Caister Lifeboat

Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service or Caister Lifeboat is based at Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk, and operates one of only three offshore lifeboats in the UK that are independent of the RNLI.

A lifeboat at Caister was first documented in 1791, being used by the Caister Beach Company to salvage ships wrecked on the sand banks offshore from Caister. Between 1856 and 1969 lifeboats at Caister were operated by the RNLI.

The current lifeboats, the Bernard Matthews II (a Dutch-built Valentijn 2000 offshore lifeboat) and the Fred Dyble (a 5m long Ribcraft onshore lifeboat), are run by the Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service, a registered charity supported entirely by public donation.

James Haylett Snr. became Assistant Coxswain of the Caister lifeboat. His mettle was tested at around midnight on 22 July 1885. The yawl Zephyr was launched to the aid of a stranded schooner on the Lower Barber Sand. On a calm and moonlit night and the crew of fifteen were on what they felt was a routine call. James Haylett, Senior, was at the helm and as the yawl neared the Barber he called out "now dear boys, keep a lookout for that old stump" referring to the mast of a stone-laden schooner, the crew of which had been saved by the Caister men some nine years earlier. His warnings came too late however when the yawl’s port bow struck the mast and the boat was ripped apart.

Seconds later the whole crew were struggling in the water. They managed to cut free much of the yawl’s rigging and masts and this proved to be the salvation of the survivors. James Haylett, the coxswain, supported himself on two oars before drifting close by the foremast, on which were his son Aaron, William Knowles and Joseph Haylett. They kept afloat for a time, but the mast kept rolling over in the swell. Aaron moved to his father’s oars but William & Joseph were drowned. John George, another of the crew, swam towards the shore and came across a shrimper, "The Brothers", of Yarmouth. Which then led the search for the other beachmen. First to be picked up was Robert Plummer on a grating, then one after the other, Aaron Haylett, Isaiah Haylett, George Haylett, Harry Russell, and lastly James Haylett, Senior, still on the foremast with an oar under one arm and a sett under the other. The remaining eight crewmen were drowned. James' son Frederick was amongst the dead.

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Wikipedia