AS the Royal National Lifeboat Association celebrates its 200th anniversary, few in the Three Towns may realise that for many years Ardrossan had its own RNLI vessel...or that it was one tinged with tragedy.
Back in 1880, three crew members died as heroes as they went to the rescue of a sailing ship drifting perilously close to Horse Island, just off the town's North Shore, during a terrible storm.
Another two men who had been rescued from the ship also perished.
Now plans are afoot to remember the lost RNLI men with a plaque in the town commemorating their bravery.
While the Ardrossan life crew only served between 1870 and 1928, the local RNLI fundraising committee remains active to this day.
And they have been contacted by the great-great-grandaughter of the coxswain, who was one of the three men who died as a result of the tragedy
She is exploring the possibility of donating a plaque to commemorate this and the 200th anniversary of the RNLI.
Newspaper reports reveal the disaster happened on March 1, 1880. The weather had worsened during that day, and by evening, a full gale was blowing.
The crew of the marque Matilsa Hollyard, of Yarmouth, flashed her lights as she approached Ardrossan harbour.
She was dangerously close to Horse Island, failed to alter course, and was driven ashore on the east of the island at around 11pm.
The lifeboat launched with 13 crew on board under Coxswain Breckenridge, and while she quickly reached the wreck, they struggled to get alongside.
Finally, they managed to get some of the crew members across to the island. After establishing lines to the wreck, the crew of 12 were pulled through the surf to the island, while the wreck, with masts gone, was swept end to end by heavy seas.
A tug and harbour boat, with four men aboard, came out to help. The tug took the lifeboat, now with 25 people on board, in tow, with the harbour boat astern.
The tug tried hard to take the furious seas head-on to protect the heavily laden lifeboat. But just 400 yards from the harbour, they had to alter course to make a safe entrance.
The lifeboat was struck by three tremendous waves and - held captive in double tow - capsized. And it did not manage to right itself.
The survivors clung to the lifeboat's lines or to the upturned keel, and some managed to scramble into the harbour.
Two men who had been swept away were picked up by a steamer, but two of the rescued seamen and two members of the lifeboat crew, Grier and McEwan, were drowned.
Coxswain Breckenridge would soon become a victim of the disaster, too. He died shortly afterwards from lung congestion, caused by his immersion in the waters.
A local dependents' fund was quickly set up, to which the RNLI contributed £300.
The Ardrossan and West Kilbride RNLI fund-raising group is now the remnant of the original Ladies' Guild, which began raising cash for the charity in 1955.
Member Sheila Chalmbers said: "Lots of different fundraising activities were done, coffee mornings, dances, house to house collections, street collection and garden parties, quizzes and many other ideas.
"However with the advent of time, and the ageing of the ladies - oh, and along came Covid.
"We are a very small group now, and our main funds come from collection boxes in local shops and bars.
"We have been discussing lately organising a quiz soon."
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