Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboat

Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboats were lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from stations around the coasts of the United Kingdom and Ireland. They were able to operate further from shore and around the sandbanks common off East Anglia.

RNLB St Paul preserved at Chatham
Class overview
Name	Norfolk and Suffolk-class
Builders	Various
Operators	RNLI and others
Built	1807–1925
In service	1807–1953
General characteristics - sailing lifeboats
Length	30 to 46 ft (9.1 to 14.0 m)
Beam	10 to 12 ft (3.0 to 3.7 m)
Crew	16–22
General characteristics - motor lifeboats
Displacement	14-17 tons
Length	46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)
Beam	12 ft 9 in (3.89 m)
Installed power	40 bhp to 80 bhp
Propulsion	Single screw
Speed	8 kn (9.2 mph; 15 km/h)
Range	~115 nmi (132 mi; 213 km)
Crew	13

History

RNLB H F Bailey (ON670)

Purpose-built lifeboats first appeared towards the end of the 18th century. Some of the first were designed by Lionel Lukin who adapted local boat designs to be more buoyant so they could operate safely in rough seas. He designed one for the Suffolk Humane Society in 1807 for use at Lowestoft. It was based on a local yawl with a shallow draft and sails so it could reach offshore sandbanks, but oars were also provided.^[1]

The design proved successful and was adopted by other lifeboat services in East Anglia including the Norfolk Shipwreck Association. The Suffolk Humane Society merged with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1855 as did the Norfolk Shipwreck Association in 1857.^[2] The RNLI continued to build lifeboats to the Norfolk and Suffolk design and stationed them at other places on the east coast between the River Thames and the Humber.^[3][4]

The last Norfolk and Suffolk lifeboat was built in 1925 and was in use until 1953. The design evolved throughout this time, the last boats being built with petrol motors.

Pulling & sailing lifeboats

The Lowestoft lifeboat of 1807 was 40 feet (12 m) long and 10 ft (3.0 m) wide. It had wood and cork 'wales' or pads 15 in (380 mm) deep that projected up to 9 in (230 mm) from the sides. Empty 22 in (560 mm) casks along the inside of the sides with two more each at the front and back of the boat to give it buoyancy. An iron keel was fitted and a large volume of water ballast kept it lower in the water so that it cut through the waves instead of riding up and down over them. The water ballast was let in and out by plugs in the bottom to reduce the boat's weight when being launched and recovered from the beach. It had three masts, lug sails and 12 oars.^[1]

Most of these features continued to be used in Norfolk and Suffolk lifeboats built during the next 85 years. The empty casks were replaced by detachable wood and canvas air cases along the sides and fixed air boxes in the bow and stern like Palmer-class lifeboats. The water ballast, up to 7 tons of it, was just left in the bottom of the boat so lifeboat crews worked in wet conditions. If too much water was taken on board, the excess drained out through gaps along the side. They were rigged with 2 lug sails.^[5][6]

