Lifeboats

[j.sabourn]

Read this post last night and woke up this morning thinking after dreaming about lifeboats. For those with lifeboat certificates correct me if wrong. Must have on either side enough boats to accomodate at least 1.5 times the complement of persons on board. If memory is correct dont know how this would go as regards the modern day passenger vessel. At least half must be motorised. Gear.1 single banked complement of oars, 2 spare oars and a steering oar, 1.5 sets of crutches, 2 boathooks, 1 painter and toggle for quick release, 1 permanent painter, 1 mast and stays, 1 standing lug and jib, red or orange, first and last letters of ships name and number of boat in white on. 1 rudder and tiller. The steering oar the blade painted white and stowed blade aft, the oars blades facing forward. Lashed with light line. I jacknife, 1 torch, 2 spare batterys and 2 spare bulbs. 1 Heliograph. 1 sea anchor with tripping line. 1 bag with oil for attaching to same. (watch out for greenpeace) 2 Parachute flares, 6 hand flares, 2 buoyant smoke floats. 16 oz. Barley sugar (per person) 16 oz. biscuits 16 oz. condensed milk. Think the biscuits and barley sugar had a life of 2 years and the condensed milk 6months so was changed with ships stock every so often. 1 compass. Anyone remember any more. Cant remember the water rations may have been 16 oz. also.
All now useless information stuck there for eternity, pity couldnt erase and put something useful there. Cheers
John Sabourn. PS Boat itself of course fitted with grab lines and bilge rails etc. JS

[j.sabourn]

2 Bailers and 2 spare plugs for each plug hole. There must be plenty more which will not come to mind immediately. John Sabourn

[robpage]

I have certainly sailed on some Clan Line cargo vessels with just one Motor boat , normally a twin cylinder Lister , and one passenger ship with single motor boat a two cylinder petrol , that was a pig to start , Only way wa sto start on easy start , ( ether ) and hope the thing drew petrol in and fired

[Neil Morton]

After a swift glance at the old discharge book I note that I gained a Lifeboat Certificate at the Vindi. Lowering and passing something or other outside of everything. I know we rowed but do not recall putting up a sail or starting a motor and somebody had nicked the condensed milk.

[j.sabourn]

Rob as you say most cargo ships had 2 boats , one each side and one was usually a motor boat. I rather think it was after the Titanic that the law was changed that every vessel had to have enough boats on one side to take all on board. The idea of motor boats I would assume was to tow the other boats clear if necessary. This is only hearsay and may be incorrect. I was on one cargo ship which had 2 boats on both sides but cant remember what they were as took no interest as all 4 were condemned. If you ever saw 2 red lines painted on the Davits this is what it meant. The ship was the one that Richard describes as the 15 degree list one. I never took the boat ticket as such, as the examiner at the time was failing people on boxing the compass in quarter points, and didnt want to risk it, so took the oral part in second mates. In later life it was all FRC (fast rescue craft) in any case which was much more stressfull, being thrown into the N.Sea in the dark and having to clamber onboard unaided. In later life always had trouble getting into these liferafts, hated these courses, as well as the escaping from submerged helicopters, definetley not my cup of tea. Anyhow who wants to be adrift, maybe thats why so many stayed with the ship, the best refuge in the world in normal circumstances. Cheers John Sabourn P.S. Before Cappy or someone comes up with they dont mind being adrift as long as its japan or somewhere like that, will say it for them Cheers JS

[j.sabourn]

Possibly radial davits Neil. Tossing the stay over the head of same when swinging the boat outboard. Really outdated by present day standards. Cheers John Sabourn

[Keith at Tregenna]

S.S. "TREVESSA" (LIFEBOAT).

HC Deb 27 May 1924 vol 174 c195195

§16.Viscount CURZON
asked the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that the boat belonging to the s.s. "Trevessa" is at the British Empire Exhibition, presumably to commemorate one of the finest feats of seamanship ever performed in the mercantile marine; and whether he can take steps to ensure that this boat is exhibited in surroundings and in a manner worthy of it, and preserved for the nation subsequently?


Mr. WEBB
I am aware that one of the boats of the "Trevessa" is being exhibited at Wembley, and if the Noble Lord will he good, enough to tell me what he has in mind, I will look into the matter. I doubt whether it will be possible to arrange for the permanent exhibition of this boat.


§Viscount CURZON
Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that this boat is, at present sitting on the top of a rubbish heap?


LINK: S.S. "TREVESSA" (LIFEBOAT). (Hansard, 27 May 1924)

[happy daze john in oz]

Like Neil I also got my lifeboat ticket at the Vindi, not bad for catering crew.
As to lifeboats on modern cruise ships, most of them are motorised and have a capacity of about 150. They must carry enough fuel for six days at four knots.
There are aslo a large number fo inflateable life rafts, for a ship with 3000 bloods and crew about 100 of them. Since the Concordia incident lifeboat exercises for crew appeared to have increased. On the last 14 day one I did there were five of them carried out.

[Calvin Kent]

My main memory of lifeboats and drills was hanging around watching the engineers trying to start the engines. After ten or fifteen minutes of red-faced boilersuit comedy if they could get half a dozen consecutive puffs of black smoke out of the thing it was "OK she's good, get the covers back on".

Regards
Calvin

[robpage]

Lifeboat engines were a very neglected thing , They were often run once a week or so by one of the firemen , and never had the cooling water attached as they only ran for two minutes . As Second Engineer on a very old British Rail Ferry , I decided to check that the donkeyman actually ran it , he went into the boar , turned it over , without starting and ticked the box to say it ran . It was a twin cylinder water cooled petrol . The fuel as filthy and full of water , the spark plug broken , it had not run for at least a year . I was aboard one sunny Saturday just after that alongside in Weymouth and after a new Spark Plug , new fuel , several new HT leads , fresh oil , I got it started late in the mid-afternoon by spraying the Eazy Start in it , No body in higher authority showed any interest , as long as it could be started in advance of any annual Board of Trade sports day , it did not matter , I mean we were never going to use it , were we ?

When I was with Gulf Oil a sister ship to the one I was on , blew the alternator as the emergency generator had been regularly started for years but never put on load , so when it was needed the electrical end blew up . I was on the Gulf Finn one motor boat put into the water off Ecuador , motor ran for an hour , never ran again , the dirty fuel finished the injection pump and the faulty water pump seized the engine .

When I was with Clan Line a lot of the Old Chief Engineers had seen wartime service and always liked to have the emergency gear in good working order , but after that I found a complacency .