The morning of Wednesday, November 14, 1894, was a volatile one.

Scores of spectators gathered on Worthing seafront to watch in awe as gale-propelled rollers crashed on to the shingle with a mighty roar. The ferocity of the wind damaged seafront buildings and windows were blown in.

Then out of the dank grey Channel came a ship's lifeboat, with a solitary man at the tiller. He was the sole survivor from the Zadne, a 490-ton steamer based in South Shields, carrying a cargo of coal from South Wales to London.

Precisely what happened to the Zadne remains a mystery because about 300 yards from the shore, the black 21ft lifeboat flipped over and the occupant was cast into the turbulent sea, where he drowned.

Spectators on the pier watched in horror as the drama unfolded off East Worthing and some later criticised the failure of the town's lifeboat to launch.

The Sussex Daily News reported: "The small knot of spectators at the pierhead was, perhaps, the first to catch sight of a small speck, through the surf, some quarter of a mile to the east.

"Residents of the Half Brick pub saw from their upper rooms the poor fellow standing alone in the little craft endeavouring to steer his boat to take the enormous seas which threatened each moment to overwhelm him."

Over the next few days 11 bodies were washed up and they were taken to the mortuary in High Street prior to an inquest at the Anchor Inn, now the Jack Horner.

Newspaper reports of the past were far more graphic than today and a journalist described the seaweed-covered bodies.

He noted: "Blood in many places has been drawn freely and, except in one case, no limbs appear to have been broken, although the force of the waters has torn the clothing of several into shreds, leaving the cut and horribly disfigured limbs exposed."

The fact that the victims were washed ashore within half a mile of each other suggested they had died in shallow rather than deep water.

This suggested they may have got into the lifeboat before the Zadne sank but the truth of what happened to the vessel and its crew will never be known.

The man in the lifeboat was described as 22, with light brown hair, a slight moustache, grey eyes, plus tattoos on the left forearm with the letters V U, an anchor in blue and red and a ship in full sail.

The victims, two of whom couldn't be identified by sight, were, Thomas Farrell, master; George Tosh, first mate; George Dunn, second mate; C Erickson, steward; E J Sweeney, able seaman; John Sullivan, able seaman; Frank Kinsella, able seaman; E Frank, able seaman; D S Henderson, first engineer; Frederick William Strange, second engineer; T J Farrell, donkeyman; J. Gordon, fireman; T Steer, fireman; and J Leisk, fireman.

At the inquest, customs officer Jeremiah Storey said the Zadne was a fair-looking ship, which behaved well at sea.

All but one of the victims were buried at Broadwater, where there is a memorial. The other body taken back to South Wales for internment.

The funeral was attended by several thousand people who lined the route of the procession, led by the Salvation Army Band. It was described as "an impressive and pathetic sight".

The Royal National Lifeboat Institute staged an inquiry at the old town hall into the loss of the Zadne to find out whether there had been any failure of duty on the part of Worthing lifeboat crew.

Charles Lee, the coxswain, said the crew had been ready to go out but no one could see more than 300 yards offshore due to the conditions.

The RNLI agreed the tragedy had unfolded out of sight and by the time the crew became aware of what was happening it was too late anyway.