"On a dark night, 6th April, 1877, H.M.S. _Immortalite_ was under sail,
going four-and-a-half knots before the wind, the sea rough for swimming,
and abounding with sharks, when T. E. Hocken, O.S., fell overboard.
Sub-Lieut. R. A. F. Montgomerie, R.A., jumped overboard from the bridge,
a height of twenty-five feet, to his assistance, swam to him, got hold
of the man, and hauled him on to his back, then swam with him to where
he supposed the life-buoy would be; but, seeing no relief, he states
that after keeping him afloat some time, he told the man to keep himself
afloat whilst he took his clothes off. He had got his coat and shirt
off, and was in the act of taking off his trousers when Hocken, in
sinking, caught him by the legs and dragged him down a considerable
depth. His trousers luckily came off clear, and he swam to the surface,
bringing the drowning man with him. Hocken was now insensible. He was
eventually picked up by a second boat that was lowered, after having
been over twenty-one minutes in the water, the first boat having missed
him. The life-buoy was not seen."
[Illustration: LIEUT. LEWIS E. WINTZ, R.N.
_From a Photo. by Henry Wayland, Blackheath._]