A north-east lifeboat crew has taken to sea to pay tribute to the men lost in one of the area’s worst disasters.
On January 21, 1970, Fraserburgh’s lifeboat – the Duchess of Kent – was launched as part of an effort to rescue a Danish fishing vessel.
Opal was around 35 miles from the port, but within three minutes of reaching the boat, the crew was swamped with massive waves and the vessel overturned.
A wreath was laid at the memorial marking three separate disasters last month, but it has been taken out to sea to remember the men who never came back.
The dead were coxswain John Stephen, the town’s assistant harbour master; Fred Kirkness, the lifeboat’s engineer; William Hadden, a customs and excise officer; fish worker James Buchan and tool worker James Buchan, who was reputed to have jumped on to the lifeboat as it began making its way out of port.
Coxswain Victor Sutherland placed the wreath into the sea before the crew took part in a minute’s silence before one of their regular training sessions.
He said: “The wreath in their memory was placed on the memorial this year on the January 21, the 48th Anniversary of the 1970 Fraserburgh Lifeboat Disaster.
“As is the tradition, it was taken to out and laid at sea before our regular evening training exercise.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that he gives up his life for his fellow men”
Mr Sutherland said he was committed to marking the 50th anniversary two years hence with a major event to commemorate a tragedy which shook everybody in the coastal community.
He said: “In 2020, it will be the 50th anniversary of the 1970 disaster and we hope to plan something bigger.
“Irrespective, it is important we remember them.”