Four sailors were plucked from the wreckage of their historic fishing vessel as it broke up beneath their feet.
The Courageous II was en route to Padstow in the early hours of yesterday morning, where it is a regular sight at the town's Mayday celebrations.
However, the ship got into difficulty and hit rocks in the Camel estuary as it was heading towards the safety of the harbour.
The Padstow RNLI crew were called to the scene at 5am where mechanic Mike England said the ship was rapidly breaking up. He said they performed a difficult rescue in challenging conditions.
"This was a very speedy rescue as the four men were in immediate danger with the boat literally breaking up under their feet."
Mr England said coxswain Alan Tarby had to manoeuvre the lifeboat in extremely shallow water.
The four men on board assembled on the rear deck then scrambled onto the safety of the lifeboat. "Sadly the vessel was breaking up very quickly," said Mr England.
He said that it was a regular visitor to Padstow's Obby Oss Mayday festival, adding "It's very sad to see their boat in such a terrible situation."
The vessel was travelling from its home port of Bristol and wreckage from the 70-year-old vessel has already been washed up on local beaches.
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch has been informed of the incident.
