Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

Royal National Lifeboat Institution, Sir William Hillary, bronze (Patrick Rooney, Voted 21st May 1942) with uniface ‘double-dolphin’ suspension, mounted as worn, in case of issue, extremely fine
£450-550

Patrick Rooney was a crew member of the Newcastle, Co. Down, Lifeboat L.P. and St. Helen. On 21 January, 1942, a convoy of ships missed its way in the early morning, a number of vessels going ashore near Ballyquinton, Co. Down, northern Ireland, in a south-east gale with very heavy seas, rain and sleet. As the Cloughey lifeboat was already on service, the self-righting motor lifeboat L.P. and St. Helen launched at 5 a.m. with a 20 mile voyage ahead in limited visibility. Reaching the scene, Coxwain Murphy found seven ships ashore but only one, the Liverpool S.S. Browning, capable of being reached. Seventeen of her crew had been taken ashore by lifesaving apparatus and one of the remaining 39 had been shot in the hand while destroying horses. The Coxwain made several attempts to reach the vessel from the windward but without success. Then, switching to the lee side, he took the lifeboat through a dangerously narrow channel into a small lagoon of calm water. Taking off all survivors, the lifeboat was now seriously overloaded but the Coxwain took the only way out and crossed the reef of rocks at full speed, judging the time to perfection. With no chance of returning to Newcastle in the conditions prevailing, he landed the survivors at Porravogie, a small fishing village. The R.N.L.I. voted medals in gold to the Coxwain, in silver to the 2nd Coxwain and to the Mechanic, and in bronze to the four other members of the lifeboat crew. Coxswain Murphy was additionally awarded the British Empire Medal.