60 years of saving lives: RNLI celebrates its inshore lifeboat

The inshore lifeboat has enabled the charity’s volunteer crews to carry out their lifesaving work closer to shore, in areas inaccessible to other lifeboats in the fleet. Designed to be quick and manoeuvrable, inshore lifeboats can operate in shallower water, near cliffs and rocks meaning crews can get as close as possible to those in trouble.

RNLI Port Talbot has had their D Class 848- Craig Morris

Clive Morris Volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager at Port Talbot said the ‘D class embodies the robustness, speed and reliability and manoeuvrability needed for our calls especially in challenging surf and shallow rocky areas’.

Having the D class at Port Talbot has enabled our volunteer crew to reach areas close to shore, cliffs and rocks to rescue people in trouble. These fast and highly manoeuvrable lifesaving craft answered the need for a quicker and more agile response to rescues in areas of water that were more challenging to the larger and slower all-weather lifeboats.

848- Craig Morris is a part of our community and suits the demands of the rescues we attend. Its unique features and capabilities have made a huge difference to the efficiency and effectiveness of our 24/7 search and rescue service.

David Jones Helm at Port Talbot RNLI lifeboat station said ‘a rescue that sticks out in my mind was a service call to a man overboard on November 5 1999.There was a nine to 15 foot swell and poor visibility. The challenges we faced were incredible, the robustness of the D class got the job done, she is a much-understated asset’.

Notes to editors:

· *Statistics taken from 1963 – 2 May 2023. Includes lifesaving statistics from our Atlantic 85, D class and E class lifeboats, launches of our daughter boats from the RNLI’s all-weather lifeboats and models of inshore lifeboats that are no longer part of the RNLI fleet.

D class

· With a top speed of 25 knots, the D class lifeboat can operate in both day and night with an endurance of 3 hours at sea.

· As an inflatable inshore lifeboat, the D class is designed to operate close to shore in shallower water. Although our smallest lifeboat, the D class saves more lives than any other class of lifeboat.

· The latest generation of D class lifeboats, known as the IB1 type, was introduced in 2003 with improved speed, manoeuvrability and equipment.

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Key facts about the RNLI

The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.

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