The History of the Lifeboat
A lifeboat is a type of watercraft that is used to help boats or ships in distress or to rescue the survivors of a sunken boat or ship. Lifeboats have evolved from early oar-driven wooden boats to the modern gas-powered ships used by the United States Coast Guard and other rescue organizations throughout the world. Many of the early organizations that first used lifeboats were private humanitarian organizations that put their own lives at risk to save others.
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Early British Lifeboats
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One of the first boats to be used as a lifeboat was patented by Lionel Lukin in 1785. Lukin described the boat as "unimmergible." It was a deep wooden boat with five oars on each side. Henry Greathead was the first to build a boat specifically to be a lifeboat in 1790. A similar boat, the Zetland, is the oldest lifeboat still in existence. It was built in 1802 and was launched for the last time in 1880. It is on display at the Zetland museum in Redcar in Great Britain.
RNLI
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Sir William Hillary founded the National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck as a charitable organization in 1824. The name was changed to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1854 and the RNLI remains the primary water rescue organization in Great Britain to this day.
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First Powered Lifeboats
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The Duke of Northumberland was the first steam-driven lifeboat. It was first placed into service at Harwich in Great Britain in 1890. Gasoline-powered lifeboats were first tested for use at Tynemouth in Great Britain in 1905.
Modern Lifeboats
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One of the biggest advancements in lifeboats came in 1930 when the Sir William Hillary was put to use in the English Channel. With a top speed of 18 knots, it was almost twice as fast as previous lifeboats. In 1963, the RNLI added inflatable lifeboats, which were better suited for the increasing number of rescues that were happening closer to shore. Rigid inflatables, inflatable boats with rigid bottoms, were added in 1972 and hovercrafts were added in 2002.
United States Coast Guard
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The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) officially came into being in 1915 when President Woodrow Wilson signed the "Act to Create the Coast Guard," which combined the Life-Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service. The USCG retired the 44-foot motor lifeboat (MLB) in 2009. It had been the primary lifeboat for search and rescue in heavy weather conditions for the Coast Guard for 46 years and none were ever sunk. The 44-footers replaced 36-footers in 1963.
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References
- Photo Credit lifeboat image by mark humphreys from Fotolia.com
