Wreaths are to be laid at sea today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the deaths of eight Scottish lifeboatmen
Wreaths are to be laid at sea today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of a Scottish lifeboat disaster.
All eight lifeboatmen aboard the Broughty Ferry lifeboat Mona were lost when the boat capsized in a ferocious storm off the River Tay on 8 December 1959.
The boat had been called out to assist the North Carr light vessel which had broken free from its moorings and was in danger of drifting ashore.
Mona was launched at 3.13am, and at 4.48am radioed that she had just cleared the bar at the mouth of the Tay.
Nothing further was heard of the boat until it was washed up on the beach four hours later, about a mile south of Carnoustie.
The bodies of five of the lifeboat’s crew were found in the boat, with two others nearby, but the eighth crewman was never found.
