The RNLI Lifeboat Station, Scarborough

Image: © Dave Hitchborne Taken: 3 Sep 2010

The Lifeboat Station An appeal was launched in 1800 to raise funds to build a lifeboat for the town and in 1801, the lifeboat station was established. It is one of the oldest stations in the British Isles. Scarborough’s traditional masonry-built slipway lifeboat station was adapted in 1991 to take a carriage-launched Mersey class lifeboat – the slipway being used to give access to the beach for the tractor and carriage. The Lifeboats Fanny Victoria Wilkinson & Frank Stubbs ON-1175 (12-18) Mersey class lifeboat The Mersey class all weather lifeboat has protected propellers and is relatively lightweight, which make it suitable for carriage launching, although it is capable of operating from slipways and may also lie afloat at berths. A small manually launched inflatable X boat is carried on board. This is used to assist in rescuing casualties and can be rowed into locations inaccessible to the all weather lifeboat. Specification Length: 12m Speed: 16 knots Range: 140 nautical miles Launch method: Carriage, slipway or moored afloat Crew: 6 Introduced: 1988 Cost to replace: £1.2M–£2M John Wesley Hillard II D-560 The D class is the most numerous of the inshore fleet and was introduced in 1963 as the first inflatable lifeboat. Fast, light and with very shallow draught, it can respond rapidly and work in very shallow and confined waters. It is an ideal lifeboat for rescues close to shore in fair-to-moderate conditions in both daylight and darkness. It has a single outboard engine and can be launched from special trolleys or even manually. Specification Length: 5m Speed: 20 knots Endurance: 3 hours at maximum speed Launch method: Trolley Crew: 2/3 Introduced: 1963 Cost to replace: £29,000 Quoted from the Lifeboat Station's online PDF

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