By Clay Evans, maritime historian and retired Canadian Coast Guard lifeboat coxswain

The various methods for launching coastal rescue craft from shore have prompted interesting discussion and debate at international lifeboat and maritime rescue conferences over the last 100 years. Today, most larger lifeboats tend to lay afloat but other methods remain as varying coastal conditions of particular locales, such as the lack of protected harbours or the need to launch from a beach, continue to necessitate their use. 

An early United States Lifesaving Service (USLSS) surfboat with horse and carriage. Relatively lightweight compared to their European counterparts, these rescue craft often had to be transported several miles to the scene of a wreck. Credit: USCG

 

Owing to the fact that wrecks could occur several miles from where the surfboat or lifeboat was stationed, it was often necessary to transport the rescue craft as close to the wreck as possible. It was not feasible for men to carry the boats down the beach as they could weigh anywhere from 1,000 to 15,000lb (370 to 5,600kg)! Nor could it be expected that the crew row these boats great distances, generally in challenging sea and weather conditions, and still be expected to have enough energy to conduct a rescue. It often made much more sense to move the lifeboat as close as possible to the wreck before launching. 

Early rescue boats that were designed to be launched from the beach had special carriages built for them that could be hauled, by either horse or manpower, closer to the scene. In many cases it was prudent to launch upwind of the wreck, so that the forces of wind and tide would allow the lifeboat to bear down on the vessel. The carriages had large wheels that made them easier to pull and provided enough height above the ground that the lifeboat could be dragged into deeper water for a launch. Various means of traction were used in different countries. In Denmark, steel rollers were placed directly on the beach beneath the keel of the lifeboats, while Germany used ‘sand plates’: tank-like tracks that surrounded the carriage’s wheels. 

Both of these methods were designed to prevent the carriage’s wheels from digging into the soft sand. Generally, the carriages had a type of roller system on the keelway, which enabled the boat to slip on and off with greater ease. 

By 1924 and the first International Lifeboat Conference, various lifesaving organisations still required carriages at many of their stations. Commander Douglas, the Deputy Chief Inspector of Lifeboats for the RNLI, advised that “there was increasing difficulty of obtaining horses for the launching of life-boats off a sandy beach and also for transporting the life-boat by road.”[i] At that conference, he presented a paper on the use of “tractive power” to replace horses and manpower and introduced the RNLI’s first mechanised beach tractor, which protected and raised air intakes and could proceed part-way into the water. The rules of the game had changed.

A schematic of the RNLI’s new “Caterpillar” beach tractor presented at the 1st Conference on the World’s Lifeboat Services in London in 1924. Credit: RNLI

Beach launches are still required today, but carriages are now made of materials such as aluminum and propelled by special tractors, which can drag a heavy MLB or RHI in and out of the surf. Some modern carriages even have hydraulic lift capabilities, which enable them to be raised or lowered according to the prevailing conditions as well as to clear themselves of the lifeboat when launching.

The Netherlands is another nation with vast beaches and offshore shoals and many of its stations rely on carriage-launch capabilities. In the 1990 edition of Lifeboat International, Sip Wiebenga, director of the KNRM, introduced a new concept of a hydraulically driven self-propelled carriage for the new Valentjin-type RHI lifeboats. In this case, the tractor and the carriage were one unit with a fork-shaped carriage component that allowed for open entry and exit.[ii]

A RNLI lifeboat completes its “splashdown” circa 1960’s. Credit: RNLI

At some locations, the steep or rocky nature of the coast did not allow for a beach launch or there may have been no safe haven nearby in which to moor the rescue boat. At these locations slipways were developed to launch the lifeboat directly into the sea. Using the natural elevation of the boathouse as a starting point, the vessel was pulled out of the house manually and placed at the top of the slipway ready for launch. When all the crew had boarded and made ready for sea, the order was given, the cable was disconnected, and the lifeboat and its crew would slide down the channeled concrete path on the vessel’s keels until she crashed headlong into the waiting sea, the forces of gravity providing more than adequate headway. Some of the slipways were constructed of wood or metal, and utilised a roller system throughout most of their length, while others were more akin to a marine railway, with a trolley on tracks. With the advent of the internal combustion engine, winches were used to lower and recover the boats. Notably, there are still slipway launched MLBs in service to this day.

A RNLI Tyne Class lifeboat rests on its slipway. This motor lifeboat was designed specifically to have a low superstructure to fit into some of the older boathouses with low overhead. Credit: RNLI

Finally, some mention should be made of another, albeit relatively uncommon, method for launching coastal lifeboats, which was the use of large davits from a dock or pier. In some locations where a great pier jutted out into the ocean, large ship-style davits were used to suspend the lifeboat above the water, ready for the crew to board and to be lowered when ready, as it would on a large ship. Such systems were used in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia and Belgium. Although not in common use today, the Ascension Island Sea and Land Rescue Service still uses a davit-launch system today due to the island’s lack of a protected harbour.

When lifeboats and other rescue craft began to increase in size, particularly after the introduction of steam and motor power, the ability to transport them on carriages became limited by their weight. That said, the need for carriages was also negated to some degree by the mechanised lifeboat’s increased range and ability to power to the scene of a wreck, leaving the crew still relatively fresh. As is the case with a great deal of contemporary rescue craft, many of the larger and heavier vessels were designed to lay afloat, either secured to a mooring or tied to a wharf or dock. The increased range of the rescue craft designed to lay afloat meant that they could be strategically placed wherever there was a suitable safe haven and, in many cases, they made the older stationary carriage and slipway boats redundant.[iii]

Today there remains a mix of launching methods for rescue craft from shore, with most small- and medium-sized inflatable and rigid hull inflatable craft being launched from trailers or carriages, while others are used as “daughter boats” to be launched and recovered by crane, davit or on a stern ramp from the “mother ship”.

A stern launched and recovered tochterboot – or daughter boat – sits in its cradle on the stern of the DGzRS rescue cruiser Theodore Heuss in Bremen in 1959. Credit: DGzRS

The introduction of larger, high-speed lifeboats, as well as the availability of SAR helicopters, have helped to close the distance gaps between traditional lifesaving stations thereby negating much of the need to launch from beaches and slipways. That said, many stations with unique methods of launch remain in particular locations where immediate response is needed, or where it may be difficult to approach from seaward. It is important to note that by maintaining these intermediate stations, coastal lifesaving organisations also maintain an invaluable SAR resource at their disposal:  precise local knowledge.

Like the history of lifesaving at sea - and of the IMRF itself - over the last 100 years, we have all learned to adapt to changes in technology and maritime SAR demand while recognising that some methods from the past are tried and true and, even today, remain the best option.  

KNRM Arie Visser type large RHI lifeboat designed to be fast and stationed afloat. Credit: KNRM

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[i] Commander Stafford Douglas, R.N., “Tractive Power or Other Mechanical Means for Launching Lifeboats over Flat, Open Beaches,” Report of the 1st International Lifeboat Conference, London, (1924), p.37
[ii] Sip Wiebenga, “Boat Carriage Development,” Lifeboat International 1990,” p.7
[iii] Clayton Evans, Rescue at Sea; An International History of Lifesaving, Coastal Rescue Craft and Organisations, Conway Maritime Press, London, 2003. p.86