Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Centenary of first Fraserburgh lifeboat disaster remembered

(L-R) Grant Morrison, Dave Sutherland, Victor Sutherland, Craig Brockette (an American ancestor of Andrew Noble), John Stephen and AJ Morgan.
(L-R) Grant Morrison, Dave Sutherland, Victor Sutherland, Craig Brockette (an American ancestor of Andrew Noble), John Stephen and AJ Morgan.

The centenary of a tragedy that resulted in the loss of two lifeboat heroes was marked in Fraserburgh yesterday.

On April 28, 1919, coxswain Andrew Noble and second coxswain Andrew Farquhar were killed after the lifeboat Lady Rothes capsized while it was responding to a mayday call in the north east.

The incident was the first tragedy to hit the port’s lifeboat crew after it was established in 1831.

The vessel was launched to help the HM drifter, Eminent, which was going aground near Fraserburgh Bay.

As the Lady Rothes crossed the bay, she got knocked on her boom end and many of the 13 crew on board ended up in the water.

The ferocious swell drove the boat ashore and around 100 people were watching the drama unfold without realising the crew were actually trying to save themselves.

People pulled the men onto the beach with Mr Noble and Mr Farquhar dying shortly afterwards. It is not known what exactly caused the tragedy, but the men were the only members of the crew wearing full oilskins and it is thought that caused them difficulties while trying to swim to safety.

Yesterday, the current Fraserburgh lifeboat crew marked the 100 years since that fateful day with a poignant and simple ceremony.

Miriam Kemp from the Fraserburgh Fishermen’s Mission and the honourable Kate Nicolson from the fundraising committee both spoke during the short service.

Wreaths were laid at the statue outside the Shore Street lifeboat station and in the water of Fraserburgh Bay to honour the men who went out to sea that day.

Lifeboat volunteers were joined by a small crowd to take part in a two-minute silence in tribute to the men.

Coxswain Vic Sutherland said the crew of 2019 were commemorating one of the “darkest days” in the port’s maritime history.

He said: “Andrew Noble and Andrew Farquhar spent a lifetime at sea and knew full well the dangers.

“But yet they faced these dangers as mariners and helped those in trouble.

“Their willingness was to help in spite of the personal risk and these admirable qualities should be commemorated. We remember and salute their commitment and mourn their loss to their families and descendants.”

In addition to the 1919 disaster, Fraserburgh lifeboat has been blighted by two other tragedies.

In 1953, six men died when their lifeboat capsized in heavy seas near the harbour and in 1970, five crew perished when it was caught up in a swell and capsized.