Lifeboats

[John Arton]

For those amongst us who only knew lifeboats that were open and propelled by oars, stinky, noisy and often tempromental Petter engines, Fleming Gear or sails and missed out on enclosed lifeboats and the thrilss of a free fall off the back end, follow the link below to watch the latest free fall lifeboat that can safely fall from 60 metres whilst keeping its occupants dry and safe.
Wheeeeee..Heeeeeee, beats any thrill ride in Disney world

New world record for highest freefall lifeboat | Schat-Harding
rgds
JA

[Ivan Cloherty]

That's one heck of a narrow beam on that crane barge.

[Captain Kong]

I only ever did a free fall lifeboat once, and it is extremely painful. we fell around thirty to forty or so feet and the impact was crushing. I had a bad back for a long time after and a head ache.
How men could survive the impact from 60 metres is beyond me. I see they didnt use real people in the test.
Getting in them and strapped in is very difficult. walking down a steep hill inside and try to sit with legs up and head and back down, with life jackets on and with a full crowd trying to do the same almost impossible. It may keep the occupants dry but are they safe. ?
Give me the old gravity davits anytime.
Cheers
Brian.

[Rocky]

Got to love the comments made on YouTube one caught my eye what if the ship sank in 20 feet of water hey maths not his strong point well the other 176 feet of ship would be sticking out the top of the water and the crew would be having a BBQ on deck

As for other comments ""Its good that the lifeboat wasn't damaged but wouldn't that kill all the people inside? "" yes they would but at least they got away from the danger of a burning rig

Or the classic"" so do people get in the lifeboat and then it drops? If so I'd like to see a camera inside as it is launched."" no they drop the boat and the crew waves it off then scream and run round in panic and if you really want to see someone scream and throw up go to Blackpool 10 pints and a ride on the big one should do it

Anyhooooo im glad to see all these living brain donors have helped someone cope with the loss of a vital body part

[Red Lead Ted]

I take it must be becoming a thing of the past, Personally i always had one eye on a life raft especially in heavy seas. These free fall lifeboats are a good move without doubt although i wouldn't mind a wager on a few broken ribs. Terry.

[happy daze john in oz]

I have seen many a ship with such a lifeboat on the stern and often wondered what happens when it is launched. Now I know, think I would prefer the big dipper or take my chance with a life raft.
Can just imagine the headlines,
'The lifeboat was launched but all on board were killed on impact. The lifeboat continued to float'.

[Peter Trodden]

I did a few Free Falls. In Jan, '95. I had to renew my Cox, cert, before joining a Semi-Sub Rig on the Frig Field (Swedish Flag) 4 of us were sent to the Maritiem Trainingsentrum Maasvlakte outside Rotterdam. Because the company (Safe Offshore) had a number of Rigs offshore and some of them had different types of Lifeboats we had to be trained and then pass the exams for all the various crafts we may encounter. The Free Fall was a First for us all. We had to wait for High Water (the Site was open to the sea) We were well strapped in,ie, cross chest, Lap and head restrains and all quick release,plus all hands facing aft. When the Cox, is sure everyone is ready he pulls the lever In a matter of seconds you've hit the water and are bobbing along. First time is a bit of a scare but the 2nd and 3nd time, great fun. I never did see them recover the Boats so dont know the procedure,after all these L/boats are designed to evacuate personnel quickly and are not used like we did in the OLDEN days ie, Drills or Runs ashore.
ttfn.Peter.

[John Arton]

Peter
SOLAS has not changed whatever type of lifeboat is fitted.
Every 3 month boats to be launched and exercised in water.
All the free fall boats will have some arrangement to recover the boat to comply with this.
The ones I sailed with had the recovery system built into the launching davit. This consisted of a lifting frame that was swung out over the stern on hydraulic rams. It had a winch attached to its upper arm and a lifting spreader. The boat was attached to the spreader by its bridle, winched clear of the water at an angle equal to the slope of the free fall ramp. As the boat was hoisted you used the hydraulics to bring the frame back in board, the boat landed on its trackway and as the lifting frame was further pulled back in, a combination of this folding back into its stowed position parallel to the ramp, plus hauling up on the winch, brought the boat back to its stowed position. At the rear of the boat on its keel, there was a plate sticking down around 4 inches and this used to pass over a similar fixed plate on the davit, thus preventing the boat from sliding back down the ramp when you released the lifting gear. To launch the boat you use hydraulic jacks fitted in the stern to lift the boats stern clear of this plate and whoosh...of she goes.
If the free fall davit does not have an integrated recovery system then you will note that neaby is a small crane of sufficient SWL that is used to recover the boat and place it back on the launching track. This is quite common on smaller ships as the crane can also be used for loading stores etc.
Whatever method of recovery is fitted, it can be used to do a "controlled" launch, that is the hoisting mechanism for recory is attached to the boat, the boat jacked up to release it from its anchor point and then under control of the hoisting gear is lowered into the water. This is acceptable by the IMO in order to fulfill the 3 monthly in water requirement but a true free fall launch must be done annually.
rgds
JA

[Lou Barron]

I remember when i joined the Gloucester Castle in Liverpool we brought her over to West float in Birkenhead to finish loading the rest of the cargo we had lifeboat drill being of the old clinker built lifeboats as soon as we hit the water the boat started to leak no problem after a few balers out we rowed around the dock
So ok we thought we was pretty good but the seond mate who was in charge said he hoped that it if it did come to having to do the job in a real emerency we would do a better job
Well it did out of eight lifeboats only one really got away from the ship as she was sinking .
all of the starboard boats was blown away by gunfire from the raider the port side two lifeboats one dropped and turned over (the one I was in ) the one that did get away was the second mate was in a Mr Pargitter it was also the one that picked me up out of the ocean
So he could have been right in what he said in Birkenhead

[Captain Kong]

When I was on the `GEORGIC` in 1955, we carried 3,000 immigrants to OZ and 3,000 Australian Troops to Malaya then 2,500 French Foreign Legionaires to Algiers .
with a crew of almost 1000, nearly 4000 people in all.

The Lifeboats, the wood clinker built type that Lou mentioned, were double banked. one on top of the other in the same Davits.
When were hanging off Singapore for a week awaiting orders, so we had a boat drill. The upper lifeboats went out OK then the falls were recovered and then shackled onto the lower lifeboat. The falls had to be run through a snatch block to the drum end of a winch. we heaved away to lift it clear of the chocks and the lifeboat folded up. the midship part was stuck to the deck, obviously never been lifted since she was rebuilt during the war. the lifeboat just broke its back.
We lowered the two halves back to the chocks and the Bosun said , `forget it lads, they will all be the same.` We then hoisted the top lifeboat and secured it.

So if there had been an emergency, as in the other Trooper, Empire Windrush, that set on fire off the North African coast, a lot of people on that ship would have had No Chance.
When we got back to Liverpool we stripped her out then took her to the Clyde for the breakers.
Cheers
Brian