In 1872 there were four rescues:

 In January assistance was rendered to the Sjorn, a Norwegian ship which came ashore in Compton Bay.

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Two efforts made to save the crew of the barque Hope proved ineffectual and the ‘Vessel foundered in a hurricane with all hands’.

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In May the brig L’Etoile with a cargo of salt came ashore at Sudmore Point in heavy ground swell. All eight crew were landed by the Brighstone Lifeboat assisted by the George and Anne.  It is said that within four days there was no more trace of the L’Etoile.

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On the January 13th 1872, the brigantine Malcolm Brown was reported ashore in heavy seas. Coxswain Hayter decided to get the lifeboat overland to Compton and launch as near to the wreck as possible. Things did not go according to plan however; the carriage sank into the soft clay at the foot of the cliffs and became immovable. By the time they had removed the lifeboat from her carriage and got her back to the firm part of the shore, the tide had risen to such an extent that the seas were dashing the lifeboat and its thirty local helpers against the cliff. After working waist deep in icy water retrieving the boat, they went back for the carriage. No damage was done to the lifeboat but when they finally launched, they found that the vessel had already been abandoned.