Margate Surfboat

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After the Margate Surfboat disaster, 1897:

Almost exactly a year was to pass during which time the irrepressible boatmen’s spirit had returned when the Surfboat was thrown upon troubled waters once again.

On this occasion, the night of the 30th of November 1898 a steamship was reported as being in difficulty on the Long Sand. The Surfboat managed to obtain a tow from a passing tug, the ‘Harold’, but near the Kentish knock the small boat became rapidly swamped to the extent that the men who were now wearing life jackets were fearful of being washed away, although the tugmen as soon as they realised what had happened brought the boatmen onto the tug and proceeded to calmer waters.

Whilst proceeding inshore they were struck by a very large sea, after which they found only the bow post of the ‘Friend’ at the other end of the tow~rope.

The damaged craft having broken away drifted right across the estuary as far as Great Yarmouth where it was recovered. Although she was repaired and returned to Margate her days as a surfboat were over and a new surfboat was constructed despite the many advances achieved by the RNLI, much reducing the real need for the boatmen to put themselves to such inordinate risks.

The loyalty to the old Culmer White’s enterprise remained and through generous patronage the Cowes firm delivered the new, improved and much larger boat, which required a crew of 15, in 1899 at a cost of eight hundred pounds.

The boatmen’s activities still enjoyed a large popularity in the town and large crowds attended the naming ceremony but although it saw much active service was chiefly restricted by the better class of Lifeboat to local salvage work with the very occasional rescue.

The Surfboat, it must be said in conclusion continued in her much reduced reserve capacity until the mid 1940’s, when she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and taken to Chatham to serve as a tender to vessels there moored and in 1949, after having been moved to Falmouth she was described as ‘a battered and engineless old hulk which once took part in many dramatic sea rescues off Margate where she remained until 1957, when ex Luftwaffe war prisoner Willi Froelich and his family attempted to sail her to their home, in Germany and got into difficulty near Ostend.

The end came for the little boat whilst under tow the hawser snapped and after some drifting about she broke her bow on the rough seas in mid channel and completely sank.