# Palmer-class lifeboat

The Palmer-class lifeboat was an early design of small lifeboat used by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in the middle years of the nineteenth century.

## Design

George Palmer was a London businessman. He joined the committee of the RNIPLS in 1826, just two years after its founding, and later became its deputy chairman. One of the organisation's activities was to provide lifeboats and it bought them from several sources. Palmer offered a design based on a whaleboat, narrow and pointed at both ends. It was given extra buoyancy by the use of cork fittings and air chambers.

## Palmer lifeboats

| LBES No. | Name | Built | Builder | Cost | In service | Station | Length | Oars | Comments |
| — | Mariner's Friend | Jan 1827 | Tredwen, Padstow | £50 | 1827–1856 | Padstow | 23 ft 0 in (7.01 m) | 4 | |
| — | — | Mar 1827 | Shore, Blackwall | £95 | 1827–1838 1838–1851 | Holy Island North Sunderland | 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-131 | — | May 1828 | Taylor | £55 | 1828–1853 1853–1859 | Cemlyn Rhoscolyn | 25 ft 8 in (7.82 m) | 5/6 | |
| — | — | June 1828 | Harton | £56 | 1828–1853 | Barmouth | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-128 | — | 1828 | | | 1828–1841 | Newburgh | | | |
| — | — | June 1828 | Taylor | £55 | 1828–1840 | Peel | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-144 | — | May 1829 | McVeagh, Holyhead | £60 | 1828–1858 | Holyhead | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) | 8 | Palmer designed modified by Sparrow. |
| — | — | 1829 | Harton | £55 | 1829–1840 | Ramsey | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-145 | — | May 1929 | McVeagh, Holyhead | £60 | 1830 1830–1853 | Beaumaris Rhoscolyn | 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m) | 6 | Palmer designed modified by Sparrow. |
| Pre-150 | Assistance | Mar 1830 | Harton | £57 | 1832–1857 | Appledore | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-151 | — | Aug 1830 | Harton | £60 | 1831–1848 1848–1853 1853–1865 | Penmon Moelfre Cemlyn | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 5/6 | |
| Pre-155 | — | 1831 | Harton | £60 | 1832–1842 | Tynemouth | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-156 | — | May 1831 | Harton | £59 | 1832–1856 | Rye | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-161 | — | 1833 | Harton | £60 | 1836–1838 | Dymchurch | 25 ft 0 in (7.62 m) | | |
| — | — | 1834 | Harton | £65 | 1835–1843 | Laugharne | | | |
| Pre-166 | — | 1834 | Harton | £63 | 1835–1852 | Berwick-upon-Tweed | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| — | — | Sep 1835 | Harton | £62 | 1835–1851 | Mostyn | | | |
| — | — | Oct 1835 | Harton | £62 | 1836–1851 | Swansea | 26 ft 6 in (8.08 m) | 6 | |
| — | — | Jul 1836 | Taylor | £67 | 1836–1846 | Burnham-on-Sea | 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m) | 6 | For the port of Bridgwater. |
| — | — | 1837 | Taylor | £70 | 1837–1858 | Brighton | 28 ft 2 in (8.59 m) | 10 | Operated by the Brighton Humane Society. |
| Pre-178 | Victoria | Jun 1837 | Taylor | £68 | 1837–1859 | Aberdovey | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| — | — | Mar 1839 | Taylor | £76 | 1839–1857 | Youghal | 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) | 6 | |
| — | — | 1839 | Taylor | £70 | 1839–1855 | Rosslare Fort | 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) | 5 | |
| Pre-184 | Heroine | 1839 | | | 1839–1851 1851–1857 | Humber Hornsea | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) | | Initially with no name, later becoming Heroine. |
| — | — | 1839 | Harton | | 1839–1855 | Robin Hood's Bay | | | |
| Pre-196 | — | May 1840 | Taylor | £76 | 1840–1861 | Llanddwyn | 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) | 5/6 | |
| — | — | Jul 1840 | Taylor | £77 | 1844–1855 | Derrynane | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 5/6 | |
| — | — | Jan 1843 | Taylor | £77 | 1844–1855 | Aberystwyth | 26 ft 9 in (8.15 m) | 6 | |
| Pre-208 | — | Jul 1844 | Taylor | £72 | 1844–1853 | Penrhyn Du | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| — | — | Mar 1847 | Taylor | £73 | 1847–1857 | Kilmore | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 5/6 | |
| Pre-224 | — | 1848 | Costain, Liverpool | | 1848–1857 | Penmon | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) | 6 | |
| — | — | 1852 | Teasdel, Yarmouth | | 1852–1858 | Palling | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) | | |
| — | — | | | | | Cromer | | | |
| — | — | | | | | Redcar | | | |

## Later whale boats

Most lifeboats built from the 1850s were of the Peake self-righting type but some whale boat lifeboats continued to be provided to stations where there was a need for a small boat, the last being built in 1910 and withdrawn in 1938.
| ON | Name | Built | Length | In service | Station | Comments |
| 280 | Henley | 1889 | 30 ft 3 in (9.22 m) | 1890–1893 | Tramore | |
| 376 | Captain Hans Busk | 1869 | 28 ft 8 in (8.74 m) | 1869–1905 | Ryde | Retained as a boarding boat until 1910. |
| 481 | Richard Cresswell | 1902 | 29 ft 1 in (8.86 m) | 1902–1910 | Poolbeg | |
| 481 | Richard Cresswell | 1902 | 29 ft 1 in (8.86 m) | 1910–1931 | Campbeltown No. 2 | |
| 551 | Selina | 1905 | 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m) | 1905–1923 | Ryde | Sold in 1923 and now awaiting restoration. |
| 615 | John Watson Wakefield | 1910 | 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m) | 1910–1938 | Poolbeg | |