ON	Name	In service	Station	Built	Builder	Length	Comments
–	Frances Ann	1807–1850	Lowestoft	1807	Bareham	40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)	Suffolk Humane Society.[1][7]
[Note 1]	–	1833–1861	Great Yarmouth	1833		39 ft 0 in (11.89 m)	Suffolk Humane Society, to RNLI in 1855.[8]
[Note 2]	–	1833–1858	Great Yarmouth	1833		25 ft 0 in (7.62 m)	[8]
[Note 3]	Marianne	1840–1872	Pakefield	1840	Teasdel	45 ft 0 in (13.72 m)	Suffolk Humane Society, to RNLI in 1855. Marianne was renamed Sisters in 1868.[9][8]
	Sisters
–	Solebay	1841–1852	Southwold	1840	Teasdel	38 ft 0 in (11.58 m)	[10][8]
[Note 4]	–	1846–1865	Caister	1846	Branford	42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)	Norfolk Shipwreck Association, to RNLI in 1857.[11][8]
[Note 5]	Victoria	1850–1876	Lowestoft	1850	Sparham	42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)	Suffolk Humane Society, to RNLI in 1855. Victoria was renamed Laetitia by 1874.[8]
	Laetitia
–		1852–1858	Palling	1852	Teasdel	32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)	Norfolk Shipwreck Association, to RNLI in 1857.
[Note 6]	Birmingham No. 2	1865–1883	Caister	1865		42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)	Birmingham No. 2 was renamed Covent Garden by 1879.[8]
	Covent Garden
14	British Workman	1870–1893	Palling	1870		40 ft 4 in (12.29 m)	Sold 1893, broken up 1995.[12]
15	Anne Maria	1861–1896	Winterton	1860		32 ft 2 in (9.80 m)	Anne Maria was renamed as Edward Birkbeck at an unknown date.
	Edward Birkbeck
16	Husband	1869–1879	Corton	1869		36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)	[13][12]
		1879–1890	Winterton
–	George	1870–	Lowestoft	1870		32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)	[13]
17	Covent Garden	1883–1899	Caister	1882		42 ft 4 in (12.90 m)	[12]
18	Boys	1867–1892	Caister	1867		32 ft 6 in (9.91 m)	Renamed Godsend by 1877.[12]
	Godsend
19	Duff	1859–1892	Great Yarmouth	1859		28 ft 3 in (8.61 m)	Renamed Abraham Thomas by 1875.[12]
	Abraham Thomas
20	Brave Robert Shedden	1861–1883	Great Yarmouth	1861		40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)	[12]
	Mark Lane	1883–1889	Gorleston
21	Leicester	1870–1883	Gorleston	1870		29 ft 11 in (9.12 m)	[12]
		1883–1894	Gorleston
22	Samuel Plimsoll	1876–1905	Lowestoft	1876		44 ft 4 in (13.51 m)	[12]
23	Sisters	1872–1886	Pakefield	1872		46 ft 3 in (14.10 m)	[12]
	The Two Sisters	1886–1890	Lowestoft
	Mary and Hannah	1890–1910	Pakefield
24	Henry Burford RN	1871–1895	Pakefield	1870		30 ft 3 in (9.22 m)	[12]
25	Bolton	1870–1893	Kessingland	1870		42 ft 3 in (12.88 m)	[12]
26	Grace & Lalley of Broadoak	1867–1870	Kessingland	1867		32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)
	St Michaels, Paddington	1870–1897
27	Charles Bury	1884–1897	Kessingland	1884		38 ft 6 in (11.73 m)	[12]
28	Harriett	1855–1869	Southwold	1855	Beeching	39 ft 10 in (12.14 m)	Renamed in 1869.[14][10][12]
	London Coal Exchange No. 1	1869–1893
29	Dorinda and Barbara	1871–1882	Theddlethorpe	1871		30 ft 1 in (9.17 m)	Displayed at the Imperial Institute in London from 1897 until 1917.[12]
	Quiver No. 2	1882–1897	Southwold
233	Mark Lane	1889–1892	Gorleston	1889		44 ft 5 in (13.54 m)	[10][15]
	Reserve No. 1	1892–1899	Reserve Fleet
	Margaret	1899–1907	Winterton
270	Margaret	1890–1899	Winterton	1889	Beeching	43 ft 10 in (13.36 m)	[16][15]
		1899–1902	Aldeburgh
		1902–1924	Reserve fleet
288	Stock Exchange	1890–1892	Lowestoft	1890	Ellis	46 ft 7 in (14.20 m)	Sold 1922 and converted to a houseboat. Broken up in 1978 at Felixstowe Ferry.[16][17]
	Mark Lane	1892–1921	Gorleston
304	Aldeburgh	1890–1899	Aldeburgh	1890	Critten	46 ft 3 in (14.10 m)	Had 14 oars, double banked. Capsized with the loss of 7 of the 18 crew in 1899; broken up in 1900.[18][19][17]
319	–	1891–1895	Spare	1890		32 ft 2 in (9.80 m)	Spare boat, never named or allocated to a station. Sold to Ghana.[17]
326	Thora Zelma	1892–1904	Gorleston	1891		31 ft 5 in (9.58 m)	[17]
	Reserve No. 8	1904–1913	Reserve fleet
327	Beauchamp	1892–1901	Caister	1891		36 ft 5 in (11.10 m)	Sold 1901, broken up 1966.[17]
329	John Burch	1892–1912	Great Yarmouth	1892		32 ft 5 in (9.88 m)	Sold in 1912 and converted to a yacht.[17]

1. The 39-foot Great Yarmouth lifeboat of 1833 is number 160 in the Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society list of unofficial numbers.
2. The 25-foot Great Yarmouth lifeboat of 1833 is number 162 in the Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society list of unofficial numbers.
3. The 1840 Pakefield lifeboat is number 195 in the Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society list of unofficial numbers.
4. The 1846 Caister lifeboat is number 218 in the Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society list of unofficial numbers.
5. The 1850 Lowestoft lifeboat is number 229 in the Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society list of unofficial numbers.
6. The 1865 Caister lifeboat is number 427 in the Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society list of unofficial numbers.

Improved design

The RNLI staged a trial of sailing lifeboats in 1892. Of the four different boats, the Norfolk and Suffolk class was deemed the least effective. The trial was held at Lowestoft and that station's two-year-old lifeboat was used. The water ballast proved to be a problem, the boat getting into difficulty in the surf close to the beach before the water ballast could be taken in. Even when properly ballasted, the boat could become unstable as water was able to shift side-to-side and back-and-front. Boats built after the trial had the water ballast constrained in tanks beneath a deck in the centre of the boat where it was not able to shift so much. Valves were fitted to allow water above the deck to drain out. An alteration was also made to the shape of the wales so that waves flowed over them better; in the past they sometimes waves coming from the side got caught under the wale and pushed the boat over the opposite side.^[20][1]

ON	Name	In service	Station	Built	Builder	Length	Comments
351	Hearts of Oak	1893–1917	Palling	1893		40 ft 4 in (12.29 m)	Sold and used as a yacht. Broken up about 1990.[21]
352	Bolton	1893–1902	Kessingland	1893		43 ft 0 in (13.11 m)	Sold 1926. Renamed Juno and now a houseboat at Horsford, Norfolk.[21]
		1902	Aldeburgh
		1902–1918	Kessingland
		1918–1925	Southwold
353	Alfred Corry	1893–1918	Southwold	1893	Beeching Brothers	44 ft 1 in (13.44 m)	16-oar boat. Sold 1919 but now on display at the Alfred Corry Museum, Southwold, which is the relocated Cromer lifeboat house.[10][22][21]
356	Stock Exchange	1893–1912	Lowestoft	1893		46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)	[21]
	Reserve No. 1A	1912–1918	Reserve fleet
371	Leicester	1894–1923	Gorleston	1894		31 ft 0 in (9.45 m)	[21]
397	Edward Birkbeck	1896–1925	Winterton	1896		34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)	Sold 1925, now awaiting restoration at Winterton in Norfolk.[3]
405	Rescue	1897–1920	Southwold	1897		32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)	Sold and used as a houseboat until at least 1969.[3]
406	St Paul	1897–1931	Kessingland	1897		38 ft 0 in (11.58 m)	On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard since 1996.[3]
430	James Stevens No. 9	1899–1923	Southend-on-Sea	1899		38 ft 0 in (11.58 m)	Carried a crew of 15. Sold 1923, renamed Viking but destroyed by a bomb at Dover in World War II.[23][3]
431	Covent Garden	1899–1919	Caister	1899		40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)	[3]
432	James Stevens No.14	1900–1905	Walton-on-the-Naze	1900	Thames Ironworks	43 ft 0 in (13.11 m)	Stood down in 1905 for an engine to be fitted. It returned to service in 1907 and was sold in 1928.[24][3]
482	City of Winchester	1902–1928	Aldeburgh	1902	Thames Ironworks	46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)	12-oar boat.[25][26] Sold 1928 and renamed Ellen Gordon. Became a houseboat at Maldon but broken up in 1980.[27]
506	Nancy Lucy	1903–1929	Caister	1903		35 ft 0 in (10.67 m)	[28]
543	Kentwell	1905–1921	Lowestoft	1905		46 ft 1 in (14.05 m)	[29]
		1922–1924	Gorleston
	Reserve No. 1	1924–1928	Reserve fleet
589	Eleanor Brown	1909–1924	Winterton	1909		44 ft 7 in (13.59 m)	Sold and converted to be a houseboat at Blakeney.[30][31]
	Reserve No. 1C	1924–1931	Reserve fleet
607	James Leith	1910–1919	Pakefield	1910		42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)	Sold in 1936, On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard since 1996.[31]
		1919–1929	Caister
		1930–1935	Aldeburgh
629	Hugh Taylor	1912–1919	Great Yarmouth	1912		34 ft 0 in (10.36 m)	Sold and became the yacht Johannes J, last reported in Holland in 1987.[4]
		1919–1922	Pakefield
	Reserve No. 1A	1922–1929	Reserve fleet
		1929–1931	Aldeburgh
		1931–1936	Kessingland
631	–	1903–1913	Spurn	1903		34 ft 6 in (10.52 m)	Boat never given a name.[4]
656	Hearts of Oak	1918–1929	Palling	1918		40 ft 0 in (12.19 m)	Sold and became the yacht Wander Bird, last reported to be in Frontignan, France, in 2002.[4]
		1929–1934	Reserve fleet

