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London, England, 1856-10-06 00:00:00

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[PRIOE 4D. STAMPED SD•

LIFI•BOATS OF THE NATIONAL MEE-BOAT

INSTITUTION.

(From the Life-Boat Journal for October.)
In the year 1852 this institution adopted a new de-
scription of life.boat ; many of the boats which it sE that
time possessed were worn out, and the result of the com-
petition for a prize offered in the previous year by his
Grace the Duke of Northumberland for the Lest model
of a life-boat, led the committee t) believe that a boat of,
a safer and more efficient character might be produced
than that hitherto in the possession of the society.
The boat selected was the production of JameaPeake,
Esq., Assistant-Master-Shipwri zlit in her Majesty
dockyard at Woolwich. Mr. Peake.had been a mcmhtr
of the committee appointed by the Duke of Nortimm-
' berland to decide on the relative merits of the models
and drawings which competed for the prize above alluded
to, and which were no less than 230 in number. After
the prize had been awarded, Mr. Peake was requested
by the other members of the co urnittee to furnish a de-
sign for a life-boat which might combine as many a-
possible of the advantages, and have as few as possible
of the defects of the best of the models examined by
them. A boat was accordingly designed bp Mr. Peake,
and, by the authority of the Lords of the Admiralty,
was built at the expense of the Government, at Wool
with Dockyard. Some modifications were from time to
time made in her, resulting from various experiments
and a trial of her in a gale of wind at Brighton ;
and she together with others on the same de-
sign, built at the cost of the Duke of Northumber-
land, the president of the institution, was placed on
the Northumberland coast in the autumn of 1852. In
the course of the following winter these boats were taken
afloat on trial by the Inspector of Life-boats to the In-
stitution, some of them in heavy seas and gales of wind ;
and the result of the trials was considered high-1y satis-
factory. The committee thereupon decided to pre-Teed
with the building of other boats on the same plan ; and

at the present time no less than 23 of these boats are in
the possession of the institution, and stationed on the
coasts of the United Kingdom, in addition to 3 which
have gone to other countries and to 10 which have been
built for harbour trusts and other bodies on our own
coasts.
These boats have for the most part been of two sizes,
viz., 27 feet and 30 feet in length, with 7i to 8 feet beam,
and rowing from 8 to 12 oars, double-banked, their
weight averaging 2 tons. As, however, boats of this
class and size have been found too heavy to be managed
in some localities where but few boatmen are to be ob-

ained to launch and man them, some of less beam and

m,ight, rowing 6 oars single-banked, hut ou tho same
,le-ign in other respects, have been built under the de-
nomination of second-class life-boats, to meet the neces-
Ries of such localities.

Of the former class of boats those most recently built
by the institution have so far undergone a further modi-
fication as to be reduced somewhat in beam, and to hava
:ess height, and greater sharpness of bow and stern, in
order to enable them to be rowed with greater speed
against a head gale and h .avy sea. They arc also built
of fir, on the diagonal principle of double planking, with-
out timbers, whereas the earlier beats were of elm and
clenched or clinker-built.

We have not at an earlier period given a description of
these life-boats, as we were anxious that they should
first have the advantige and experience of three or four
winters' use, when we might, without presumption, be
able to speak more confidently respecting them than we
could have done before any sufficient practical trial had
been made of them. We now feel that we are in that
position. Several of them have already performed valu-
able services by saving the lives of shipwrecked per-
4ons, and the highest reports have been received respect-
ing them generally from those who have been intrusted
with their management. Coupling those reports with
what we have ourselves seen of them and of other life-
boats, we do not hesitate to pronounce the opinion that,
as rowing boats, they are superior to all others. Of
properties as sailing boats we are not yet in a
position t 4 speak so positively, as nearly the whole of
them are stationed on those parts of the coast where
'ails are not requir:d. At the same time, we have
every reason to believe that th,:y would be equally effi-
cient as sailing boats.

