RNLB ''H F Bailey'' (ON 777) is the most famous

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)

lifeboat 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 ...

to have served from

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. It is north of Norwich, north-northeast of London and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local government authorities are Nor ...

, because she was used by Coxswain

Henry Blogg Henry George Blogg"Henry Blogg, the Greatest of the Lifeboatmen", Jolly, C., Pub: Poppyland Publishing, new edition 2002, GC BEM (6 February 1876 – 13 June 1954) was a lifeboatman from Cromer on the north coast of Norfolk, England, and the ...

to perform many of his most famous lifesaving exploits. The lifeboat was on station for the ten years between 1935 and 1945. She is now part of the

National Historic Fleet The National Historic Fleet is a list of historic ships and vessels located in the United Kingdom, under the National Historic Ships register. National Historic Ships UK is an advisory body which advises the Secretary of State for Culture, Media a ...

and has been preserved in the RNLI Henry Blogg Museum in Cromer. From 1923 to the end of the Second World War in 1945 the Cromer station had four motor-powered lifeboats all called ''H F Bailey'' after the donor, Mr Henry Francis Bailey, a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

merchant who had been born in

Brockenhurst Brockenhurst is the largest village by population within the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The nearest city is Southampton some to the North East, while Bournemouth is also nearby, South West. Surrounding towns and villages include Beaul ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

and had died in 1916.

Construction

''H F Bailey'' was built at the yard of Groves and Guttridge Ltd on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

. Her hull is constructed using double diagonal planking of

Honduras mahogany Honduras mahogany is a common name for several trees and may refer to: *''Swietenia humilis'' a small tree with a restricted range from southern Mexico to northern Central America *''Swietenia macrophylla ''Swietenia macrophylla'', commonly know ...

on a framework of

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

ribs and beams, with the

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...

and

stern post A sternpost is the upright structural member or post at the stern of a (generally wooden) ship or a boat, to which are attached the transoms and the rearmost left corner part of the stern. The sternpost may either be completely vertical or may ...

s and her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

English oak ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widely ...

. The stern and stem posts are grown to the required shape to give the lifeboat its strength and sturdiness. She is long and wide. The hull is divided into seven watertight compartments, of which the engine room is one. The hull is fitted with 142 mahogany air cases, each individually made to fit into its allocated position in the hull. Her equipment included the latest innovations of the time which included a line throwing gun and an electric

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

.''Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004'', Two New Lifeboats, page 73.

Further use

RNLB HF Bailey went on to serve

Helvick Head Helvick or Helvick Head (, non, Hellavík) is a headland on the southern end of Dungarvan Harbour, Ireland; it is the eastern tip of the Ring Peninsula. Formed of Old Red Sandstone, it is the easternmost protrusion of a ridge that begins ne ...

Lifeboat Station in

County Waterford County Waterford ( ga, Contae Phort Láirge) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is part of the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region. It is named ...

Republic of Ireland until 1969 when the station was closed. It remained closed until 1994 when it was reopened by the RNLI. The lifeboat stationed there today is an

Atlantic 75 The Atlantic 75 is part of the B-class of lifeboats that serve the shores of the United Kingdom as a part of the RNLI inshore fleet. The Atlantic 75 is the second generation Rigid Inflatable Boat A rigid inflatable boat (RIB), also rigid ...

and provides cover in the area between Youghal and Tramore Lifeboat Stations.

Rescues and service

Gallery

Image:Comer Lifeboat H F Bailey.JPG, The H F Bailey at sea Image:Cromer Lifeboat H F Bailey 1 Feb 2008 (2).JPG, The wheel house

References

* ''Cromer Lifeboats 1804–2004'', Leach, Nicholas & Russell, Paul, Pub: Tempus Publishing, 2004, .

Construction

Further use

Rescues and service

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading