How well do you know your lifeboats?

This is the first in the series of four blogs focusing on the lifeboats that are operational along the Thanet coastline.   We kick off this blog with a look at the Ramsgate All-Weather Lifeboat.

The All-Weather Boat (AWB) – pictured above

The Esme Anderson (14-02) which is a Trent class lifeboat (named after the 3rd longest river in the England), has been stationed at Ramsgate since 1994, being handed over by Christopher Oldham, the son of the donor the late Esme Anderson.

Facts and figures

• Capable of 25 knots (RNLI want all their all weather lifeboats to be capable of 25 knots by 2019)
• Has a range of 250 neutical miles
• 28 tonnes
• Length 14.3 metres
• Fuel : 4,180 litres
• Depth 1.45m
• Width 4.9m
• Designed to lie afloat, either at deep-water moorings or alongside at a berth
• A key feature is that it is self-righting
• What do Coxswain’s across the country say about the Trent? “She’s fast and manoeuvrable enough to respond quickly, but powerful and large enough to take on big seas, tow big boats and carry lots of survivors”

• The engine room is at the stern and space limitations led to a novel engine layout
• One of the engines is turned around, driving the propeller in a conventional way, while the other works through a V drive
• Also carries a small XP boat, which is an inflatable daughter boat with a 5 horse power outboard engine capable of 6 knots. This allows the crew to access areas the Trent cannot reach. Ramsgate use their XP boat along the River Stour where their Atlantic Inshore Boat cannot be used due to the shallow water
• All lifeboats have a unique identification number – The first part indicates the class. Trent class lifeboats start with 14 because they are just over 14 metres in length. The numbers after the dash refer to the build number. So the first Trent built was given the number 14-01.

Useful Links

Ramsgate RNLI Facebook page

Acknowledgements

RNLI

Ramsgate RNLI