The qualities necessary in a lifeboat may be thus
summed up—we will remark on each in succession, and
point out bow far the boats of the institution possess
those qualities :

1. Extra buoyancy.
2. Self-relief of water.
3. Ballasting.
4. Self-righting.
5. Stability.
e. Speed.
7. Stowage•room.
8. Strength of build.

1. The chief peculiarity of a life-boat, which distin-
guishes it from all ordinary boats, is its being rendered
unsubmergible, by attaching to it, chiefly within board,
water-tight air-cases, or fixed water-tight compartments
under a .dVCdt, or sewasty caslAssis This property. in
one_ok more of *ha ---itnaire--"M' Irlsot na6res-te,
life-boat, althoUgh some possess it in an inade-
quate degree, or badly distributed. So long as the
necessary space for rowing and working the boat and
for the stowage of shipwrecked persons is not interfered
with, the amount of this "%extra buoyancy" cannot be
too great. Especially it is essential that the spare space
along the sides of a life-boat, within board, should be en•
tirely ocoupied by buoyant caste er compartments ; as
when such is the case, on her shipping a sea, the water,
until got rid of, is confined to the midship parts of the
b,,at, where it to a great extent serves as ballast, instead
of falling over to the lee side and destroying her equili-
brium, as is the case in an ordinary open boat. Barrels or
casks, which do not conform in shape to the sides ofa boat,
but have large interstices to be occupied by water, are not
suitable vehicles for providing extra buoyant power; yet,
at the present moment, the Liverpool life boats and
some others are provided only with empty casks as
buoyant power. The north country or Greathead class
of life-boats, of which those at Shields may be considered
the type, have their extra buoyancy provided by a water-
tight deck at the load-water line, the space between
which and the boat's floor is formed into water-tight air-
chambers ; water-tight compartments are also built along
the bides of the boat, within board, sloped from the gun-
wale to the deck, thereby effectually excluding any water
shipped from settling on one side. The life-boats
of Messrs. White, of Cowes, have their buoyancy
without
j any
a a
effected by similar air compartments along the
sides, extending from the gunwale to the boat's
floor, but
have
very wide encloseddetch d air-boxes
deck.
The large sailing life-boats on the Norfolk and Suffolk
coast
space
undero a
tanks,r
strongly made, to correspond in form with the boats'
sides, and extending from the thwarts to the floor, hav-
ing no deck. The life-boats of Mr. Peake's design have
a water-tight deck at the load water-line and detached
air-boxes along the sides, conforming closely to theshape
of the latter, from the thwarts to the deck. A great
amount of extra buoyancy is also in these boats derived
from large end air-cases built across the bow and stern,
and occupying from 3 feet to 44 feet in length from the
stem and stern posts to gunwale height. 'These cases
are chiefly intended to provide self-righting power ; but
in the event of the boat being stove in, and the space
below the deck being filled with water, they alone have
sufficient buoyancy to float her. The life-boats built by
Mr. Beaching, of Great Yarmouth, and which obtained
the Northumberland prize of 1001., are in this respect
similarly fitted to those of Mr. Peake.
2. The second peeuliar characteristic of a life-boat,
and which is closely allied to the preceding, although it
is not possessed by all life-boats, is the capability of
self-discharging in a few seconds any water which may
be shipped by the breaking over of a sea, or by a boat
being suddenly thrown on her beam-ends. This power is
accomplished by means of the water-tight deck at the
load-water-line and a sufficient number of large open
tubes, having their upper orifices at the surface of the
deck and their lower ones at the boat's floor, passing
through the space between the deck and the floor, but
hermetically closed to it ; thus providing an open com-
munication between the interior of the boat and the sea,
yet without suffering any leakage into the air-chambers
under the deck. In some life-boats these tubes are kept
always open ; in others, plugs, moveable by hand, and
having laniards or handles to them, are fitted, which
can be withdrawn on water being shipped. In Mr.
Peake's boats the tubes are fitted with selfacting
valves, which open downwards only, so that they
will allow any water shipped to pass downwards, whilst
none beyond a trifling leakage can pass upwards through
them. It will bo at once readily understood that, as
the deck is placed at or above the load-water-line, any
water which is above it will be above the outside level
of the sea, with which it has, through the tubes, free
communication, and that in obedience to the common
law of fluids, which binds them to a uniform level, it
must instantly, by its own gravity, descend through the
tubes until none remains above the surface of the deck ;
or, if the boat be Very deeply loaded, until the level of
the water outside and of that within the boat shall be
the same. _ _ _

