midnight
The small lifeboat belonging to that place put off to the rescue . Eight stout men of the coastguard composed her crew . She belonged to the National Lifeboat Institution -- all the boats of which are now built on the self-righting principle . The wreck was reached soon after midnight , and found to have been deserted by her crew ; the boat therefore returned to the shore . While crossing a deep channel between two shoals she was caught up and struck by three heavy seas in succession . The coxswain lost command of the rudder , and she was carried away before a sea , broached to and upset , throwing the men out of her . Immediately she righted herself , cleared herself of water , and the anchor having fallen out she was brought up by it .