The tragic accident of the "Commandant-Viort" lifeboat
Mr. LÉON BERTHAUT, PRESIDENT OF THE SOCIETY OF BRETON RESCUE HOSPITALISTS, EXPRESSES HIS CONFIDENCE IN THE HENRY LIFEBOATS

SAINT-MALO, March 11 (From our special correspondent.) Very kindly. Mr. Léon Berthaut, the devoted President General of the Society of Breton Rescue Hospitalists, has kindly granted us an interview. He welcomes us to Dinard, in his welcoming villa in Bel Air, which stands in the middle of a garden adorned with the budding graces of spring.
Mr. Léon Berthaut was deeply affected by the accident of the "Commandant-Viort." He does not hide the emotion that grips him.

As a result of a disconcerting accident, the lifeboat capsized. We will investigate the causes, he said, but I can assure you of one thing: our confidence in the Henry system is unshakeable.
When the bodies of the victims of the La Rochelle lifeboat were brought to the station, Commander Darde, president of the lifeboat station, bowed before the coffins of these heroes and declared that the "Commandant-Viort" would resume service. A surviving crew member affirmed: "We are ready to return." These simple words from a sailor, how moving!

Twenty years without an accident
Mr. Léon Berthaut added: "The Henry boats cannot sink; in the twenty years they have been operating, we have never recorded an accident. We are awaiting the results of the investigation, but the hypothesis of a temporary lack of water could perfectly explain this capsize of the lifeboat. The "Pierre-Labbe," which you saw at the Saint-Servan station and which is of the same type as the "Commandant-Viort," except that it does not have an engine, has performed some convincing experiments. In November 1923, in Le Havre, it was lifted to a height of 10 meters and released into the dock; it righted itself instantly.
Soon, in Saint-Malo, we will repeat these experiments before the crowd. Let the skeptics come; they will be forced to bow to reality.
At the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, a Henry boat, with its entire crew on board, was tipped into the water. It immediately regained its balance. In addition to the numerous prizes that the Henry lifeboats, belonging to the Central Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked People and the Hospitaliers Sauveteurs Bretons, have won at various conferences, they have received the approval of the technical commission for naval construction at the Ministry of the Navy.

Those Who Didn't Return
But as exceptional as lifeboat losses may be, there are a few examples.
On March 26, 1882, the entire crew of the Le Havre Chamber of Commerce lifeboat perished. More recently, several men from the Dieppe boat were killed a short distance from the port.
In England, on February 8, 1861, at Wilby, the lifeboat, after saving seven crew members, was caught by a huge wave and capsized. Eleven men drowned. In December 1886, at Sainte-Anne-sur-Mer, Lancashire, of three lifeboats that set out during the night, only one returned.
In February 1914, the Lifeboat Helen Blake, from the Fethard station, came to the rescue of the sailing ship Mexico. Fifty meters from the ship, the lifeboat was assailed by enormous waves and before it had time to weigh anchor, it was torn to pieces. In Holland, about fifteen months ago, a motorboat never returned.
The question of the safety of lifeboats was examined with the greatest attention and discussed at the study conference held in London in July 1924 on the occasion of the centenary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Here is a summary of the conclusions reached by our English friends. Today, as forty years ago, it is impossible to have boats that are perfectly safe in all possible wind and sea conditions. They probably never will be. This is the merit and honor of the crews. The best lifeboats will therefore not always be free from disaster, since the safer the boat, the greater the rescuers' confidence in it, and the more willing they will be, as brave and daring men, to take greater risks.

Let us have confidence.
And Mr. Berthaut concludes thus: The men of the "Commandant-Viort" conducted themselves marvelously; they fought with all their heart and soul; we are in awe of their work.
As for us, we will not abandon the Henry system, and to succeed our old "Pierre-Labbé" from Saint-Servan, which has proven itself in many circumstances, we are considering a boat like the "Commandant-Viort," which will probably bear the name of Commandant-Reculour, father of the Terreneuvas.
We will, moreover, once again take care to surround ourselves with the most authoritative advice and also to ensure that we have done everything that scientific progress will allow us to achieve. Our company will shortly be issuing a statement expressing its admiration for the rescuers and its confidence in the Henry boats.

The opinion of such an authoritative figure as Mr. Léon Berthaut therefore fully confirms what the sailors of the Pierre-Labbé told us yesterday.

Maurice JAN.