RNLB ''Lester'' (ON 1287) is the all-weather lifeboat (ALB) stationed at Cromer in the English county of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

.''OS Explorer Map 252 – Norfolk Coast East''. .

Cromer Cromer ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish on the north coast of the North Norfolk district of the county of Norfolk, England. It is north of Norwich, northwest of North Walsham and east of Sheringham on the North Sea coastline. The local ...

was the first lifeboat station on the east English coast to receive the latest Tamar-class lifeboat. The lifeboat became officially operational at 3:55 pm on 6 January 2008. The lifeboat was officially christened ''Lester'' on Monday 8 September by

the Duke of Kent Duke of Kent is a title that has been created several times in the peerages of peerage of Great Britain, Great Britain and the peerage of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, most recently as a Royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom, royal dukedom ...

. The lifeboats name ''Lester''Cromer Lifeboat, A pictorial history, By Nicholas Leach & Paul Russell, Pub; Landmark Collector’s Library, has been created by using parts of the surnames of Derek Clifton Lethern and William Foster, both of whom have been long-term supporters and members of the RNLI. Mr Lethern left £1.23m to the RNLI when he died in 1992 and asked for a new lifeboat to be bought in memory of him and his friend Mr Foster.

Design and construction

''Lester ON 1287'' is a Tamar class slipway launched lifeboat, designed to replace the Tyne-class lifeboat. The Tamar class lifeboat is the most advanced vessel in the RNLI fleet. The ''Lester ON 1287'' is loaded with new technology, including fly-by-wire joystick steering, suspension seats to protect crew in severe weather, and an onboard computer system called Systems and Information Management System (SIMS). SIMS allows complex tasks such as engine and navigation management to be displayed on a single flat LCD screen, six of which are positioned around the vessel, to allow crew to operate all the systems without moving from their seats. In the stern section of ''Lester ON 1287'' there is a built in recessed chamber which house a small inflatable daughter boat. Access to the inflatable daughter boat is by means of lowering the transom, and lifting a section of deck. This allows the tender to be launched and recovered on to a ramp provided by the lowered transom section. On the ''Lester ON 1287'' the Y class boat has the official number Y-207. The lifeboat's hull was manufactured at Green Marine in

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

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, ...

, and is constructed from Fibre reinforced plastic (FRP). The fitting out was completed at the yards of Devonport Management Limited in Devonport,

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. The lengthy process of fitting out involves all the main components being fitted into the vessel and secured to their mounting points. Once this has been done the component units are removed from the hull leaving the mounts in place and the interior is then painted. The lifeboat was built at a cost of £2.5 million and was launched on 26 April 2007.

Lifeboat house modifications

Extensive work had to be carried out at the lifeboat station to upgrade the 38 metre pier end slipway to take the new- shaped vessel as well as alterations being carried out to the boathouse. The work on the station was carried out by the platform rig ''Haven Seaway'' between August and October 2007.

Career

After her launch the ''Lester ON 1287'' underwent a long period of sea trials. Around 30 Cromer crewmen took part in these trials to familiarise themselves with their new lifeboat. On 8 October 2007 the lifeboat crew took part in a week of training aboard the new lifeboat at the RNLI Lifeboat college in

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

. The lifeboat finally arrived at Cromer on 9 December 2007 and was recovered, for the first time, up her new slipway in to the boathouse. and the vessel was officially operational from 6 January 2008.

First service

''Lester ON 1287'' was launched on her first service on 14 January 2008. She attended the car carrier ''MF The City of Sunderland'' which had gone aground in the early hours of the morning on the southern edge of Happisburgh Sands.
Report on incident, Car Carrier aground The car carrier had been on passage from

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

to Tees Port near

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. When the ''Lester'' arrived at the scene, two tugs from

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

were attempting to tow the vessel off the sands. Assisting with the operation the crew of the lifeboat kept a watchful eye on the situation and stood by while the vessel carried out essential checks to her steering and propulsion systems once she was re-floated. The lifeboat finally left the scene at 23:50 and made her way back to the pier boathouse for recovery.

Service and rescues

Gallery

File:Cromer Pier Lifeboat Station2.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lester on 1287 Cromer lifeboats Tamar-class lifeboats 2007 ships Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats by name 999 1287