The Clyde-class lifeboat was operated by the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

(RNLI) from two of its stations in the

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, and . Only three vessels were built for the RNLI, however a fourth vessel was built in the Netherlands to the same lines as 70-001 and 70-003 as a pilot boat for

Trinity House "Three In One" , formation = , founding_location = Deptford, London, England , status = Royal Charter corporation and registered charity , purpose = Maintenance of lighthouses, buoys and beacons , he ...

History

Following a visit in the early sixties to lifeboat societies in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

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, which successfully employed cruising lifeboats, the RNLI's Management Committee decided to sanction the construction of two such boats for RNLI service. The first two boats went on trials in 1966 and in 1968 went on station at Clovelly and Kirkwall. The third boat was built as a relief but took over as station boat at Clovelly, with the first boat becoming the relief. It eventually became apparent that cruising type boats were not really suited to the RNLI's operations and the boats were used at their respective bases as normal lifeboats until withdrawal in 1988.

Description

The Clyde-class cruising lifeboat was the largest ever built for the RNLI and the first to have a steel hull. The first and second boats differed in hull design, ON 987 having a hull designed by the RNLI's Richard Oakley, long and with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of , while the second boat, ON 988, had a hull designed by Irish naval architect John Tyrrell and was long and with a beam of . Both boats had similar superstructure layouts, with a flying bridge. As crews were intended to live on board, berths and messing facilities were provided. An inflatable inshore boat was carried forward of the wheelhouse. The boats were powered by two Gardner 8L3B 8-cylinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s driving twin

screws A screw and a bolt (see '' Differentiation between bolt and screw'' below) are similar types of fastener typically made of metal and characterized by a helical ridge, called a ''male thread'' (external thread). Screws and bolts are used to fa ...

. Eight years after the first boat had been built, it was decided to build a third Clyde as a relief boat for the first two. This was based on the Oakley hull design, but featured a completely redesigned superstructure resembling an overgrown .

RNLI fleet

Trinity House fleet

References

External links

RNLI

Trinity House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clyde Class Lifeboat Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats