Wednesday, June 9, 2010
The RNLI two Thunderjets and Four Fishermen
It’s great that Whitstable now has Lifeboat representation, having been a sailor most of my life it’s a comforting thought to know you are only a VHF call away from help, in the past we have been reliant on the Margate Lifeboat which was the case for many years and was in days past our nearest, Sheerness did not have a Lifeboat until 1970, so the story I am going to relate concerns the three lifeboat stations closest to Whitstable at the time, these were Margate, Ramsgate and Southend and the date 13th November 1957 I was seventeen and was mate on the fishing boat Pandalus owned by Bert Stroud an ex RAF man whose father owned the bakery opposite the Oxford cinema, Bert also owned Portunus and was skippered by “Cod”Kelsey and Dave Stroud, ( no relationship to Bert) was mate on this boat.
At about 6.05 pm on the 13th, a message was received by the coastguard from USAF Manston that two Thunder Jet F84’s had gone missing. A further message at 6.28 pm stated that the aircraft had gone down in the sea between the Woolpack and the pudding Pan Sands, of course I knew nothing of this until Bert Stroud came to my house explained the situation and asked if I would go to sea and assist in searching for the pilots and to alert Dave Stroud as to the situation and bring him along, at 6.40 the Margate lifeboat “The North Foreland” was launched from Margate Closely followed by the Ramsgate and the Southend boats. Dave Stroud and myself arrived at the harbour at about 7.00pm and it soon became apparent the the weather was somewhat inclement, it was blowing hard from the east and the tide was ebbing, Cod Kelsey was already on board his boat Pandalus and had the engine running, Bert Stroud then arrived by car and we set about starting the engine on Portunus having achieved all pre sea checks we readied ourselves for an uncomfortable twelve or so hours at sea, I should add that we would not have gone to sea in these conditions if we were fishing. we cast off and headed out, rounding the pier head, the waves after clearing the pier were taken on our starboard quarter and breaking over the boat but once we were clear and heading into the waves it was not so bad, I was at the helm and Bert was on the radio to Cod and the Margate lifeboat, a forty minute steam with the Street Buoy well over our stern we could see the Margate lifeboat in the distance well lit up, because of the wind, visability was very good, another half an hour or so we were joined by the Ramsgate boat and later by the Southend lifeboat we searched all night in vain for wreckage without success we radioed the three lifeboats and told them of our decision to return to harbour, they thanked us for turning out in what can only be described as atrocious conditions.
Three weeks later we all received letters from the RNLI which included a cheque for a small amount and expressing their thanks at the courage shown,. The following day we learnt that one large fuel tank was found, also a body belt, sadly no bodies were ever recovered. Between October the 30th and November the 13th Four aircraft were lost at sea around our coast and the RNLI featured in all the searches. Losses were a USAF. Sabre Jet off Norfolk an RAF Hawker Hunter off Ilfracombe and lastly the USAF Thunderjets from Manston
Kind regards
Dave Jordan
At about 6.05 pm on the 13th, a message was received by the coastguard from USAF Manston that two Thunder Jet F84’s had gone missing. A further message at 6.28 pm stated that the aircraft had gone down in the sea between the Woolpack and the pudding Pan Sands, of course I knew nothing of this until Bert Stroud came to my house explained the situation and asked if I would go to sea and assist in searching for the pilots and to alert Dave Stroud as to the situation and bring him along, at 6.40 the Margate lifeboat “The North Foreland” was launched from Margate Closely followed by the Ramsgate and the Southend boats. Dave Stroud and myself arrived at the harbour at about 7.00pm and it soon became apparent the the weather was somewhat inclement, it was blowing hard from the east and the tide was ebbing, Cod Kelsey was already on board his boat Pandalus and had the engine running, Bert Stroud then arrived by car and we set about starting the engine on Portunus having achieved all pre sea checks we readied ourselves for an uncomfortable twelve or so hours at sea, I should add that we would not have gone to sea in these conditions if we were fishing. we cast off and headed out, rounding the pier head, the waves after clearing the pier were taken on our starboard quarter and breaking over the boat but once we were clear and heading into the waves it was not so bad, I was at the helm and Bert was on the radio to Cod and the Margate lifeboat, a forty minute steam with the Street Buoy well over our stern we could see the Margate lifeboat in the distance well lit up, because of the wind, visability was very good, another half an hour or so we were joined by the Ramsgate boat and later by the Southend lifeboat we searched all night in vain for wreckage without success we radioed the three lifeboats and told them of our decision to return to harbour, they thanked us for turning out in what can only be described as atrocious conditions.
Three weeks later we all received letters from the RNLI which included a cheque for a small amount and expressing their thanks at the courage shown,. The following day we learnt that one large fuel tank was found, also a body belt, sadly no bodies were ever recovered. Between October the 30th and November the 13th Four aircraft were lost at sea around our coast and the RNLI featured in all the searches. Losses were a USAF. Sabre Jet off Norfolk an RAF Hawker Hunter off Ilfracombe and lastly the USAF Thunderjets from Manston
Kind regards
Dave Jordan
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
