RNLB '' Thomas McCunn'' (ON 759) is a
Longhope Lifeboat Thomas McCunn ON 759 lifeboat stationed at

Longhope Longhope is a village in west Gloucestershire, situated within the Forest of Dean, England, United Kingdom. Arthur Bullock, who was born in Longhope in 1899, described its location as follows: * The parish occupies the most easterly valley in t ...

in Orkney, Scotland,OS Explorer Map: Orkney - Hoy, South Walls & Flotta: Published: Ordnance Survey: from January 1933 until April 1962. During which time she was launched on service 101 times and saved 308 lives. After ''Thomas McCunn'' left Longhope she was placed into the reserve fleet for ten years before being sold and used as a pleasure boat. In 2000 she was bought by Longhope Lifeboat Museum. The lifeboat is now at the centre of a display in the old slipway at Brims and is still launched on special occasions.

Design and construction

''Thomas McCunn'' was built at the yard of Groves and Guttridge Ltd on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, England. 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 ''Swietenia humilis'' is a species of tree in the family Meliaceae. It is one of three species in the genus ''Swietenia'', all three of which are regar ...

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 ( pan ...

ribs and beams with the stem and stern posts 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 plant, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus ...

. The stern and stem posts are grown to the required shape to give the lifeboat its strength and sturdiness. The ''Thomas McCunn'' was 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, all 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 electrically powered

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 ...

Engines

The lifeboat was originally powered by two 40bhp 4-cylinder Weyburn CE4 petrol engines, but after sale by the RNLI was re-engined in 1973 with two Ford Mermaid diesel engines. The last of the petrol engines was designed by Watson himself. The lifeboat had a top speed of

Service

The boat served from January 1933 - April 1962 at Longhope. During this time it was launched 101 times and saved 308 lives. From 1962 - 1972 it was a reserve-boat and has 8 launches with 7 savings during this time. In August 1972 the boat was sold and returned later to Longhope for display.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas Mccunn 1933 ships Tourist attractions in Orkney History of Orkney 1933 establishments in Scotland Museum ships in the United Kingdom Ships and vessels on the National Register of Historic Vessels Watson-class lifeboats