February 1856: James Peake's Lifeboat
In February 1856 The Engineer reported on how the perilous task of saving lives at sea was made safer by a new lifeboat design. Jason Ford reports.
The RNLI has been saving an average of 722 lives a year since its founding as the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Lives and Property from Shipwreck in 1824. The organisation currently operates a fleet of over 400 vessels that are categorised as high-speed all-weather lifeboats (ALBs) and equally nimble inshore lifeboats. The Shannon Class lifeboat was the latest to join RNLI’s fleet, boasting a top speed of 25 knots that is abetted by its two 13l Scania D13 650hp engines and twin Hamilton HJ364 waterjets.
In 1856, a full 34 years before the first steam-driven lifeboat was brought into service, The Engineer described a design by James Peake that relied on the brute force of oarsmen for propulsion and an improved function that has long been standard on ALBs, namely the ability to self-right.
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