM and my wife and I have been RNLI Shoreline members for a number of years, my regard and concern for the Institute stemming largely from my interests as a seafarer. I write to say that my admiration for the work of the lifeboatmen has been further intensified following a SAR incident in the early hours of 9 Dec.
Overnight 8/9 Dec. NOTTINGHAM was on passage from an exercise in the North Sea to our home port, PORTSMOUTH. The barometer had been falling markedly since the previous midday from around 100mb to 970, and the winds associated with this low had bought Force 9 conditions with steady 40kt westerlies gusting over 65kts, and a confused sea that was certainly a state 6, and at times 7. The sea surface temperature was 10 deg C and 8/8 low stratus. At 0115, my OOW informed me that we had received a Mayday Relay call on VHF IMM Ch 16, which put the Fishing Vessel declaring the distress about 40 nm ESE of Great Yarmouth and just 12 nm off our tract. I responded to Great Yarmouth CG and turned towards the FV.
FV VROUWE GRIETVE, a 40 m long trawler, had lost a man overboard in the conditions described, who was wearing yellow oilskins and wellington boots, but no lifejacket. A Sea King rescue helicopter from RAF MANSTON c/s Rescue 166 was en route, and the RNLI at GORLESTON and CAISTER were also responding. Sea conditions meant the NOTTINGHAM arrived at the datum at 0145z where several fishermen were now also searching.
It was impossible to launch my own Lynx helicopter as the deck was well out of limits, and in the event it was not SAR capable. Rescue 166 was only able to stay on task for 20 minutes or so in the conditions before needing to refuel at RAF COLTISHALL, and I became On Scene SAR Commander with the FV's and by now, several merchant ships, ranging from ferries, dredgers, Ro-Ro vessels and tankers. All of us were substantially built vessels, yet having great difficulty in manoeuvring for a search in the prevailing conditions. GORLESTON lifeboat had needed to turn back.
However, the Caister lifeboat continued to make way into all of this, and on raising his blue light we were able to vector him into the scene of search - a 7 square mile area SE of the datum promulgated by Great Yarmouth CG and agreed by me as of probability in which a man would drift to if fortunate enough to stay on the surface. To me the lifeboat looked like a "BREDE" class, and it was clear it was working at the very limits of, if not beyond, it's operating envelope, yet the Coxswain remained a cheerful voice on VHF with an incredible sense of determination and professionalism towards the search. Indeed my people were simply amazed as to how this small craft had managed to get to the scene. He sensibly elected to stay near to me as we swept through the area and must have been extremely uncomfortable in the conditions as time and time again he regularly disappeared beneath the high waves, and turning across the sea must have been particularly dangerous. One of my Bridge team was detailed to keep the lifeboat sighted.
Sadly, and it could be argued almost inevitably, we were unable to find the MOB. Following the guidance of Great Yarmouth CG regarding the line where no further hope remained of survival, I terminated the search after a few hours at 0500, and released the merchant ships from the area. The sea by this time was if anything worse, and NOTTINGHAM therefore provided an escort to the CAISTER lifeboat back to the relative lee of Great Yarmouth. During this six hour transit into sea, the lifeboatmen remained their very professional and cheerful selves, and as dawn broke we were able to see all the more clearly how much he was moving around and still being lost in the waves. My Flight Observer has taken some photographs which I shall forward to Caister.
All who witnessed, including some Army personnel who were embarked with me at the time, the lifeboat's work and fortitude were full of admiration for the courage that the crew displayed. As one of my sailors on the Bridge remarked
"These chaps have got real balls - especially when we are paid to be out in this and they are not!"
Throughout this incident your people showed incredible bravery and stamina - indeed just getting there and risking their own necks against the slimmest of chances of finding the MOB alive are testimony to their courage. Whilst I know this is part of the RNLI creed, in any persons book, this was, at it least an extraordinary effort and feat of seamanship, and certainly a very brave and sensitive response to save the life of a fellow seafarer. Whether or not your organisation chooses to recognise the CAISTER team for some form of appropriate form of award is within your gift, and I never did get the Coxswains name, but I should be grateful if you would pass on the admiration and respect from all in NOTTINGHAM to them. If nothing else, you may find a few more coins in the lifeboat slot next time one of my men goes past the collecting box.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Moncrieff.
This letter is testimony to the heroic exploits of the Caister crew. At the time of writing, Commander Moncrieff did not realise that the Caister Lifeboat is not part of the RNLI, subsequently he later carried out a surprise visit to the station and met Coxswain Dick Thurlow and his crew. He expressed personally his admiration of their efforts on that eventful night.
In 2005, Commander Moncrieff was appointed Commander South Atlantic.
When Caister received their new lifeboat the Bernard Matthews was purchased to operate as an independent lifeboat at Blyth following the widthdrawl of the RNLI's all-weather lifeboat from the port. It served as the "Spirit of Blyth and Wansbeck" (38-01) until 2016.
Ex CVLS ALB Bernard Matthews 38-01
Bernard Matthews 38-01 -38ft Lochin class AWL
The former Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service (CVLS) all-weather lifeboat (ALB) Bernard Matthews is now in private ownership at Wells-next-the-sea in Norfolk. This one-off boat was built by Goodchild Marine Services at Gt. Yarmouth and is based on a 38ft. Lochin Marine design similar to the RNLI's Brede class but with clear elements of the RNLI Tyne class. The boat was built for Caister and served from 1991 to 2004 with several notable services.
