268 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



tons and 50 horse-power, built in 1900, and owned by 

 Mr. G. Fyfe, of Aberdeen, was on the Viking Bank, 

 some 225 miles north-east by east of Aberdeen, at 12.30 

 a.m. on 27th August 1910. Although it was a pitch- 

 dark night and blowing hard, with a heavy sea running, 

 the skipper decided to shoot his trawl. When he thought 

 that all was clear he shouted to let go, but unfortunately 

 John Fraser, a deck hand, was standing on a part of the 

 net, and was carried into the sea. Hearing the cry 

 " Man overboard ! " the chief engineer rushed up from 

 below and instantly jumped into the water after the deck 

 hand, who was his brother. He managed to reach him 

 and they both drifted astern. A light in the after rigging 

 enabled the men to be faintly seen, and a rope was 

 thrown which the engineer succeeded in grasping. His 

 hands, however, were greasy with oil from the engine- 

 room, and he had the utmost difficulty in retaining his 

 hold. It was only after fifteen minutes' strenuous 

 exertion that they were got on board. 



That is the bald official record of the bravest deed of 

 1910 ; but the reader will have no difficulty in fitting the 

 trimmings to the tale, if they are wanted. The presenta- 

 tion was made at the annual meeting of the Royal 

 Humane Society, by Admiral the Hon. Sir Edmund 

 R. Fremantle, K.C.B., C.M.G., A.D.C., himself one 

 of the five living naval officers to whom the medal 

 has been given in the past. The medal was founded 

 in memory of the late Captain Chandos Scudamore 

 Stanhope, R.N. It has been given for many gallant 

 deeds in many parts of the world ; but it has never been 

 awarded for a finer or more dramatic performance than 

 that of the chief engineer of the little Donside on the 



