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Centenary of 1916 Salcombe Lifeboat Disaster

Salcombe church

It was a beautiful, calm, morning in Salcombe today when the people who live around tArriving at the wreath laying pointhe Harbour turned out in their hundreds to pay tribute to the 13 crew members who died in the Salcombe Lifeboat Disaster on 27 October 1916. The two Salcombe lifeboats, accompanied by the Plymouth lifeboat (nearest the camera), three de-commissioned lifeboats, three Salcombe rowing gigs, a flotilla of small boats and the Coastguard helicopter, laid a wreath near the spot where the William and Emma was up-ended in near hurricane-force winds.

Another poignant moment was when the three leading lifeboats Passing SS lifeboat housepassed the old lifeboat station at South Sands, the home base which the William and Emma was trying to reach, and was so close to, before disaster struck.

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