Her longest service was on 25th. December 2001 to the Singapore-registered 2169 tons bulk gas carrier Kilgas Centurian which had run aground on the beach at Horsey Gap. The 81 metre ship had left Teesport and was heading to the Thames carrying 1,025 tonnes of liquid propane gas, 155 tonnes of diesel fuel, and 45 tonnes of gasoil. The ship was refloated with the aid of two tugs, Smit Tak and Anglia Duke. The tugs were assisted by Caister's lifeboat which took depth sounding, transfer equipment and connected tow lines. The lifeboat retuned home after 38 1/2 hours at sea.
What is regarded as Bernard Matthews finest service took place on the 8-9th. December 1993 to the Dutch trawler Vrouwe Grietve which was witnessed by a Royal Navy Captain who wrote the following letter to Lieutenant Commander B Miles, the director of the RNLI.
Dear Lieutenant Commander Miles RD FNI RNR
12 Dec 93
I am presently the Commanding Officer of the destroyer HMS NOTTINGHAM and my wife and I have been RNLI Shoreline members for a number of years, my regard and concern for the Institute stemming largely from my interests as a seafarer. I write to say that my admiration for the work of the lifeboatmen has been further intensified following a SAR incident in the early hours of 9 Dec.
Overnight 8/9 Dec. NOTTINGHAM was on passage from an exercise in the North Sea to our home port, PORTSMOUTH. The barometer had been falling markedly since the previous midday from around 100mb to 970, and the winds associated with this low had bought Force 9 conditions with steady 40kt westerlies gusting over 65kts, and a confused sea that was certainly a state 6, and at times 7. The sea surface temperature was 10 deg C and 8/8 low stratus. At 0115, my OOW informed me that we had received a Mayday Relay call on VHF IMM Ch 16, which put the Fishing Vessel declaring the distress about 40 nm ESE of Great Yarmouth and just 12 nm off our tract. I responded to Great Yarmouth CG and turned towards the FV.
FV VROUWE GRIETVE, a 40 m long trawler, had lost a man overboard in the conditions described, who was wearing yellow oilskins and wellington boots, but no lifejacket. A Sea King rescue helicopter from RAF MANSTON c/s Rescue 166 was en route, and the RNLI at GORLESTON and CAISTER were also responding. Sea conditions meant the NOTTINGHAM arrived at the datum at 0145z where several fishermen were now also searching.
It was impossible to launch my own Lynx helicopter as the deck was well out of limits, and in the event it was not SAR capable. Rescue 166 was only able to stay on task for 20 minutes or so in the conditions before needing to refuel at RAF COLTISHALL, and I became On Scene SAR Commander with the FV's and by now, several merchant ships, ranging from ferries, dredgers, Ro-Ro vessels and tankers. All of us were substantially built vessels, yet having great difficulty in manoeuvring for a search in the prevailing conditions. GORLESTON lifeboat had needed to turn back.
However, the Caister lifeboat continued to make way into all of this, and on raising his blue light we were able to vector him into the scene of search - a 7 square mile area SE of the datum promulgated by Great Yarmouth CG and agreed by me as of probability in which a man would drift to if fortunate enough to stay on the surface. To me the lifeboat looked like a "BREDE" class, and it was clear it was working at the very limits of, if not beyond, it's operating envelope, yet the Coxswain remained a cheerful voice on VHF with an incredible sense of determination and professionalism towards the search. Indeed my people were simply amazed as to how this small craft had managed to get to the scene. He sensibly elected to stay near to me as we swept through the area and must have been extremely uncomfortable in the conditions as time and time again he regularly disappeared beneath the high waves, and turning across the sea must have been particularly dangerous. One of my Bridge team was detailed to keep the lifeboat sighted.
Sadly, and it could be argued almost inevitably, we were unable to find the MOB. Following the guidance of Great Yarmouth CG regarding the line where no further hope remained of survival, I terminated the search after a few hours at 0500, and released the merchant ships from the area. The sea by this time was if anything worse, and NOTTINGHAM therefore provided an escort to the CAISTER lifeboat back to the relative lee of Great Yarmouth. During this six hour transit into sea, the lifeboatmen remained their very professional and cheerful selves, and as dawn broke we were able to see all the more clearly how much he was moving around and still being lost in the waves. My Flight Observer has taken some photographs which I shall forward to Caister.
All who witnessed, including some Army personnel who were embarked with me at the time, the lifeboat's work and fortitude were full of admiration for the courage that the crew displayed. As one of my sailors on the Bridge remarked
"These chaps have got real balls - especially when we are paid to be out in this and they are not!"
Throughout this incident your people showed incredible bravery and stamina - indeed just getting there and risking their own necks against the slimmest of chances of finding the MOB alive are testimony to their courage. Whilst I know this is part of the RNLI creed, in any persons book, this was, at it least an extraordinary effort and feat of seamanship, and certainly a very brave and sensitive response to save the life of a fellow seafarer. Whether or not your organisation chooses to recognise the CAISTER team for some form of appropriate form of award is within your gift, and I never did get the Coxswains name, but I should be grateful if you would pass on the admiration and respect from all in NOTTINGHAM to them. If nothing else, you may find a few more coins in the lifeboat slot next time one of my men goes past the collecting box.
Yours sincerely,
Ian Moncrieff.
This letter is testimony to the heroic exploits of the Caister crew. At the time of writing, Commander Moncrieff did not realise that the Caister Lifeboat is not part of the RNLI, subsequently he later carried out a surprise visit to the station and met Coxswain Dick Thurlow and his crew. He expressed personally his admiration of their efforts on that eventful night.
In 2005, Commander Moncrieff was appointed Commander South Atlantic.
When Caister received their new lifeboat the Bernard Matthews was purchased to operate as an independent lifeboat at Blyth following the widthdrawl of the RNLI's all-weather lifeboat from the port. It served as the "Spirit of Blyth and Wansbeck" (38-01) until 2016.