![]() RNLB St Paul preserved at Chatham
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Class overview | |
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Name | Norfolk and Suffolk-class |
Builders | Various |
Operators | ![]() |
Built | 1807–1925 |
In service | 1807–1953 |
General characteristics - motor lifeboats | |
Displacement | 14-17 tons |
Length | 46 ft 6 in (14.17 m) |
Beam | 12 ft 9 in (3.89 m) |
Installed power |
|
Propulsion | Single screw |
Speed | 8 knots (9.2 mph; 15 km/h) |
Range | ~115 nautical miles (132 mi; 213 km) |
Crew | 13 |
Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboats were lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from stations around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. They were able to operate further from shore and around the sandbanks common off East Anglia.
History
[edit]Purpose-built lifeboats first appeared towards the end of the 18th century. Some of the first were designed by Lionel Lukin who adapted local boat designs to be more buoyant so they could operate safely in rough seas. He designed one for the Suffolk Humane Society in 1807 for use at Lowestoft. It was based on a local yawl with a shallow draft and sails so it could reach offshore sandbanks, but oars were also provided.[1]
The design proved successful and was adopted by other lifeboat services in East Anglia including the Norfolk Shipwreck Association. The Suffolk Humane Society merged with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1855 as did the Norfolk Shipwreck Association in 1857.[2] The RNLI continued to build lifeboats to the Norfolk and Suffolk design and stationed them at other places on the east coast between the River Thames and the Humber.[3][4]
The last Norfolk and Suffolk lifeboat was built in 1925 and was in use until 1953. The design evolved throughout this time, the last boats being built with petrol motors.
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3c/H.F._Bailey_ON670_1923_to_1924.jpg/170px-H.F._Bailey_ON670_1923_to_1924.jpg)
Pulling & sailing lifeboats
[edit]ON | Name | In service | Station | Built | Builder | Length | Comments[5] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | – | 1807– | Lowestoft | 1807 | Bareham | 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m) |
[1] |
– | Solebay | 1841–1852 | Southwold | 1840 | Teasdel | 38 ft 0 in (11.58 m) |
|
14 | British Workman | 1870–1893 | Palling | 1870 | 40 ft 4 in (12.29 m) | Sold 1893, broken up 1995. | |
15 | Anne Maria | 1861–1896 | Winterton | 1860 | 32 ft 2 in (9.80 m) |
Renamed as Edward Birbeck, date unknown. | |
Edward Birkbeck | |||||||
16 | Husband | 1869–1879 | Corton | 1869 | 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m) |
||
1879–1890 | Winterton | ||||||
17 | Covent Garden | 1883–1899 | Caister | 1882 | 42 ft 4 in (12.90 m) | ||
18 | Boys | 1867–1892 | Caister | 1867 | 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m) |
Renamed Godsend by 1877. | |
Godsend | |||||||
19 | Duff | 1859–1892 | Great Yarmouth | 1859 | 28 ft 3 in (8.61 m) |
Renamed Abraham Thomas in about 1875. | |
Abraham Thomas | |||||||
20 | Brave Robert Shedden | 1861–1883 | Great Yarmouth | 1861 | 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m) |
||
Mark Lane | 1883–1889 | Gorleston | |||||
21 | Leicester | 1870–1883 | Gorleston | 1870 | 29 ft 11 in (9.12 m) |
||
1883–1894 | Gorleston | ||||||
22 | Samuel Plimsoll | 1876–1905 | Lowestoft | 1876 | 44 ft 4 in (13.51 m) |
||
23 | Sisters | 1872–1886 | Pakefield | 1872 | 46 ft 3 in (14.10 m) |
||
The Two Sisters | 1886–1890 | Lowestoft | |||||
Mary and Hannah | 1890–1910 | Pakefield | |||||
24 | Henry Burford RN | 1871–1895 | Pakefield | 1870 | 30 ft 3 in (9.22 m) |
||
25 | Bolton | 1870–1893 | Kessingland | 1870 | 42 ft 3 in (12.88 m) |
||
