History of the Rnli
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HISTORY OF THE RNLI , Dunmore East, 1914 East, Dunmore , Fanny Harriet Fanny Henry Greatheads ‘The Original’ Early lifesavers The islands of Britain and Ireland have Lionel Lukin and patented in 1785. always been at the mercy of the sea. In the A 1789 competition, run by a group early 19th century, there was an average of of businessmen from Tyne and Wear, 1,800 shipwrecks a year around our coasts, sought designs for rescue boats. and this danger was an accepted part of One of the entries, from William life onboard. Coastal communities often Wouldhave, was designed to self watched helplessly as vessels foundered. right. Boatbuilder Henry Greathead was Rescue services did exist in some asked to build a lifeboat combining the places – there are records of a rescue best features of Lukin’s and Wouldhave’s boat stationed in Liverpool from 1776. In designs, and came up with a vessel that Bamburgh, Northumberland, men from became known as the Original. Within the local castle patrolled the shore on 20 years, he had built more than 30 of horseback, ready to these lifeboats, and they were saving lives go to sea in their ‘unimmergible’ coble – around the UK and its islands, from the first purpose-built lifeboat, designed by St Andrews to St Peter Port. RNLI founded KEY FACTS Sir William Hillary is credited with founding the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, later renamed the Royal • The RNLI’s lifeboat crews and National Lifeboat Institution. lifeguards have saved more than 139,000 lives since the charity’s After witnessing the destruction of dozens of ships from his home on foundation in 1824. the Isle of Man, and getting involved in rescue attempts himself, Hillary appealed to the Navy, the government and other ‘eminent characters’ • The biggest single rescue was in for help in forming ‘a national institution for the preservation of lives 1907, when lifeboats from Cadgwith, and property from shipwreck’. With the support of London MP Thomas Coverack, the Lizard and Porthleven Wilson and West India Merchants Chairman George Hibbert, the rescued 456 people from the Institution was founded as a charity on 4 March 1824. The name was liner Suevic. Sir William Hillary changed to RNLI in 1854. Henry Freeman Lifejacket Henry Blogg development Cromer’s Henry Blogg is the RNLI’s most • Cork – In 1854 the RNLI inspector, Captain decorated lifeboatman. He was Coxswain at Ward, invented a cork lifejacket. Narrow the Norfolk station for almost 40 years. strips of cork were sewn onto a canvas vest, During his 53 years of service, Blogg was so the lifejacket was flexible enough to move awarded three Gold and four Silver RNLI with the body. In 1861, when one of Whitby’s Medals for Gallantry, as well as the George lifeboats capsized on a service, just one crew Cross and British Empire Medal. member survived. Henry Freeman was the With his dedicated crew, he launched 387 only one wearing a cork lifejacket, and went times and helped to save 873 lives around on to become Coxswain at Whitby. the Cromer coast. The RNLI’s Henry Blogg • Kapok – In 1904, the kapok lifejacket was Museum in Cromer tells his story. introduced. Kapok is a vegetable fibre that doesn’t absorb water and is much more buoyant than cork. The first kapok lifejackets proved unpopular due to their bulk, but Grace Darling improvements were made and they became A lighthouse keeper’s daughter from On the rocks, her father found eight men, the standard for nearly 70 years. Northumberland became a national including one who was badly injured. There • Beaufort – The Beaufort lifejacket was heroine in 1838 for her part in the was also a woman holding two children, introduced to the RNLI in 1970, after the rescue of passengers from the wrecked both of whom had died. Mr Darling and development of synthetic foams in the steamship Forfarshire. three of the men rowed the boat back to 1960s. Extra buoyancy around the neck made Grace Darling was 22 when she and her the lighthouse, taking with them Grace, the sure that the crew member would float face father took their small fishing boat out in a injured man and the woman. upwards in the water should he or she be fierce storm to reach a group of survivors, Grace looked after the survivors while knocked unconscious. But one disadvantage who had been stranded on rocks for hours. her father and two of the Forfarshire crew was its bulk, which often made it difficult to After rowing together for nearly a mile, they returned for the other four men. move around the wheelhouses of the latest reached the rocks. Mr Darling leapt out of Although she wasn’t on a lifeboat crew, classes of lifeboat. the boat and onto the rocks, to check the Grace was awarded the RNLI’s Silver Medal • Modern lifejackets – Today’s RNLI crew situation. It was up to Grace to keep the for Gallantry. She was the Institution’s first members wear lifejackets developed in the boat under control in the swirling water, female medallist and remains a lifeboating 1990s for maximum comfort and safety. rowing backwards and forwards, trying to icon. The RNLI Heritage Trust manages There are two styles – one for use on all- keep it from being smashed to pieces a museum in her honour in Bamburgh, weather lifeboats and one for use on on the reef. Northumberland. inshore lifeboats. B class Atlantic 21 Petrol-driven lifeboat trialled at Tynemouth Watson class Lifeboat development Greathead’s Original and similar rowing were built before their development was were being developed. Each new incarnation lifeboats set the standard until the 1850s. abandoned in favour of petrol. was faster and safer than its predecessor. There One Original, the Zetland, saved hundreds In the early 1900s, the RNLI began to are now five classes of all-weather lifeboat in of lives from her station in Redcar, Yorkshire. experiment with putting engines on its the RNLI fleet, with a variety of sizes, draughts Built in 1802, she is the oldest lifeboat still lifeboats. The first motor-driven lifeboat and launch and recovery methods, suitable for in existence, and can be seen at the RNLI to be sent to a station was the J McConnel all areas of the British and Irish coastlines. They Zetland museum. Hussey, which went to Tynemouth in 1905. are the Tyne (introduced in 1982), the Mersey Sailing lifeboats were introduced in Early lifeboat engines could be unreliable, so (1988), the Severn (1996), the Trent (1996) the 1850s, with different types issued to sail rigging was also prominent on these boats. and the Tamar (2006). different stations, according to their needs. The small D class inflatable lifeboat was The E class lifeboat, a waterjet-propelled The most successful were the Beechings, the introduced in 1963 to deal with rescues rigid inflatable, is the RNLI’s fastest lifeboat. Peakes, the Richardson tubulars, the Norfolk closer to the shore. 1972 saw the debut of It was introduced in 2002 at the RNLI’s four and Suffolks and, in later years, the Watsons. the B class rigid inflatable lifeboat, the first new lifeboat stations along the River Thames. Steam-powered lifeboats were of which was the Atlantic 21. Today’s B and D Other craft in the RNLI fleet include the introduced to the fleet in 1890, when the class lifeboats are direct descendants, making hovercraft, used for rescues in very shallow Duke of Northumberland went on station up the bulk of the RNLI fleet. waters or mud, and the lifeguards’ inshore in Harwich. Six steam-driven lifeboats Meanwhile, larger all-weather lifeboats rescue boats and rescue watercraft. Launch and recovery A changing service For the RNLI’s first 100 years or so, lifeboats were mostly launched The way in which people use the sea has changed dramatically and recovered from their local beaches. In many communities, since the RNLI’s foundation. More people are using the water for hauling the lifeboat during launch and recovery was done by leisure, and the lifesaving service the RNLI provides has had to women, as most of the men were onboard. Often, farmers loaned change accordingly. their horses to help bear the weight. In 2001, the charity’s lifeguards began patrols on some of the Lifeboats were often dragged for long distances before launching, most popular beaches in Dorset and Cornwall. RNLI lifeguards are to minimise the time at sea in rough conditions. In 1899, the now present on more than 160 beaches around England, Wales Lynmouth, Devon, lifeboat was hauled across Exmoor by a team of and Northern Ireland, and rescue thousands of people every year, 50–60 people and 18 horses, to go to the aid of a vessel in distress as well as providing essential first aid and in another bay 10 miles away. During the journey, which lasted over safety advice. This ‘prevention-rather-than- 10 hours, the team had to knock down walls and other obstacles, cure’ approach is also helping the RNLI’s take the boat off her carriage to get her through gates, and deal Beach Safety, Sea Safety and Education with gale-force conditions. The casualty vessel, Forest Hall, and teams save lives by preventing people those aboard were saved. from getting into danger in the first These days, most large, all-weather place. lifeboats are designed to be Also in 2001, the RNLI’s first launched from a slipway, or to station on an inland waterway lie afloat. But beach launches was established, at Enniskillen in are still common, especially County Fermanagh.