At 17 metre long, the Severn class lifeboat is the largest lifeboat

Lifeboat (rescue)

A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

 operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Royal National Lifeboat Institution

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

 (RNLI). Introduced to service in 1996, the class is named after the River Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

, the longest river in Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

. They are stationed at 35 locations around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 to provide coverage up to 50 miles (80.5 km) out to sea.

History

In the 1980s the RNLI's fast Arun

Arun class lifeboat

The Arun class lifeboat is a fast all-weather lifeboat designed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution for service at its stations around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. They were operated by the RNLI between 1971 and 2008...

 and Waveney

Waveney class lifeboat

The Waveney class lifeboat was the first class of lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution capable of operating at speeds in excess of . Based on an American hull design, 22 were in operation between 1964 and 1999 at the RNLI's stations around the coast of the United Kingdom...

 all-weather lifeboats provided coverage 30 miles (48.3 km) out to sea, operating at up to 18 knots (35.3 km/h) to cover the distance in two hours in good weather. However the RNLI felt that they needed the capability to extend their coverage to 50 miles (80.5 km) radius which would require lifeboats with a top speed of 25 knots (49 km/h). This resulted in the 17m Severn and 14 metres (45.9 ft) Trent

Trent class lifeboat

The Trent class lifeboat is an all-weather lifeboat operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution from 30 stations around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland to provide coverage up to out to sea...

 lifeboats.

The prototype Severn was launched in 1991 and was named Maurice and Joyce Hardy. Trials started the following year and lasted until 1998. Problems were encountered during these with the 'skegs' that protected the propellers but were designed to protect the hull by breaking off if the boat hit rocks, as the first ones were too easily broken. Crashing through heavy seas at full speed caused damage to the hull too. It was transferred to training work when it carried operational number TR02, but was withdrawn in 1998 by which time its name had been changed to Peter & Marion Fulton. It was sold in 2005; in 2008 it was in use as a dive boat at Buckie

Buckie

Buckie is a burgh town on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland in Moray. Buckie was the largest town in Banffshire by some thousands of inhabitants before regionalisation in 1975 removed that political division from the map of Scotland...

, carrying the name Gemini Storm.

The first production Severn was The Will. It had been built in 1995 for Stornoway but had to undergo several modifications before it was fit for service. It was eventually placed in the relief fleet in 1996 and shown to many lifeboat stations where the class was expected to be deployed. It so impressed the crew at Falmouth

Falmouth Lifeboat Station

Falmouth Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution search and rescue operations at Falmouth, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1867 and the present station was opened in 1993...

 that they pressed the RNLI to station it there until their own boat was built, and so it was stationed here from January 1997 until December 2001 when it was replaced by Richard Scott Cox. In the mean time Tom Sanderson had been deployed at Stornoway in 1999. The Will returned to the relief fleet after its time at Falmouth and has continued in that role since. Construction of its sister boats continued until 2005.

Description

Severns are constructed of fibre reinforced composite material, and their hard chine

Chine (boating)

A chine in boating refers to a sharp angle in the hull, as compared to the rounded bottoms of most traditional boat hulls. The term hard chine indicates an angle with little rounding, where a soft chine would be more rounded, but still involve the meeting of distinct planes. Chine log...

 semi-displacement hull

Hull (watercraft)

A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...

 is built so that it will stay afloat with two of its five compartments flooded. For added manoeuvrability, in addition to twin engines, the Severn also has a bow thruster fitted. The propellers are enclosed so that the Severn can take ground without damaging them. A Y Class inflatable boat

Y class lifeboat

The Y class lifeboat is a class of small inflatable boat operated by the RNLI of the United Kingdom and Ireland.The Y-class is mainly used as a small tender carried on board the RNLI All Weather lifeboats that serve the shores of the UK, and is normally found on the Severn and the Tamar class...

 can be deployed by an on-board crane for use in shallow water or confined spaces.

Severns have comprehensive electronics systems that include full MF and VHF DSC radio equipment, DGPS Navigator, an electronic chart system, VHF/DF, radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 and weather sensors. Provision for survivors includes comprehensive first aid equipment including stretchers, oxygen and Entonox

Entonox

A mix of nitrous oxide 50% and oxygen 50% is a medical anaesthesia gas, commonly known as Entonox or Nitronox, or colloquially as gas and air, and is frequently used in pre-hospital care, childbirth and emergency medicine situations by medical professionals such as doctors, nurses, midwives and...

