Lifeboat memorial

Continuing the lifeboat theme from yesterday. The weather was so gray and murky I didnt believe I was going to get any outdoor shots today but a fleeting shaft of sunlight enabled me to get this.

Coxswain William Johnson looks out to sea from on top the memorial to the 1886 St Annes lifeboat disaster.

When the barque, Mexico went aground in a gale near Southport on December 9, 1886, two lifeboats were lost while making rescue attempts. The Southport lifeboat capsized with the loss of 13 of her sixteen crew.
The St Annes lifeboat, Laura Janet, was overturned by waves and all fourteen crew members drowned.
All the crew of the Mexico were later saved by a third lifeboat.

This still remains the greatest disaster in the history of the RNLI.