[2] On 14 October 1881, a day known for over 100 shipwrecks, and in one town, still referred to as Black Friday, when over 20 fishing boats, and 189 men, were lost, the steamship Cyprian, on passage to the Mediterranean from Liverpool, with 28 people aboard, was driven ashore in hurricane conditions on the southern edge of Caernarfon Bay.

[2][3][4] Captain of the Cyprian, John Alexander Strachan, would give his life-jacket to a boy, a stowaway, who would then be one of only 8 survivors.

[2] Launched on service for the first time on 12 December 1883 to the vessel Lady Hicks of Liverpool, the crew struggled to overcome the surf to leave the Trefor harbour.

A huge wave hit the lifeboat, which was capsized, breaking both masts in the shallow water.

On 6 December 1895, the Llanaelhaearn lifeboat was launched to the aid of the schooner Gauntlet, de-masted in a gale 1 mile (1.6 km) off Trefor.