. They carry a portable salvage pump in a water-tight container, and can also carry out pumping and fire-fighting tasks using the engine-driven general service pump.

Fleet

ON	Op. No.	Name	In service	Station
1179	17-01	Maurice and Joyce Hardy	1992–1998	Sold in 2005
1201	17-02	The Will	1996–	Relief fleet
1202	17-03	Albert Brown	1996–	Harwich Harwich Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
1203	17-04	Spirit of Guernsey	1997–	St Peter Port St Peter Port Saint Peter Port is the capital of Guernsey as well as the main port. The population in 2001 was 16,488. In Guernésiais and in French, historically the official language of Guernsey, the name of the town and its surrounding parish is St Pierre Port. The "port" distinguishes this parish from...
1216	17-05	Pride of the Humber	1997–	Humber Humber The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal River Ouse and the tidal River Trent. From here to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between the East Riding of Yorkshire on the north bank...
1217	17-06	David Kirkaldy	1997–	Aran Islands Aran Islands The Aran Islands or The Arans are a group of three islands located at the mouth of Galway Bay, on the west coast of Ireland. They constitute the barony of Aran in County Galway, Ireland...
1218	17-07	John and Margaret Doig	1996–	Valentia Valentia Island Valentia Island is one of Ireland's westernmost points, lying off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry, Ireland. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial bridge at Portmagee, as well as by a ferry which sails from Reenard Point to Knightstown, the island's...
1219	17-08	Helmut Schroder of Dunlossit II	1997–	Islay Islay -Prehistory:The earliest settlers on Islay were nomadic hunter-gatherers who arrived during the Mesolithic period after the retreat of the Pleistocene ice caps. In 1993 a flint arrowhead was found in a field near Bridgend dating from 10,800 BC, the earliest evidence of a human presence found so far...
1220	17-09	City of London II	1997–	Dover Dover Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
1221	17-10	Michael and Jane Vernon	1997–	Lerwick Lerwick Lerwick is the capital and main port of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, located more than 100 miles off the north coast of mainland Scotland on the east coast of the Shetland Mainland...
1229	17-11	The Whiteheads	1997–
1230	17-12	Edna Windsor	1998–	Barra Island Barra The island of Barra is a predominantly Gaelic-speaking island, and apart from the adjacent island of Vatersay, to which it is connected by a causeway, is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.-Geography:The 2001 census showed that the resident population was 1,078...
1231	17-13	Margaret Foster	1998–	Kirkwall Kirkwall Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
1232	17-14	Charles Lidbury	1998–	Aith Aith Aith, , is a village on the Northern coast of the West Shetland Mainland at the southern end of Aith Voe, some 21 miles west of Lerwick....
1235	17-15	Bryan and Gordon	1998–	Ballyglass Ballyglass Ballyglass is a small village in central County Mayo in Ireland. It is situated about 10 miles from Castlebar, and closer to Claremorris and Ballinrobe...
1236	17-16	Violet Dorothy and Kathleen	1998–	Stromness Stromness Stromness is the second-biggest town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the south-west of Mainland Orkney. It is also a parish, with the town of Stromness as its capital.-Etymology:...
1237	17-17	Fraser Flyer (C. S. No. 43)	1999–	Relief fleet
1238	17-18	Tom Sanderson	1999–	Stornoway Stornoway Stornoway is a burgh on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.The town's population is around 9,000, making it the largest settlement in the Western Isles and the third largest town in the Scottish Highlands after Inverness and Fort William...
1241	17-19	Ernest and Mary Shaw	1999–	Campbeltown Campbeltown Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran , it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell was granted the site in 1667...
1242	17-20	Spirit of Northumberland	1999–	Tynemouth Tynemouth Tynemouth is a town and a historic borough in Tyne and Wear, England, at the mouth of the River Tyne, between North Shields and Cullercoats . It is administered as part of the borough of North Tyneside, but until 1974 was an independent county borough in its own right...
