Tyne-class lifeboat

The Tyne-class lifeboat was a class of lifeboat that served as a part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution fleet until 2019. They were named after the River Tyne in North East England.

Class overview
Name:	Tyne-class lifeboat
Operators:	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Preceded by:	Rother, Oakley, Solent
Succeeded by:	Trent, Tamar, Shannon
Cost:	£1.2 Million
Built:	1982–1990
In service:	1983–2019
Completed:	40
Active:	0
Retired:	40
General characteristics
Displacement:	26 long tons (26 t)
Length:	47 ft (14 m)
Beam:	14 ft 8 in (4.47 m)
Draught:	4 ft 2 in (1.27 m)
Propulsion:	2 × DDEC V6 diesels 2 × GM V6 diesels or 2 × V8 diesels
Speed:	17.6 knots (20.3 mph; 32.6 km/h)
Range:	240 nmi (440 km)
Capacity:	Self Righting 20 Non-Self Righting 100
Complement:	6 + doctor

They were designed to be launched from slipways or operate in shallow waters where hitting the bottom is a concern. The class was introduced in 1982, and the last boat was built in 1990.

The Tyne class was superseded by the Tamar-class lifeboat, which is 7 knots faster than the Tyne class. However, only 27 Tamars were built, compared to 40 Tynes, leaving the remaining Tynes on station to be replaced with the latest Shannon-class boats.

History

The two prototype boats were built in 1982: 47-001 City of London (ON 1074) and 47-002 Sam and Joan Woods (ON 1075). Following completion of the test programme, City of London entered service at Selsey in November 1983 while Sam and Joan Woods was put into service in the relief fleet in 1984, by which time the first production boats were under construction.

Eventually forty boats were built. The last, Hermione Lady Colwyn (ON 1158), went into service at Shoreham Harbour in September 1990 and served at that station until 2010 when she was withdrawn and sold, the only Tyne not to record over twenty years' service. The RNLI had retired the first of the class in 2006 although eight of the earliest boats were sold to China for further duties in 2007 and 2008.[1] Selsey received a new Shannon-class boat in 2017 after almost 34 years' service by Tyne-class boats, the longest of any station.

The last Tyne class boat in RNLI service was at Wicklow and this was withdrawn on 4 April 2019.[2]

Design

The unusual design of this lifeboat derives from the requirement to deploy from slipway stations built for previous generations of lifeboats, with limited clearance. The Tyne also lies afloat at stations where the approaches, or operating areas, are particularly shallow. As the lifeboat's propellers are protected by heavy bilge keels, she is particularly well suited to operate where there is a danger of hitting the bottom, or tapping as it is known colloquially. The Tyne has a steel hull and aluminium superstructure. The first two were powered by General Motors 8V-71 diesels of 425 bhp, but the production boats switched to the newer GM 6V-92 of the same power. In the 1990s some boats were re-engined with Detroit Diesel 92 DDEC six-cylinder engines of 565 bhp. During the course of production the weight of the boats increased by over 1 ton; this required an increase in superstructure volume to preserve the self-righting capability, resulting in the height of the aft cabin being raised. Later, further doubts about the self-righting capability resulted in air bags being added to the aft cabin roof.