26 | Grace & Lalley of Broadoak | 1867–1870 | Kessingland | 1867 | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) |
||
St Michaels, Paddington | 1870–1897 | ||||||
27 | Charles Bury | 1884–1897 | Kessingland | 1884 | 38 ft 6 in (11.73 m) |
||
28 | Harriett | 1855–1869 | Southwold | 1855 | 39 ft 10 in (12.14 m) |
Renamed in 1869.[6] | |
London Coal Exchange No. 1 | 1869–1893 | ||||||
29 | Dorinda and Barbara | 1871–1882 | Theddlethorpe | 1871 | 30 ft 1 in (9.17 m) |
Displayed at the Imperial Institute in London from 1897 until 1917. | |
Quiver No. 2 | 1882–1897 | Southwold | |||||
233 | Mark Lane | 1889–1892 | Gorleston | 1889 | 44 ft 5 in (13.54 m) |
||
Reserve No. 1 | 1892–1899 | Reserve Fleet | |||||
Margaret | 1899–1907 | Winterton | |||||
270 | Margaret | 1890–1899 | Winterton | 1889 | 43 ft 10 in (13.36 m) |
||
1899–1902 | Aldeburgh | ||||||
1902–1924 | Reserve fleet | ||||||
288 | Stock Exchange | 1890–1892 | Lowestoft | 1890 | 46 ft 7 in (14.20 m) |
Sold 1922 and converted to a houseboat. Broken up in 1978 at Felixstowe Ferry. | |
Mark Lane | 1892–1921 | Gorleston | |||||
304 | Aldeburgh | 1890–1899 | Aldeburgh | 1890 | Critten | 46 ft 3 in (14.10 m) |
Had 14 oars, double banked.[7] Capsized with the loss of seven of the 18 crew in 1899. Broken up in 1900. |
319 | – | 1891–1895 | Spare | 1890 | 32 ft 2 in (9.80 m) |
Spare boat, never named or allocated to a station. Sold to Ghana. | |
326 | Thora Zelma | 1892–1904 | Gorleston | 1891 | 31 ft 5 in (9.58 m) |
||
Reserve No. 8 | 1904–1913 | Reserve fleet | |||||
327 | Beauchamp | 1892–1901 | Caister | 1891 | 36 ft 5 in (11.10 m) |
Sold 1901, broken up 1966. | |
329 | John Burch | 1892–1912 | Great Yarmouth | 1892 | 32 ft 5 in (9.88 m) |
Sold in 1912 and converted to a yacht. | |
351 | Hearts of Oak | 1893–1917 | Palling | 1893 | 40 ft 4 in (12.29 m) |
Sold and used as a yacht. Broken up about 1990. | |
352 | Bolton | 1893–1902 | Kessingland | 1893 | 43 ft 0 in (13.11 m) |
Sold 1926. Renamed Juno and now a houseboat at Horsford, Norfolk. | |
1902 | Aldeburgh | ||||||
1902–1918 | Kessingland | ||||||
1918–1925 | Southwold | ||||||
353 | Alfred Corry | 1893–1918 | Southwold | 1893 | Beeching Brothers | 44 ft 1 in (13.44 m) |
16-oar boat. Sold 1919 but now on display at the Alfred Corry Museum, Southwold, which is the relocated Cromer lifeboat house.[8] |
356 | Stock Exchange | 1893–1912 | Lowestoft | 1893 | 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m) |
||
Reserve No. 1A | Reserve fleet | ||||||
371 | Leicester | 1894–1923 | Gorleston | 1894 | 31 ft 0 in (9.45 m) |
Comments | |
397 | Edward Birkbeck | 1896–1925 | Winterton | 1896 | 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m) |
Sold 1925, now awaiting restoration at Winterton in Norfolk. | |
405 | Rescue | 1897–1920 | Southwold | 1897 | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) |
Sold and used as a houseboat until at least 1969. | |
406 | St Paul | 1897–1931 | Kessingland | 1897 | 38 ft 0 in (11.58 m) |
On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard since 1996. | |
430 | James Stevens No. 9 | 1899–1923 | Southend-on-Sea | 1899 | 38 ft 0 in (11.58 m) |
12-foot (3.7 m) beam inside, 14-foot (4.3 m) outside, carried a crew of 15.[9] Sold 1923, renamed Viking but destroyed by a bomb at Dover in World War II. | |
431 | Covent Garden | 1899–1919 | Caister | 1899 | 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m) |
||
432 | James Stevens No.14 | 1900–1928 | Walton and Frinton | 1900 | Thames Ironworks | 43 ft 0 in (13.11 m) |
Engine fitted in 1905.[10] Sold June 1928, now in store at Titchmarsh Marina, Walton-on-the-Naze. |
482 | City of Winchester | 1902–1928 | Aldeburgh | 1902 | Thames Ironworks | 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m) |
12-oar boat.[11] Sold 1928 and renamed Ellen Gordon. Became a houseboat at Maldon but broken up in 1980. |