1243	17-21	David and Elizabeth Acland	1999–	Newhaven Newhaven, East Sussex Newhaven is a town in the Lewes District of East Sussex in England. It lies at the mouth of the River Ouse, on the English Channel coast, and is a ferry port for services to France.-Origins:...
1244	17-22	Myrtle Maud	2000–	Arranmore Arranmore Árainn Mhór is the largest inhabited island of County Donegal, and the second largest in all of Ireland, with a population of 528 in 2006, down from 543 in 2002, and over 600 in 1996. The island is part of the Donegal Gaeltacht...
1247	17-23	Katie Hannan	2000–2008	Damaged beyond economic repair after grounding on Rathlin Island Rathlin Island Rathlin Island is an island off the coast of County Antrim, and is the northernmost point of Northern Ireland. Rathlin is the only inhabited offshore island in Northern Ireland, with a rising population of now just over 100 people, and is the most northerly inhabited island off the Irish coast...
1248	17-24	Bon Accord	2000–	Aberdeen Aberdeen Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
1249	17-25	Eric and Susan Hiscock (Wanderer)	2001–	Yarmouth Yarmouth, Isle of Wight Yarmouth is a port and civil parish in the western part of the Isle of Wight, off the southern coast of mainland England. The town is named for its location at the mouth of the small Western Yar river...
1250	17-26	Henry Alston Hewat	2001–	Mallaig Mallaig Mallaig ; is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line , completed in 1901, and the town is linked to Fort William by the A830 road – the "Road to the Isles".The village of Mallaig...
1254	17-27	Volunteer Spirit	2001–	Relief fleet
1255	17-28	Alec and Christina Dykes	2001–
1256	17-29	Richard Cox Scott	2001–
1257	17-30	William Gordon Burr	2002–	Portrush Portrush Portrush is a small seaside resort town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, on the County Londonderry border. The main part of the old town, including the railway station as well as most hotels, restaurants and bars, is built on a mile–long peninsula, Ramore Head, pointing north-northwest....
1260	17-31	Roger and Joy Freeman	2002–	Relief fleet
1261	17-32	Ernest and Mabel	2002–
1262	17-33	Beth Sell	2002–	Relief fleet
1263	17-34	Osier	2002–	Relief fleet
1264	17-35	Sybil Mullen Glover	2003–	Plymouth Plymouth Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
1265	17-36	Ivan Ellen	2003–
1268	17-37	William Blannin	2003–	Buckie Buckie Buckie is a burgh town on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland in Moray. Buckie was the largest town in Banffshire by some thousands of inhabitants before regionalisation in 1975 removed that political division from the map of Scotland...
1269	17-38	Daniel L Gibson	2003–	Relief fleet
1270	17-39	Elizabeth Fairlie Ramsey	2003–	Tobermory
1271	17-40	Julian and Margaret Leonard	2003–	Lochinver Lochinver Lochinver is a village on the coast in the Assynt district of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. A few miles northeast is Loch Assynt which is the source of the River Inver which flows into Loch Inver at the village. There are 200 or so lochans in the area which makes the place very popular with...
1272	17-41	Christopher Pearce	2003–	Holyhead Holyhead Holyhead is the largest town in the county of Anglesey in the North Wales. It is also a major port adjacent to the Irish Sea serving Ireland....
1273	17-42	The Taylors	2004–	Thurso Thurso -Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
1276	17-43	Donald and Barbara Broadhead	2004–	Rosslare Harbour Rosslare Harbour The village of Rosslare Harbour grew up to serve the needs of the harbour of the same name , first developed in 1906 by the Great Western Railway and the Great Southern and Western Railway to accommodate steamferry traffic between Great Britain and Ireland...
1277	17-44	Annette Hutton	2004–	Castletownbere Castletownbere Castletownbere is a small town in County Cork in Ireland. It is located on the southwest coast of Ireland, in West Cork, on Berehaven harbour near the entrance to Bantry Bay. It is also known as Castletown Berehaven. The name of the town comes from the no longer extant MacCarty Castle, and not...
1278	17-45	The Duke of Kent	2005–	Relief fleet
1279	17-46	Margaret Joan and Fred Nye	2004–	Relief fleet

'ON' is the RNLI's Official Number; 'Op. No.' Is the operational number carried on the hull. Stations given correct in 2009 unless otherwise stated.

External links

• RNLI Fleet:Severn Class