This quality of self-relief of water can, of course, only
be possessed in perfection in boats with a raised water-
tight deck at or above the lead water line. The No*
folk lift-boats before alluded to have holes through their
floors, with plugs attached, through which they will re-
lieve themselves to the outside levet of the sea, or through
eitUch their crews can let water into them until the com-
mon leyell is obtained, which they accordingly do when
ever they go afloat iu a gale of wind and heavy sea.
They have then literally several tons of water on board,
but the wide side-cases confine the greater portion of it
to the amidships of the boat, where it then serves as a
loose ballast ; the boatmen considering that it is iafest
to go off under sail with a boat deeply immtr ei.
These boats will therefore only partially relieve them-
selves of water : they aro splendid boats, and their
crews have the utmost confidence in them ; but we think
that in this respect they might be improved on. Other
life-boats, as, for instance, tie at Liverpool, have no
relieving holes at all, and, if filil' by a sea, their crow:
have no e-escurce but the primitive, blow, and laborioc;
process of baling with buckets ; to do which theoar
men must take in their beats, and, for a time, disable
their beat.
ballasting. An ordinary open boat oanpoti
or
wtti safety
be A third and important property
stone, or
other an
water,
he ballast baying greater spoiac gritptY
• in a life-boat_fety
be taken into a heavy sea with metal,is

