The Severn class is the largest lifeboat operated by the

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

(RNLI). The class, which is long, was introduced in to service in 1996. It is named after the

River Severn , name_etymology = , image = SevernFromCastleCB.JPG , image_size = 288 , image_caption = The river seen from Shrewsbury Castle , map = RiverSevernMap.jpg , map_size = 288 , map_c ...

, the longest river in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

. The lifeboats are stationed at 35 locations around the coasts of the United Kingdom and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and can provide coverage up to out to sea.

History

In the 1980s the RNLI's fast Arun and Waveney all-weather lifeboats provided coverage out to sea, operating at up to to cover the distance in two hours in good weather. However, the RNLI felt that they needed the capability to extend their coverage to radius, which would require lifeboats with a top speed of . This resulted in the Severn and Trent lifeboats. The prototype Severn was launched in 1991 (ON1179) and was named ''Maurice and Joyce Hardy''. Trials started the following year and lasted until 1998. In 1995, the boat was de-named. Problems were encountered during the trials with the "skegs" that protected the propellers, but were designed to protect the hull by breaking off if the boat hit rocks, as the first ones were too easily broken. Crashing through heavy seas at full speed caused damage to the hull, too. It was transferred to training work when it carried operational number TL-02 and was named ''Peter and Marion Fulton'', but was withdrawn in 2004. It was sold in 2005; in 2008 it was in use as a dive boat at

Buckie Buckie ( gd, Bucaidh) is a burgh town (defined as such in 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was abolished in 1975. The town is the t ...

, carrying the name ''Gemini Storm''. Sold to Montrose Marine Services ltd in 2011 and renamed Eileen May. Sold 2019 into private ownership, based North Wales coast. The first production Severn was ''The Will''. It had been built in 1995 by Berthon Boat Co (Builders of 21 of the 46 Severn-class lifeboats) for

Stornoway Stornoway (; gd, Steòrnabhagh; sco, Stornowa) is the main town of the Western Isles and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it by far the largest town in the Outer Hebrides, as well ...

but had to undergo several modifications before it was fit for service. It was eventually placed in the relief fleet in 1996 and shown to many lifeboat stations where the class was expected to be deployed. It so impressed the crew at Falmouth that they pressed the RNLI to station it there until their own boat was built, and so it was stationed there from January 1997 until December 2001 when it was replaced by ''Richard Scott Cox''. In the meantime, ''Tom Sanderson'' had been deployed at Stornoway in 1999. ''The Will'' returned to the relief fleet after its time at Falmouth and has continued in that role since. Construction of its sister boats continued until 2005. In 2015, the

Canadian Coast Guard The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG; french: links=no, Garde côtière canadienne, GCC) is the coast guard of Canada. Formed in 1962, the coast guard is tasked with marine search and rescue (SAR), communication, navigation, and transportation issues ...

commissioned a version of the Severn class modified for extreme conditions found off the coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. In 2020 the RNLI started to design a Severn Life Extension Programme (SLEP) with the intention of extending the fleet's lifespan by 25 years. It involves taking an existing boat and fully refitting it from the hull up. The addition of modern electronic systems and shock mitigating seats similar to those found on the Shannon class lifeboats, are among many upgrades. In July 2022 it was announced that the prototype was almost complete and would soon be ready for sea trials.

Description

Severns are constructed of fibre reinforced composite material, and their hard chine semi-displacement

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

is built so that it will stay afloat with two of its five compartments flooded. For added manoeuvrability, in addition to twin engines, the Severn also has a bow thruster fitted. The propellers are enclosed so that the Severn can take ground without damaging them. A inflatable boat can be deployed by an on-board crane for use in shallow water or confined spaces. Severns have comprehensive electronics systems that include full MF and

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VHF ...

DSC radio equipment,

differential GPS Differential Global Positioning Systems (DGPSs) supplement and enhance the positional data available from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). A DGPS for GPS can increase accuracy by about a thousandfold, from approximately to . DGPSs ...

navigator, an electronic chart system, VHF

radio direction finder Direction finding (DF), or radio direction finding (RDF), isin accordance with International Telecommunication Union (ITU)defined as radio location that uses the reception of radio waves to determine the direction in which a radio stati ...

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...

and weather sensors. Provision for survivors includes comprehensive first aid equipment including stretchers, oxygen and Entonox. They carry a portable salvage pump in a water-tight container, and can also carry out pumping and fire-fighting tasks using the engine-driven general service pump. File:Relief Lifeboat The Will out of the water.jpg, Hull with bow thruster File:controls.of.lifeboat.17-31.arp.jpg, Inside helm and controls File:Engine.room.of.lifeboat.17-31.arp.jpg, Engine room with

Caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sy ...

3412 TA marine

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s File:Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival 2009 lifeboat demonstration shout 3.jpg, Launching

inflatable boat An inflatable boat is a lightweight boat constructed with its sides and bow made of flexible tubes containing pressurised gas. For smaller boats, the floor and hull is often flexible, while for boats longer than , the floor typically consists ...

with on-board crane File:RNLI lifeboats Eric and Susan Hiscock Wanderer during Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival 2011.JPG, Stern quarter showing crane and inflatable boat stowed

Fleet

References

External links

RNLI Fleet:Severn Class
{{RNLI lifeboat classes Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats