Berthon Boats are collapsible

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They have double linings of

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

, sectioned into watertight envelopes that assist buoyancy and give protection from the possibility that the outer canvas could be accidentally torn. The canvas was also coated with "linseed oil, soft soap, and yellow ochre" to make it waterproof.

History

When, on the 18 June 1850, the SS ''Orion'' was wrecked off

Portpatrick Portpatrick is a village and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located on the west coast of the Rhins of Galloway. The parish is about in length and in br ...

, the Reverend Clark, a survivor, wrote to the Reverend Edward Lyon Berthon: “Can not you think of a way in which boats, enough for all on board, be stowed on a passenger steamer without inconvenience?”. This led to Berthon's development of the Berthon Collapsible Lifeboat. When the boat was demonstrated to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, the

Prince Consort A prince consort is the husband of a monarch who is not a monarch in his own right. In recognition of his status, a prince consort may be given a formal title, such as ''prince''. Most monarchies do not allow the husband of a queen regnant to be ...

, the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a substantive title, title customarily (but not automatically) awarded by British monarchs to their eldest daughters. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal famil ...

and the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

, the latter commented that a

cannonball A round shot (also called solid shot or simply ball) is a solid spherical projectile without explosive charge, launched from a gun. Its diameter is slightly less than the bore of the barrel from which it is shot. A round shot fired from a lar ...

would go through it easily. Berthon asked him what a cannonball would not go through, and the Queen was reported to have been greatly amused. The Prince Consort commended it to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

, but the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

complained there was nowhere to mount a gun. Nonetheless, the Royal Navy accepted a perfected design in 1873. After the sinking of the ''

Titanic RMS ''Titanic'' was a British ocean liner that sank in the early hours of 15 April 1912 as a result of striking an iceberg on her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, United States. Of the estimated 2,224 passengers a ...

'' in 1912, the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct Packet trade, packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo service ...

’s owner, J. Bruce Ismay, required that every passenger boat under his control would thereafter be fitted with sufficient lifeboats for all passengers. In his speech at the close of the British Wreck Commissioner’s inquiry into the sinking of the RMS ''Titanic'', the

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

called for more life saving devices at sea, including lifeboats, and regulations that would ‘apply to the vessels of all countries’ to enforce this request.

Reverend Edward Lyon Berthon

In addition to ministering to his parish, the Reverend Edward Lyon Berthon of

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is situated northwest of Southampton, southwest of Winchester and southeast of Salisbury. It sits on the outskirts of the New Forest, just over northeast of ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, ran a boat building and engineering enterprise. In 1877, he started a company in Romsey, building folding

and "other floating machines", which (originally designed as lifeboats) were the mainstay of his business. The prototype was developed by him at

HMS Excellent A ship and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Excellent'': * was a 74-gun third rate launched in 1787. She was converted into a 58-gun fourth rate in 1820 and became a gunnery training ship in 1830. She was broke ...

, Whale Island, Portsmouth, where he was chaplain. A seaman was drowned in an early trial in 1854 after the boat was overloaded with a 13-inch mortar. Berthon was related to the mid-twentieth century engineer, Peter Berthon, who developed the

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

racing car in the 1930s and the BRM post-war. The Berthon Boat Company is still operating today on the same site in Lymington that it moved to in 1918 and is still a boat yard with a workforce of 100 skilled craftsmen specialising in the refit and repair of yachts of up to 150 feet. It also has a 280 berth deep water marina and a yacht sales division.

References

{{reflist Folding boats