Lynmouth lifeboat Louisa hauled overland from Porlock Weir to rescue the Forrest Hall (1899)

On 12 January 1899, the Lynmouth lifeboat Louisa was hauled overland to Porlock Weir to rescue the ship Forrest Hall. The storm prevented a launch from Lynmouth, prompting Coxswain Jack Crocombe to propose a road journey. Volunteers transported the boat across Exmoor to the sheltered harbour, where it was launched to assist the vessel.

Episodes

Background and detail

Background. Lynmouth Lifeboat Station was the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution search and rescue operations at Lynmouth, Devon, from 1869 until 1944. Lynmouth lies on the north coast of Devon facing the Bristol Channel. The station's best-known action came in 1899, when the lifeboat was taken 15 miles (24 km) across Exmoor before being launched to assist a ship in trouble.

The Rescue Operation. On the evening of 12 January 1899, the ship Forrest Hall encountered trouble off Porlock Weir during a severe gale. The alarm was raised for the Louisa, but the storm prevented a launch from Lynmouth harbour. Coxswain Jack Crocombe proposed taking the boat by road to Porlock's sheltered harbour to launch it from there instead.

Aftermath. The lifeboat reached Porlock Weir at 6:30 am and was launched. The tugs took the ship across the channel to Barry, accompanied by the Louisa and the Lynmouth lifeboat volunteers in case there were further problems. The station remained active until 1944.

People involved

Sources

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.