News

03/03/2022 Last year would have been Peter Wilson’s 75th Birthday and we wanted to remember a much loved colleague and friend. Peter lived at Lydd-on-Sea and was an ardent supporter of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution so H W Wilson decided to support the RNLI’s ‘Share a Memory’ Campaign in his memory. This is where the name of someone missed is added in the letters and numbers printed on a future all-weather Shannon lifeboat. ‘Peter James Wilson’ is due to appear on the top of the RNLI’s next Shannon which will be based at Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk. The Shannon is the first modern all-weather lifeboat propelled by waterjets instead of propellers, making her the most agile and manoeuvrable all-weather lifeboat in the RNLI fleet. Waterjets allow the Shannon to operate in shallow waters and be intentionally beached The boat building team at the RNLI’s All-Weather Lifeboat Centre (ALC) in Poole are making great progress on the build of our Shannon that’s headed for Wells, but there is still more work to be done before it heads to its new home. While the wheelhouse and hull are separate, the engines, gearboxes, fuel bladders and cable looms are fitted which is made easy by the overhead cranes within the All-Weather Lifeboat Centre. Electrical terminations also begin within this build slot and additional components including the mast are built and wired up. Finally, the two halves are prepared for the joining process which takes place in the next build slot. We are proud to announce that our new Shannon will be named after HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The RNLI is delighted to honour Prince Philip’s longstanding commitment to maritime services and lifetime of support to Her Majesty The Queen, who has been RNLI Patron since 1952. And in a further nod to his naval career, earlier this summer, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales attached a magpie engraved plate to the new lifeboat which will bear The Duke of Edinburgh’s name. We will bring you further updates as and when we received them! #loveconstruction