the great storm of November 1877, but the damage inflicted during the rescues led to her retirement. Friend to all Nations The Friend of all Nations being unfit for further service, funds were raised for a replacement. This new boat, the Friend to all Nations, was also built at White's and arrived in Margate on 6 July 1878. The Friend to all Nations became famous in the great storm of 1897, which damaged much of Margate and destroyed the Switchback Railway. On the morning of 2 December 1897, thirteen men set out in the surfboat towards the struggling Persian Empire. However the Friend was hit by two waves in quick succession and capsized just off the Nayland Rock. Just four men made it to shore, of whom the medic Charles Troughton died on reaching land. The remaining nine were all beaten to a pulp on the rocks, except for Joseph Epps who was found, barely alive, underneath the capsized boat. Memorials were raised to the nine dead on the parade above Nayland Rock, and in Margate Cemetery. Apart from the mast and rigging, the boat itself was not badly damaged and returned to service. However she was lost on the night of 30 November 1898 while under tow in the Kentish Knock. She was recovered as far away as Great Yarmouth and repaired, but was not used again. 1899 boat A new boat was commissioned from White's, which was delivered in September 1899. This much larger boat - also called Friend to all Nations - required a crew of 15 and cost £800. Improvements in lifeboats meant that she was largely restricted to local salvage work with the occasional rescue. One of her most notable rescues was that of 26 people from the sailing ship Marechal Suchet. In 1922 she was motorised following public donations. She continued in service at Margate until the Second World War, when she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy for service as a ship's tender in Chatham docks. After the war she moved to Falmouth and made her final journey in 1957 when Willi Froelich, an ex Luftwaffe war prisoner, tried to sail his family home to Germany. They got into difficulty near Ostend and were taken under tow, but the hawser snapped. After drifting for a while, the surfboat broke her bow in rough seas and sank. See also Penlee lifeboat disaster Southport and