RNLB ''J C Madge'' (ON 536) was a Liverpool-class, Pulling and Sailing non-self righting lifeboatSheringham Lifeboats: By Leach, Nicholas and Russell, Paul :Published by landmark Pub Ltd, 2009: The Sheringham Lifeboats, 1838-200: By Bensley, Mick: Published :Bengunn 2003: stationed at

Sheringham Sheringham (; population 7,367) is an English seaside town within the county of Norfolk, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey (2002). ''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . The motto of the town, granted in 1953 to the Sheringham Urban Distr ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of Norfolk''OS Explorer Map 252 - Norfolk Coast East''. . from December 1904 until June 1936 during which time she was launched on service 34 times and saved 58 lives. ''J C Madge'' was replaced by .

Design and construction

''J C Madge'' was built at the

Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Cann ...

in Blackwall in 1903 at the cost of £1,436 16s 6d. She was paid for from a legacy of £2,000 left to the RNLI by a Mr James C Madge, a chemist, of Southampton. The design was a Liverpool class, non-self righting, pulling and sailing lifeboat. ''J C Madge'' was in length, making her the largest and the only one built of the Liverpool type lifeboat built. The boat was built using the Clinker method of constructing hulls. The boat was fitted with two sliding or drop-

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 ...

s and two water-ballast tanks. The lifeboat had two masts of which the fore-mast carried a dipping

lug sail The lug sail, or lugsail, is a fore-and-aft, four-cornered sail that is suspended from a spar, called a yard. When raised, the sail area overlaps the mast. For "standing lug" rigs, the sail may remain on the same side of the mast on both the port ...

and the mizzen mast a standing lug sail. The boat had two drop keels and was fitted out with water ballast tanks. She pulled 16 oars which were double banked for heavy weather. Her Launching carriage was built by the Bristol Wagon & Carriage Works Company, which was delivered separately by rail to Sheringham. This carriage was constructed with larger front wheels installed with a series of flat metal plates around circumference of each wheel. Their purpose was to help prevent the boat sinking into areas of soft sand. Heavy ropes were attached to the carriage, and a team of 30 or more men would haul her into the waves at launch times. She was then rowed out through the surf, but if this was not possible then the lifeboat was pulled out to sea using a haul-off warp (a windlass), by use of a thick rope anchored some 200 metres off shore and fixed at the beach end to a post by the lifeboat house. There was a large manually operated winch situated at the back of the boathouse to assist in recovering the boat after launch.

Delivery

The ''J C Madge'' left the yard of the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company on 30 November 1904, crewed by the Coxswain William ''"Click"'' Bishop and six crewmen. She was sailed around the east coast from the Blackwall yard in fair weather, with overnight stops at Harwich and Great Yarmouth, arriving in Sheringham on 2 December 1904. When she arrived at Sheringham she was housed in a new purpose built lifeboat shed at Old Hythe which was a mile west of Sheringham. The new lifeboat was inaugurated on 13 December 1904 at a ceremony at Old Hythe were ''J C Madge'' was christened by the daughter of the president of the local RNLI Branch Mr H R Upcher. JP.

Service

The Lifeboat ''J C Madge''Lists of British life-boats:Part 1: By Farr, Grahame : Published: Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society, 1992 : was on station at Old Hythe, Sheringham for 30 years and she was launched a total of 34 times and she is credited with saving 58 lives. The first service was on 6 January to the Barge ''Gothic'' and ''Teutonic'', both of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

. The crews were removed and landed in Sheringham and later the ''J C Madge'' and the fisherman's lifeboat ''Henry Ramey Upcher'' towed both barges to Great Yarmouth.

SS Uller

One notable service was to the steamship ''SS Uller'' of Bergen on 24 February 1916. The steamship was bound for

La Pallice La Pallice (also known as ''grand port maritime de La Rochelle'') is the commercial deep-water port of La Rochelle, France. During the Fall of France, on 19 June 1940, approximately 6,000 Polish soldiers in exile under the command of Stanisła ...

from Sunderland with a cargo of coal and had foundered on a Dudgeon sands. Amid heavy snow storms and gale-force winds the ''J C Madge'' stood by her all night in appalling conditions. In the morning the lifeboat escorted ''SS Uller'' to the Humber Estuary fifty-three miles away. The last service by ''J C Madge'' was to the Sheringham fishing boat ''Little Madge'' on 2 April 1936. ''Little Madge'' had got into difficulties and the lifeboat had taken off her crew of two and taken her in to tow, only for both vessels to be towed to safety by the Cromer Lifeboat .

Retirement

After her retirement from service at Sheringham, Lifeboat ''J C Madge'' was replaced by the ''Foresters Centenary''. The lifeboat remained at Sheringham for over a month before being sold out of service for £80 to W Gillard of

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

. She was converted into a private pleasure craft with a cabin added. The boat was used around the coast of Norfolk and

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

for many years. In 1988 ''J C Madge'' was displayed at the Sheringham stations annual lifeboat Day. Following her appearance there, £30,000 was raised and she was repurchased for restoration in 1989 by the Sheringham Museum Trust. In the summer of 1989 the ''J C Madge'' was sailed from

Brancaster Brancaster is a village and civil parish on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish of Brancaster comprises Brancaster itself, together with Brancaster Staithe and Burnham Deepdale. The three villages form a more or ...

around the coast to the Lowestoft international boatbuilding college at

Oulton Broad Oulton Broad refers to both the lake and the suburb of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. The suburb is located west of the centre of Lowestoft. It became a civil parish in 2017. It had an estimated population of 10,338 at the 2011 Uni ...

where she was restored to her former lifeboat appearance and use. On 14 August 1999 the National Historic Ships Committee added the ''J C Madge'' to the National Register of Historic Vessels (Certificate no 1763). From March 2010 she is on permanent display at the new Sheringham Museum

Coxswains of the J C Madge

Whilst J C Madge was on station at Sheringham there were three Coxswains: * William 'Click' Bishop, 1904 to 1914 * Obadiah Craske Cooper, 1914 to 1924 * James Edward Dumble,''Lifeboat Gallantry'' RNLI medals and how they were won. Edited by:Barry Cox. Published:Spink, London, 1998. p. 291. 1924 to 1936

Service and rescues of J C Madge

The lifeboat displayed at Sheringham Museum

File:Sheringham Lifeboat J C Madge ON536 Sheringham Museum 29 03 2010 (11).JPG File:Sheringham Lifeboat J C Madge ON536 Sheringham Museum 29 03 2010 (2).JPG, The Bow File:Sheringham Lifeboat J C Madge ON536 Sheringham Museum 29 03 2010 (8).JPG, The rudder File:Sheringham Lifeboat J C Madge ON536 Sheringham Museum 29 03 2010 (5).JPG, From the viewing gallery File:Sheringham Lifeboat J C Madge ON536 Sheringham Museum 29 03 2010 (7).JPG, The port side

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:J C Madge On 536 J C Madge Sheringham lifeboats 1904 ships Liverpool-class lifeboats Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels