155. Remembering the 13: Vic Sutherland

When all but one of the Fraserburgh lifeboat crew were lost in 1970, thousands attended the funeral. Vic Sutherland on the tragedy that sadly wasn’t the lifeboat station’s first

Outside Scotland’s first RNLI lifeboat station stands a statue of a lifeboat crew member watching over Fraserburgh harbour. The memorial – donations for which came from as far afield as Canada and Australia – stands as a tribute to the 13 lifesavers lost in three separate tragedies.

In 1919, two volunteers were swept overboard from the Lady Rothes. Six more were lost in 1953. And when five of the six crew perished in the 1970 disaster, Fraserburgh went without a lifeboat station until 1978. Current RNLI Coxswain / Mechanic Vic Sutherland reveals the toll the losses took on the local community.  

200 Voices is produced by Adventurous Audio for the RNLI   

Interview by Adventurous Audio 

Soundtrack composed and performed by Jon Nicholls   

The RNLI is a charity celebrating 200 years of saving lives at sea - find out more at RNLI.org/200