506 | Nancy Lucy | 1903–1929 | Caister | 1903 | 35 ft 0 in (10.67 m) |
||
543 | Kentwell | 1905–1921 | Lowestoft | 1905 | 46 ft 1 in (14.05 m) |
||
1905–1921 | Gorleston | ||||||
Reserve No. 1 | 1922–1924 | Reserve fleet | |||||
589 | Eleanor Brown | 1909–1924 | Winterton | 1909 | 44 ft 7 in (13.59 m) |
Sold and converted to be a houseboat at Blakeney. | |
Reserve No, 1C | 1924–1931 | Reserve fleet | |||||
607 | James Leith | 1910–1919 | Pakefield | 1910 | 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m) |
Sold in 1936, On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard since 1996. | |
1919–1929 | Caister | ||||||
1930–1935 | Aldeborough | ||||||
629 | Hugh Taylor | 1912–1919 | Great Yarmouth | 1912 | 34 ft 0 in (10.36 m) |
Sold and became the yacht Johannes J, last reported in Holland in 1987. | |
1919–1922 | Pakefield | ||||||
Reserve No. 1A | 1922–1929 | Reserve fleet | |||||
1929–1931 | Aldeburgh | ||||||
1931–1936 | Kessingland | ||||||
631 | – | 1903–1913 | Spurn | 1903 | 34 ft 6 in (10.52 m) |
Boat never given a name. | |
656 | Hearts of Oak | 1918–1929 | Palling | 1918 | 40 ft 0 in (12.19 m) |
Sold and became the yacht Wander Bird, last reported to be in France in 2002. |
Motor lifeboats
[edit]ON | Name | Built | Builder | In service | Station | Comments[5] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
432 | James Stevens No.14 | 1900 | Thames Ironworks | 1900–1928 | Walton and Frinton | Sold June 1928. Reported in December 2022 to be on sea-going display at the Titchmarsh Marina, Walton-on-the-Naze. |
656 | Hearts of Oak[12] | 1918 | Summers and Payne / S. E. Saunders |
1918–1929 | Palling No.2 | Length: 40 ft (12 m), beam: 10 ft (3.0 m)
Sold 1934. Renamed Wander Bird. Reported in July 2002 to be in Frontignan, France,, as a yacht with a cabin added. |
1929–1934 | Reserve fleet | |||||
663 | John and Mary Meiklam Of Gladswood | 1921 | S. E. Saunders | 1921 | Gorleston No.1 | Renamed in 1921 when transferred to Lowestoft, The original name was reused by ON 670 in 1924.
Sold October 1952. Last reported as workboat Wimp in Aden in 1955. |
Agnes Cross | 1921–1939 | Lowestoft | ||||
1940–1941 | Dover | |||||
1941–1952 | Reserve fleet | |||||
670 | H.F. Bailey | 1923 | J. Samuel White | 1923–1924 | Cromer No.1 | Renamed in 1924, the original name was then reused on Watson-class lifeboat ON 694.
Sold October 1952. On display at Gorleston Lifeboat House since June 1994. |
John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood | 1924–1939 | Gorleston | ||||
1939–1952 | Reserve fleet | |||||
691 | Mary Scott | 1925 | J. Samuel White | 1925–1940 | Southwold | Sold March 1953. In April 2022 it was reported to be at Littlehampton as a yacht with a cabin added. |
1940–1953 | Reserve fleet |
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Sketch of the progress made in the construction of coast life-boats 1795-1900". Life-boat. Vol. 17, no. 195. 1905. p. 551–554.
- ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 102–103.
- ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 18–19.
- ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 28–29.
- ^ a b Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.
- ^ {{cite magazine |magazine=Life-boat |date=1872 |volume=7 |issue=73 |page=244 |title=Additional stations and new life-boats |url=https://lifeboatmagazinearchive.rnli.org/volume/07/73/summary-of-the-meetings-of-the-committee}
- ^ "Aldeburgh - New Lifeboat". Eastern Daily Times. 3 January 1891.
- ^ "Alfred Corry Lifeboat". Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ Southend Standard, 21 September 1899
- ^ "The experimental motor life-boats". Life-boat. Vol. 20, no. 225. 1907. p. 243–247.
- ^ "New Life-Boat for Aldeburgh". Framlingham Weekly News. 8 November 1902.
- ^ Diss Express, and Norfolk and Suffork Journal, 28 June 1918