41ft Watson-class lifeboat

The 41 ft Watson-class was a non self-righting displacement hull lifeboat built between 1931 and 1952 and operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution between 1931 and 1981.

RNLB Edmund and Mary Robison (ON812), 6th of 13 in the Watson 41 Class. Off Princes Dock, Liverpool, on the occasion of her naming ceremony.
Class overview
Name	41ft Watson-class
Builders	Groves & Guttridge, Cowes Morgan Giles, Teignmouth Sussex Yacht Co., Shoreham J. Samuel White, Cowes William Osborne, Littlehampton
Operators	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Preceded by	Various
Succeeded by	42ft Watson
Cost	£5,600-£20,700
Built	1933-1939, 1948-1952
In service	1933-1982
Completed	13
Lost	2
Retired	11
General characteristics
Class & type	41ft Watson-class motor lifeboat
Displacement	14-15 tons
Length	41 ft (12 m)
Beam	11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) - 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
Draught	3 ft 8 in (1.12 m)
Propulsion	(As built) 2x35bhp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol
Speed	71⁄2 knots
Crew	8

History

The 41 ft Watson was designed for service at stations which required a larger and more powerful boat than the standard carriage launched types, but which could not accommodate the larger Watson types through boathouse or slipway constraints. This is not to be confused with the earlier 41ft 'Aldeburgh' Beach Motor lifeboat, which was developed from the Norfolk and Suffolk type boat. Production ran from 1933 to 1939 and thirteen boats were completed. Between 1948 and 1952 a further four boats were built before attention turned to the much modified 42ft Watson type which appeared in 1954.

Description

The 41 ft Watson had an aft cockpit with a cabin ahead of it containing the engine controls. There was a separate forward shelter and there was room in the two for sixteen people. The boats carried two sails as an auxiliary to the twin Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines. The type was put back into production in 1948, nine years after the last had been built, in a revised version with an enlarged cabin which replaced the forward shelter. From 1963 eight of the boats were re-engined with 47 bhp Ford-based Parsons Porbeagle 4-cylinder diesel engines.

Fleet

ON[a]	Name	Built	Builder	In service	Stations	Re-engined	Comments[1]
751	Abdy Beauclerk	1931	J. Samuel White, Cowes	1931–1958	Aldeburgh		Sold 1959. Renamed St. Ita. February 2010, Houseboat at Rusheen Bay, Galway
758	Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn	1933	Groves & Guttridge	1933–1963	Shoreham Harbour	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold in 1973. Renamed Dowager. October 2023, at IBTC, Lowestoft.
				1963–1973	Relief fleet
761	Charles Cooper Henderson	1933		1933–1957	Dungeness		Sold 1976. March 2023, Charter boat at Mill Green, Caversham, Oxfordshire
				1957–1974	Relief fleet
762	Charles Dibdin (Civil Service No.2)	1933		1933–1959	Walmer		Sold 1959. April 1980, Pilot boat at Dover
769	Duke of York	1933	Groves & Guttridge	1934–1961	The Lizard	No	Sold in 1961. Reported in December 2023 at Castlebridge, Ireland.
783	The Viscountess Wakefield	1936		1936–1940	Hythe		Lost at Dunkirk, 31 May 1940
806	Rachel and Mary Evans	1936	Groves & Guttridge	1937–1968	Barry Dock	No	Wrecked 12 April 1969 after breaking moorings at Weston-Super-Mare.
				1969	Weston-super-Mare
807	Inbhear Mor	1938	Groves & Guttridge	1938–1968	Arklow	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold in 1974. December 2013, broken up at Ynyslas Boatyard in Borth.
				1968–1973	Relief fleet
808	Mary Ann Hepworth	1938	Groves & Guttridge	1938–1974	Whitby	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold in 1975. Purchased 1988, was fully restored as a trip boat at Whitby but by June 2023 was at Caernarfon.
812	Edmund and Mary Robinson	1938	Groves & Guttridge	1938–1950	New Brighton No.2	No	Sold March 1964. In February 2016, broken up near Bromsgrove.
				1950–1964	Relief fleet
813	Ann Letitia Russell	1938	Groves & Guttridge	1939–1976	Fleetwood	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold April 1977. In storage at ABP Marine yard, Fleetwood Dock December 2024, now under threat of being broken up in January 2025.[2][3]
823	Matthew Simpson	1939	Groves & Guttridge	1939–1972	Port Erin	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold in 1976. Renamed Penros. May 2022, unaltered pleasure boat with the Hayling Island Yacht Company.
				1972–1976	Relief fleet
824	John Pyremont	1939	Groves & Guttridge	1939–1941	Tynemouth	No	Destroyed in air raid 9 April 1941.
856	Susan Ashley	1948	Groves & Guttridge	1948–1972	Sennen Cove	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Used as an RNLI boarding boat at Tynemouth 1979-1981. On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard from April 1996.
				1973–1979	Barry Dock No.2
857	Glencoe-Glasgow	1949	Morgan Giles	1949–1960	Buckie	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold in 1979. Renamed Vagrant. September 2019, being used as a pleasure boat at Burghead Harbour.
				1960–1961	Girvan
				1961–1965	Relief fleet
				1965–1978	Portavogie
858	R.L.P.	1949	Sussex Yacht Co., Shoreham	1949–1975	Swanage	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold August 1981. Renamed Beya. Was a workboat at Millport, Great Cumbrae in June 1989, now believed to have been given to a Sea Cadet group.
				1975–1981	Relief fleet
859	Beryl Tollemache	1949	Sussex Yacht Co., Shoreham	1949–1977	Eastbourne	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold 1979. Renamed Steadfast. August 2022, at Bath, Somerset
				1977–1979	Relief fleet
897	St. Andrew (Civil Service No.10)	1952	William Osborne	1952–1959	Whitehills	1963 Parsons Porbeagle	Sold in 1982. April 2022, a restored pleasure boat at New Ross Boatyard, County Wexford. October 2023, on display at West Wales Maritime Heritage centre, Pembroke Dock.
				1959–1961	Relief fleet
				1961–1968	Girvan
				1968–1973	Arklow
				1973–1976	Relief fleet
				1976–1977	Girvan
				1977–1982	Relief fleet

1. ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.