Fleet

ON[lower-alpha 1]	Op. No.[lower-alpha 2]	Name	In service	Principal Station	Comments
1074	47-001	City of London	1983–2006	Selsey (Slipway)	Sold to China 2007, now Huaying 388
1075	47-002	Sam and Joan Woods	1984–1993 1993-1996 1996-2006	Relief Fleet Walton and Frinton (Afloat) Relief Fleet	Sold to China 2007, now Huaying 389
1094	47-003	James Burrough	1984–2006	Padstow (Slipway)	Sold to China 2007, now Huaying 387
1095	47-004	St. Cybi II (Civil Service No. 40)	1985–1997 1997–2006	Holyhead (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold to China 2007, now Huaying 386
1096	47-005	Ethel Anne Measures	1985–2006 2006–2007	The Mumbles (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold to China 2007, now Huaying 385
1097	47-006	Ruby and Arthur Reed	1985–2007 2007–2008	Cromer (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold to China 2008, now Huaying 382
1109	47-007	City of Edinburgh	1985–2002 2002–2008	Fraserburgh (Slipway, 1997-Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold to Uruguay 2010, now ADES 19[3]
1110	47-008	Phil Mead	1986–2006 2006–2008	Teesmouth (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold to China 2008, now Huaying 384
1111	47-009	William Luckin	1986–2000 2000–2007	Arranmore (Afloat) Lough Swilly (Afloat)	Sold to China 2008, now Huaying 383
1112	47-010	RFA Sir Galahad	1986–2006 2006–2009	Tenby (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold 2010 to Private Buyer
1114	47-011	The Lady Rank	1987–2008 2008–2011	Angle (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold 2011 to Uruguay, now ADES 20
1115	47-012	Good Shepherd	1988–2000 2000-2001 2001-2010	Relief fleet Lough Swilly (Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold 2010. Pilot boat at Inverness.[4]
1116	47-013	Robert and Violet	1988–2013 2013–2015	Moelfre (Slipway) Lough Swilly (Afloat)[5]	Sold 2015
1117	47-014	James Bibby	1986–2008 2008-2011	Barrow (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold 2011. Now a permanent exhibit at the Dock Museum, Barrow-in-Furness.
1120	47-015	Hetty Rampton	1987–2012 2012-2015	Porthdinllaen (Slipway) Relief fleet[6]	Sold 2015. Now a Pilot Boat with Montrose Port Authority
1121	47-016	Norman Salvesen	1988–1997 1998–2009 2009-2014	Wick (Slipway, 1994-Afloat) Sennen Cove (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold June 2014
1122	47-017	Owen and Ann Aisher	1988–2012[7]	Relief fleet	Sold 2013
1126	47-018	Max Aitken III	1987–2010 2010-2013	Bembridge (Slipway) Relief fleet[8]	Sold June 2014
1127	47-019	Babs and Agnes Robertson	1988–2006 2006–2013	Peterhead (Slipway, 1998-Afloat) The Mumbles (Slipway)	Sold 2014
1130	47-022	The Baltic Exchange II	1988–2010	Salcombe (Afloat)	Sold 2010. Now named Fortune with Seychelles Coast Guard[9]
1131	47-023	City of Sheffield	1988–1996 1997-2000 2001-2016	Whitby (Afloat) Hartlepool (Afloat) Poole (Afloat)	National Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield
1132	47-020	Spirit of Lowestoft	1987–2014 2014-2019	Lowestoft (Afloat) Relief fleet	To RNLI Museum, Chatham Dockyard 19/6/2019
1133	47-021	The Famous Grouse	1987–2004 2004–2010 2010-2012	Relief fleet Kilmore Quay (Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold May 2013 to the Canadian Lifeboat Institution, Richmond, British Columbia and renamed Fraser Lifeboat 1A-04[10]
1137	47-024	Hilda Jarrett	1988–2012 2012-2014	Baltimore (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold 2014
1138	47-025	Lord Saltoun	1988–1999 1999-2012[7]	Longhope (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold October 2012 to D. Ferran and Sons, Belfast Northern Ireland and renamed as Norma G [11]
1139	47-026	Garside	1988–2016	St Davids (Slipway) Relief fleet	Retained on station alongside Tamar boat until completion of new boathouse in Oct 2016. Now part of relief fleet
1140	47-027	George Gibson	1988–2010 2010–2011[7]	Appledore (Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold January 2013, now renamed The John Faulding and owned by Specialist Group International
1141	47-028	Sir John Fisher	1989–2017	Workington (Davit)	at cobbs quay on the 9.9.17. painted in grey possibly for sale or sold.
1142	47-029	Mariners Friend	1989–2007 2007-2012 2012-2013[7]	Relief Fleet Lough Swilly (Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold June 2014
1145	47-030	David Robinson	1988–2011 2011-2017[7]	The Lizard (Slipway) Relief fleet	Sold by 2017
1146	47-031	Voluntary Worker	1988–1990 1990–2005 2005–2017	Lytham St Annes (Afloat) Relief fleet Selsey (Slipway)	Replaced by a Shannon boat in 2017
1147	47-032	Sir William Hillary	1988–2018	Douglas (Slipway)	Scheduled to be replaced by a Shannon boat in 2019. Currently replaced with slipway launched 12-12 Mersey Class - Marine Engineer 2018
1151	47-033	Mary Irene Millar	1989–2011 2011-2013	Portpatrick (Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold December 2013
1152	47-034	Moonbeam	1989–2015 2015-2016	Montrose (Afloat) Relief fleet	Replaced with a new Shannon during 2015.[12] Sold November 2016.
1153	47-035	Annie Blaker	1989–2019	Wicklow (Slipway)	Last Tyne class boat on station[2] Replaced by relief fleet Shannon 13-01 on temporary mooring until modifications to the boathouse and slipway are complete.
1154	47-036	Kenneth Thelwall II	1990–1995 1996–2011	Ramsgate (Afloat) Walton and Frinton (Afloat)[13]	Sold September 2011 to Bere Island Ferries, Ireland[7]
1155	47-037	Sarah Emily Harrop	1990–1998 1998–2007 2007-2010	Lytham St Annes (Afloat) Relief fleet Calshot (Afloat)	Sold October 2010 to Bere Island Ferries, Ireland[7]
1156	47-038	William Street	1989–2016	Fleetwood (Afloat)	Replaced by a new Shannon boat in 2016. Sold to Seafaris Adventures at Skey as Amelia.
1157	47-039	Alexander Coutanche	1989–2009 2009–2010 2010-2012[14] 2012-2015	St Helier (Afloat) Relief fleet Calshot (Afloat) Relief fleet	Sold 2015
1158	47-040	Hermione Lady Colwyn	1990–2010	Shoreham Harbour (Slipway)	Sold 2010 to Aegir Nautical at Lymington and renamed Odin.[15][16]

1. ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
2. Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

References

1. Denton, Tony (2009). Handbook 2009. Shrewsbury: Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 28–33.
2. Farewell to the Tyne Ships Monthly July 2019 page 7
3. Ades - British Embassy
4. Holland, Dan (11 July 2012). "RNLI Kessock prevent 50 tonne fishing boat grounding". RNLI Press Release. Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
5. "Tyne-class 47-foot". lifeboatsonline.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
6. "Tyne-class 47-foot". lifeboatsonline.com. Retrieved 21 September 2014.
7. Leach & Denton, Lifeboat Directory
8. "Tyne Class Lifeboats". List of RNLI Tyne class Lifeboats with service dates and Details. navynuts.com. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
9. "Slip sliding away as a chapter of RNLI history in the south west closes". RNLI.
10. "More Information About the New "Fraser Lifeboat (1A-04)"". Canadian Lifeboat Institution. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
11. "Tyne-class 47-Foot". lifeboatsonline.com. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
12. "Newest lifeboat for new Montrose RNLI station". BBC News Online. BBC. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 20 July 2013.
13. http://www.waltonfrintonlifeboat.co.uk
14. "RNLI Calshot Lifeboat - History". RNLI Calshot. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
15. Cassan, Dave (29 April 2010). "Shoreham RNLI volunteer crew bid farewell to "a trusted old friend"". RNLI Press Release. Retrieved 21 October 2010.
16. "The Vessels". Aegir Nautical. Retrieved 31 October 2012.

External links

• RNLI fleet:Tyne