The Falmouth pilot boat Trelawney left the harbour on an urgent mercy mission in the early hours of Monday morning when the American cable ship Zeus wanted to land a crew member whose father was critically ill in the United States.

Coxswains Keith Wing and David Roberts aboard Trelawney met the ship four miles off Falmouth and landed the man, Mr John Small, at the docks where a taxi took him to Gatwick airport.

Plymouth agency boss Phil Cater of WD Tamlyn, later sent a fax to the two men: "I wish to express my personal gratitude for a job well done. Your kind co-operation is very much appreciated, especially at such short notice and being at an ungodly hour."

Zeus, operates under a cloak of secrecy and is a unit of the United States Military Sealift Command, Pacific, which has its headquarters in Oakland, California.

She is heavily involved in sonar work connected with top secret subsea 'listening' cables that can identify noise signatures of enemy warships. During her Atlantic trips Zeus maintains radio silence most of the time when she is in what the Americans term "stealth mode".

Launched in 1982 the Zeus spends a great deal of her time in the Atlantic on sensitive missions. Powered by twin diesel electric engines developing 10,200 HP for silent running the Zeus can steam at 15 knots.