Motor lifeboats

The RNLI deployed its first experimental motor lifeboat in 1904 and in 1905 converted three pulling and sailing lifeboats into motor lifeboats. One of these was Walton-on-the-Naze's Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboat James Stevens No.14. It was fitted with a Blake 40 hp petrol engine with 4 cylinders and running at 550 rpm. Tests on 7 June 1906 measured the converted lifeboat's speed to be 6.952 knots (12.875 km/h). It was then sent to Harwich for sea trials in October. These were completed in February 1907, after which the boat returned to Walton-on-the-Naze to take up duty.^[32][24]

The engines in motor lifeboats were regarded as a supplement to sails at first but the experimental conversions were deemed a success. Construction of new motor lifeboats was protracted as it was difficult to obtain the parts and skilled staff, especially during World War I. Three Norfolk and Suffolk class motor lifeboats were built for service at East Anglian stations in the 1920s.^[33] The engines were a 4-cylinder 60 bhp unit in John and Mary Meiklam Of Gladswood of 1921, and 6-cylinder engines of 80 bhp in the two boats built in 1923 and 1925.

ON	Name	In service	Station	Built	Builder	Length	Comments
432	James Stevens No.14	1907–1928	Walton-on-the-Naze	1900	Thames Ironworks	43 ft 0 in (13.11 m)	Auxiliary engine fitted to a sailing lifeboat in 1905/1906, returned to service in 1907. Sold in 1928, now in store at Titchmarsh Marina, Walton-on-the-Naze.[24][3]
663	John and Mary Meiklam Of Gladswood	1921	Gorleston No. 1	1921	S. E. Saunders	46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)	Renamed in 1921 when transferred to Lowestoft, the original name was reused by ON 670 in 1924. Used at Dover for a while during World War II. Sold October 1952. Last reported as workboat Wimp in Aden in 1955.[4]
	Agnes Cross	1921–1939	Lowestoft
		1940–1941	Dover
		1941–1952	Reserve fleet
670	H.F. Bailey	1923–1924	Cromer	1923	J. Samuel White	46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)	Renamed in 1924, the original name was then reused on Watson-class lifeboat ON 694. Sold October 1952. On display at Gorleston Lifeboat House since June 1994.[34][4]
	John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood	1924–1939	Gorleston No. 1
		1939–1952	Reserve fleet
691	Mary Scott	1925–1940	Southwold	1925	J. Samuel White	46 ft 6 in (14.17 m)	Sold March 1953. In April 2022 it was reported to be at Littlehampton as a yacht with a cabin added.[34][35]
		1940–1953	Reserve fleet