Mersey-class lifeboats are all-weather

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

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 stations around the coasts of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. They are capable of operating at up to and can be launched from a carriage. The class name comes from the

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed part ...

which flows into the

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

in north west England.

History

During the 1960s and 1970s the RNLI introduced fast lifeboats capable of considerable greater speeds than the of existing designs. The first of these were only able to be kept afloat as their propellers would be damaged if launched using a slipway or carriage. In 1982 the steel-hulled came into service which could be launched down a slipway but weighed 25 tons so was not suitable for being moved across a beach on a carriage. The answer was to build a smaller boat with an aluminium hull, which became the Mersey Class. The first, unnamed, Mersey was built in 1986 and undertook trials during 1987 and 1988. It was then taken out of service and sold the following year. It was working as a trip boat in Westport,

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

in 2008 carrying the name ''Spirit''. Two more boats were built in 1988, with the first one to take up active service going to

Bridlington Lifeboat Station Bridlington Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Having been instituted in 1805, it is the oldest working RNLI lifeboat location in the Yorksh ...

the following year. In 1989 12-11 ''Lifetime Care'' was built with a fibre-reinforced composite (FRC) hull. Boats built in 1990 continued to use aluminium but from 1991 FRC became the standard hull material. In 2014, the first of the replacement boats replaced Merseys at Dungeness, Exmouth and Hoylake. The RNLI intended to have 25 knot lifeboats at all offshore lifeboat stations by the end of 2019. However, this target will not be met as 12 Merseys will still be in service at the end of 2019 with production of Shannons running at six boats per year.

Description

The Mersey is designed to be launched from a carriage, but can also lie afloat or be slipway launched when required. Its propellers are fully protected from damage when launching or in shallow water by partial tunnels and two bilge keels. Its low height can be further reduced by collapsing its mast and aerials which then allows it to be stored in a boathouse. A sealed cabin gives it a self-righting ability. Power comes from two

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

285 hp turbo-charged engines. It carries of fuel to give it a range of . It has a crew of six and can carry an

X Boat The X Boat, also called the Cub, is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by John O. Johnson as a one-design racer and first built in 1932.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 72- ...

inflatable which it can deploy at sea. Its survivor compartment can carry 43 people, but more than 21 prevents self-righting should the boat capsize. File:Wells-Next-The-Sea Lifeboat Coming Home.jpg, Launching from a carriage and

Talus MB-H amphibious tractor Talus MB-H is a continuous track launch tractor which was specifically designed for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), to launch and recover lifeboats from beach-launched lifeboat stations. The tractor was built by Clayton Engineerin ...

File:Swanage lifeboat on its slipway 1.JPG, Launching from a slipway File:Swanage lifeboat on its slipway 2.JPG, Stern showing the protected propellers File:Lifeboat Engines.JPG, Engine room

Fleet

References

External links

RNLI Fleet: Mersey Class
{{RNLI lifeboat classes