The skipper of a scallop trawler became an unlikely hero after a dinghy filled with a group attempting to cross the English channel in wintertime broke apart.
His vigilance and mariner skill saved 31 lives of men and children that night from the freezing water.
It was dark and cold in early December after a cold snap fell over the Channel, dropping the water temp to just above freezing. Around 4AM Ben Squires got a call from the captain of one of his boats, the Arcturus.
The captain said that the group were in a flimsy inflatable dinghy and had managed to make a distress call when he was close enough to attempt a rescue in what was a fairly-small fishing vessel.
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