45ft 6in Watson-class lifeboat explained

The 45ft 6in Watson-class was a non self-righting displacement hull lifeboat built between 1926 and 1933 and operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution between 1926 and 1972.

History

The 45ft 6in Watson-class lifeboat marked the transition from single engine, single screw to twin engine, twin screw layout. The first two boats were similar to the last of the 45ft Watson-class boats, albeit six inches longer due to a forward raked bow. The third boat was the first with twin engines and twin screws while the fourth had twin engines geared to a single screw, a unique layout in RNLI lifeboat history. The twin screw layout proved to be superior and from the fifth boat onwards this was the layout adopted. The 45ft 6in Watsons were long lived and most survived at their original stations into the 1950s when most were replaced by 46ft 9in and, later in the decade, 47ft Watsons. Many boats spent their final years in the reserve fleet with five of the later boats serving until 1969 and one, ON759, continuing in the reserve fleet until 1972. During their service, 45ft 6in Watsons launched on service 2,587 times and are credited with saving 2,613 lives. The single biggest contributor being the Humber lifeboat City of Bradford II ON 709, which in twenty five years at the station launched on service 228 times, saving 305 lives.

Description

The 45ft 6in Watsons differed from the previous 45ft type in having flush decks with no end boxes. The aft cockpit had a shelter ahead of it covering the engine room access hatch. Ahead of this was the exhaust funnel and towards the bow was a further small shelter. The first two boats retained the single engine layout of their predecessors, being powered by the same 80bhp Weyburn DE6 6-cylinder petrol engines. The third boat (ON 700) was the first twin engined version, with two 40bhp Weyburn CE4 4-cylinder petrol engines driving twin screws. The fourth in the series (ON 701) had a unique twin engine, single screw layout which was not repeated. From ON 707 onwards the twin screw layout was standardised. The drop keel fitted to the single engine boats was deleted from the twins and eventually the auxiliary sailing rig was dispensed with on the twins in the light of operational experience.

Fleet

ON	Name	Built	Builder	In service	Stations	Comments^[1]
698	K.T.J.S.	1926				Single engine. Sold May 1952; wrecked 1980.
				1933–1935
				1935–1950
				1950–1952	Relief fleet
699	John Russell	1926	S. E. Saunders	1926–1939	Montrose No.1	Single engine. Sold July 1956. Reported in August 2021 to be in private ownership at Poole Harbour.
				1939–1953	Relief fleet
				1953–1954
700	K.E.C.F.	1927	J. Samuel White	1927–1939		Twin engine, twin screw.Sold December 1956. Broken up at C&J Marina, North Shields, in 2015.
				1939–1952
				1952–1956	Relief fleet
701	N.T.	1927	J. Samuel White	1927–1951		Twin engine, single screw.Sold December 1956. Renamed Diana Victoria. Reported in 1987 to be a workboat on the River Ouse in York.
				1952–1953
				1953–1956	Relief fleet
707	Edward Z. Dresden	1929	S. E. Saunders	1929–1952		Twin engine, twin screw. Sold December 1968.
				1952–1955
				1955–1968	Relief fleet
708	H.C.J.	1928	J. Samuel White	1928		Sold in 1962. Renamed Seawitch. Reported in December 2021 at Castletown, Isle of Man
				1928–1929
				1929–1956
				1956–1962	Relief fleet
709	City of Bradford II	1929	S. E. Saunders	1929–1954		Sold December 1968. Reported in December 2022 to be beached at Ringhaddy Pier on Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland.
				1954–1956
				1956–1959	Relief fleet
				1960
				1960–1968	Relief fleet
710	White Star	1930	J. Samuel White	1930–1957		Sold June 1968. Reported in January 2022 as being a fishing boat at Boston, Lincolnshire.
				1957–1968	Relief fleet
711	James Macfee	1928	J. Samuel White	1928–1955		Sold in 1959. Reported in September 2021 to be a houseboat named Macfee on Loch Oich at Invergarry.
				1955–1956	Relief fleet
				1956–1957
				1957–1959	Relief fleet
712	C.D.E.C.	1928	J. Samuel White	1928–1954		Sold in 1959. Renamed Thameserver. Reported in June 2021 to be semi-derelict at Leigh-on-Sea.
				1954–1959	Relief fleet
713	Elizabeth Elson	1929	J. Samuel White	1929–1957		Sold December 1968. Renamed Elizabeth Elson. In April 2019 it was reported as being semi-derelict at Kenmare in County Kerry, Ireland.
				1957–1968	Relief fleet
714	H.F. Bailey	1928	S. E. Saunders	1928–1929	Cromer No.1	Entered service as the H.F. Bailey but later renamed Canadian Pacific. Destroyed by fire at Groves & Guttridge, Cowes on 18 June 1937.
				1929–1937
716	Sarah Ward and William David Crossweller	1929	J. Samuel White	1929–1958		Sold in 1961. Reported in August 2022 as being a pleasure boat at Saint Peter Port, Guernsey.
				1958–1959	Relief fleet
				1959–1961
728	Cunard	1930		1930–1955		Sold in 1969. Renamed Henry Joy. Reported in December 2022 as being ashore at Coney Island, Killough, Northern Ireland.
				1955–1969	Relief fleet
729	John R. Webb	1930	Saunders-Roe	1930–1955		Sold September 1969. Renamed Rairewa II. Reported in 1969 to have been moved to Poland.
				1955–1969	Relief fleet
730	Cecil and Lilian Philpott	1930	J. Samuel White	1930–1959		Sold October 1969. Renamed Stenoa. Reported in August 2021 as a pleasure boat at Landermere Quay, Thorpe-le-Soken.
				1959–1969	Relief fleet
732	Catherine	1930	J. Samuel White			Built for Bombay Port Trust. Scrapped in 1935.
736	W. and S.	1931	J. Samuel White	1931–1960		Sold in 1970. Reported in December 2022 as being a pleasure boat at the Old Dock in Harwich.
				1960–1961
				1961–1969	Relief fleet
749	George and Sarah Strachan	1931	J. Samuel White	1931–1959		Sold March 1969. Renamed George and Sarah Strachan. Reported in November 2013 as being a workboat at Dunoon.
				1959–1960	Relief fleet
				1960–1963
				1964–1969	Relief fleet
753	Civil Service No.5	1932	J. Samuel White	1932–1950		Sold February 1958. Reported in August 2021 as being at the former Titanic Museum in Inverness.
				1950–1956
				1956–1958	Relief fleet
759	Thomas McCunn	1933	Groves & Guttridge	1933–1962		Sold August 1972. Restored and on display at Longhope Lifeboat Museum since December 2000.
				1962–1972	Relief fleet
774	Charlotte Elizabeth	1935		1935–1959		Sold in 1961. Cut in two at Thurso River Quay.
				1959–1961	Relief fleet
775	Mona	1935	Groves & Guttridge	1935–1959		Capsized on service 8 December 1959 with eight crew lost. Boat later burned on the beach.

External links

• RNLI

Notes and References

1. Book: Leonard . Richie . Denton . Tony . Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023 . 2023 . Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.