11Srettst..e4ey. mere ups welled with e,*
enfeleileeibly sink; • , oweeer, a. lefiteieereeee _
boat is provided with 'a large amount of extra-booyioeff.
power, she may with impunity have a considerab.,lo
amount of ballast of anydescription within her. We
here observe that ballast of same kind is very coritrib
five to the e ciency of a, life-boat. NotionlY meet it ad.
•
to her stability and thereby to her safety, but in propinie7e e
tion to the heaviness of the sea does weight.
necessary to insure speed, its momentum being requisiteele e
to withstand the:. blow el, each • succeeding breaker,. antleeA:
:to-carry the boat through asit strikes her; in the erem'eir"-I
In:4MM' that the flywheel of a steam-engine, or other
machine, regulates and economises the motive power, and—
vompensates for its irregular or intermittent action.
'The north country, or Greathead, life-boits hive gene-
rally no ballast, their great.breidth of heath-being relied
on for stability ; but poree•Of them bdreevitie let into a
tank, constructed for the pnrpose itr•the midships of the
boat beneath the deck. Necblear'e lifeiheatsavere also
benefited with water ou the carne peineiple ; but through
a diffieuley in securing•lfie eef ',the 'etmekel-and in
preventingE t e eekiieTeeotethe v./ate-a—emu them, serious
accidents, accompanied with loos cf
_life, occurred to
tbree of those boat's, Water-ballast in an enclosed tank,
if properly secured, is we think better thaet, loose water,
such as we described in the Norfolk boats ; we prefer
solid ballast to either, as i;can be more advantageously
placed, and is moremaeageable, and lees liable to accident.
Peake's life beatenre ballasted with lieavy iron heels,
and with solid wood and nark leafiest steiwe'd ender their
decks ; which latter, in the event of their being Aw)
in and the space under the desk filling with water, would
then form extra buoyancy as well, thus fulfilling both
purposes.
4. A f ,urth property, that of self-righting if upset, is
not a universal principle in life-boats, although we must
consider it a most important one, it being only possessed
by those of Mr. Peake's and-of Mr. Beeching'a coustruc-
doe. It has been objected to by some boat-builders,
from the'impression that other more neceasary qualities,
and especially that of stability, must be sacrificed to ob-
tain it ; this, however, iB:3. , fallacy asWe have eeedea-
voured to prove at length in tt former number of this
journal (No. 19, page 125); the fact that the very awe".
which are employed to prhduce belt righting add to the
stability of a boat, aikl improve her in other respects.
That the property of self-righting may be useful is proved
by the fact that on the only- two occasions, when self-
righting boats belonging to the National Life-boat In-
stitution, the crews have been enabled to get into them
again, and that•their lives have thereby been saved.
The self-righting power is obtained by
the following means.:-Ist. The boat is. built .
with considerable sheer of gunwale, the bow
sad stern being from 1 ft. 6 in. to 2 ft. higher than the
sides of the boat at her centre ; and the space within
the boat at either extremity, to the distante of from 3 to •
4i ft. from the stern and stern poste, to gunwale height,
is then enclosed by a sectional bulkhead and a ceiling,
and so converted into a water-tight air-chamber, the
cubical contents of which, from the thwarts upwards,
are sufficient to bear the whole weight of the boat when
she is placed in the water in an inverted position, or
keel upwards. 2dly. A heavy iron keel (from 4 tog cwt.)
is attached, and a nearly equal weight of light wood or
cork ballast is stowed betwixt the boat's floor and the
deck. No other measures are necessary to be taken in
order to effect the self-regulating power. When the boat is
forcibly placed in the water with her keel upwards, she
is floated unsteadily on the two air chambers at bow and •
stern, whilst the heavy iron keel and other ballast being
then carried above the centre of gravity, an unstable
equilibrium is at once effected, and the weight of the
iron keel, falling over on one side, immediately restore%
the boat to her proper position—iu other words, she
self-rights.
5. A fifth property is lateral stability, csmmonly
called stiffness, being the tendency to preserve an upright
position in the water, and proportionate resistance to
upsetting. This property is of course held in common by
all boats, but is more especially essential to life-boats,
they being more exposed to the risk of upsetting than
any others. As explained under the head of ballasting, •
it is obtained in life-boats by either breadth of beam or
by ballast. In Mr. Peake's boats very great stability is
obtained by an iron keel and other solid ballast, and
by flatness an'd length of floor, with moderate beam
only.
d. A sixth and most essential property is speed. We
say most essential, since without speed or capability of •
being propelled a heavy sea and head wind, the safest
boat in the world would be useless, as she could not be
conveyed from shore to a wreck, frequently against a
series of breakers of the most formidable description.
As in ordinary boats, propelled by oars, the greatest
speed can be obtained by sharpness of bow and, within
certain limits,. narrowness of beaux. Here, however, the
similarity ceases ; for whereas groat lightness is an ad-
vantage in perfectly smooth water and calm weather—
as stated under the head " ballasting"—weight is essen-
tial in a heavy sea, and especially a broken sea, in which
.the light boat will lose her way or be beaten back by
each heavy sea as it strikes her, whilst the- heavier boat
will by her own inertia carry her way throetgh or over
the seas. In a life-boat height of bow and stern is also
necessary to prevent the seas from breaking ewer and
filling the boat ; for, if sharpness of form be presOrved
quite up to the gunwale, the height of end will not cheeele
a boat's way so much as will a sea breaking into and hale-
filling her. Speed is not, however, alone necessary to •
enable a life-boat to force her way through the lines of
breaking seas which form an almost impassable barrier
betwen a lee shore and a wreck ; we believe that it also
adds greettly to her safety ; for if she lose her way on
meeting a eery heavy broken sea or roller, she may not
only be beate:3 back by it, but be thrown end over end
or broadside to it. and be upset; but if bh9 retain her
wal,. she can be lept bow to the sea until it has passed
rher, eiliereeehee woreveritr gather additional sme4l%.
readine,,s to meet with impunity the succeeding wavee
On account of the isolated position of life boats, placed
at distant intervals along the coast, :there will rarely
happen any opportunity for testing two boats of different
construction in company with• enc:t other in a heavy sea,
so as to form a correct comparative estima,N3 of their
power or speed. Judging, leewever, from the- received
reports of Mr. Peake's boats, we have no doubt that
they are equal in speed and power to any, and superior
to most that exist.
A seventh quality is stowage-room for passengers. IC
is of course desirable that a life-boat should have as large
an amount as possible of stowage room, as she might
have to proceed to the wreck of an emigrant vessel, or
other passenger ship, when it would be important that
she should take on board a large number of persons so '
as to rescue the whole in as few trips as possible. The
principal object in view will therefore be to distribute
the air-chambers, forming the extra buoyancy of the
boat, in such a manner as to occupy no more thin can
be helped of any space which would be available for the
stowage of passengers. Life-boats vary mach in this
respect. It is a requirement which has been especially
studied in Mr. Peake's boats.
8. The eighth and last quality which we have to cone
eider is strength. As a life-boat is liable to be thrown
heavily on a beach by the sea, or to be knocked withviolence against a vessel's side or to come in contact
with spars or broken wreck floating in the water, she of
necessity must be very stronglylbuilt : in this respect Mr.
Peake's boats will bear competition with any others.
(Here follows a description, accompanied by diagrams
of the life-boat, for which we must refer the reader to the
" Life-Boat Journal," which can be had of any bookseller
for 2d.)

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S

ACCIDENT ON THE THORNE RAILWAY.—An accident
of an alarming though happily not very serious character
occurred on the recently opened branch of the South
Yorkshire Railway, which runs fram Doncaster to
Thorne, on Saturday. The passenger train which left the
latter place at 10 a.m. had several coal waggons attached
to it, and on reaching a place called the "coal drop," just
outside of Doncaster, the embankment in which the line
runs gave way,and several of the waggons were instantly
thrown over, and the whole train was brought to a stand-
still. The passenger carriages fortunately retained their
right position, and the persons inside, about 40 in num-
ber, received no further injury than a smart shock And
some degree of fright. Most of the day was occupied in
clearing the line of the debris, but, as the accident hap-
pened at a place where there are two sidings, there was
no interruption of the regular traffic.
THE BIRKENHEAD DOCKS.—The Birkenhead Docks
Committee of the Liverpool Town Council, at the monthly
meeting, recommended that the tender of Mr. G. Thom-
son and Co.,the eminent contractors, be taken for deep-
ening the allasey Pool, and the construction of works
connected therewith, at the sum of 123,1861. Mr. Al-
derman S. Holme, in moving the confirmation of the re-
commendation, congratulated the council and the town
on the adoption of definite measures in connection with
the important estate on the Cheshire side of the Mersey.
The estimate, for the confirmation of which he4was ask-
ing the approval of the council, was for the excavation
of the whole of the great float, ocoupying an area of
more than 2,000,000 yards. A number of men would
be immediately placed upon that work, and that great
estate which had been lying so far almost unprofitable
to the public, would in a short time be made to yield a;
considerable revenue and to give great public accomr u 22„
dation. Negotiations had been held with the rsaolun
bodies interested in the question and he had reason
believe that the plans and details' met with generaln-o
oneye,ures with.
t to .. ap-
proval, and that when the corporation next
'c
The
liament there would be no opposition to the scheme.
elicious Revalenta
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out medicine constipa-
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Cure No. 3,906.--Thirtecn Ycv"res. ;:o_ugDau 11-3alti;yes_sieox%eaunedngtele:
. Countess of ,astlestuart. Cure 52,612.—
From the Dowager f pown Ireland, 9
ravallendtaebiliAtyrablicaa.veFtedn•—reae'ci " A
tie December, 1854.
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