IN November 1908 and in February this year an account was given in the Life-boat Journal of the steps taken to select a new Life-boat, and also some Notes of the way she is built. It may now be of interest to the coxswains and crews who man the boats, and to all who are supporters of the ROYAL NATIONAL LIFE-BOAT INSTITUTION to know something about the tests each new Life-boat has to pass before she is sent to the coast.

Before any boat is allowed to leave London she has to undergo a harbour trial, which is usually held in the canal adjoining the Institution's Storeyard at Poplar, and sometimes, in the case of the largest class of boats, in the East or West India Docks, with the consent of the dock authorities. These trials are held with a view to obtaining certain details of each boat, which are all carefully recorded and kept for the purpose of comparison, not only between boats of a similar class and size, which are practically built from the same drawings and moulds, but also between boats of different types and sizes.

The details noted for all Life-boats, whether they are of the self-righting or the non-self-righting types are— 1. Draught of water, forward, aft, and down tubes.

(a) Light (i.e. empty).

(6) Crew and gear in boat, water ballast tanks empty.

(c) Crew and gear in boat, after tank only full.

(d) Crew and gear in boat, two tanks full, and so on.

2. Stability.

(a) Number of men on gunwale to bring it awash with crew and gear in place, with tanks both empty and full.

(6) Number of men to bring deck awash with crew and gear in place, with tanks empty and tanks full.

Tests 1 and 2 are applied to all boats.

3. Tests for self-righting power, which are of course only applied to the selfrighting boats, (a) With full crew and all gear on board, tanks empty, masts and sails stowed.

(b) With full crew and all gear on board, tanks full, masts and sails stowed.

(c) With full crew and all gear on board, tanks full, masts and sails set.

(d) With full crew and all gear on board, tanks empty, masts and sails set.

(e) Draught of water bottom up both forward and aft.

All these tests are carried out as carefully as possible. Each man of the crew is represented by a dead weight of 11 stone, contained in a box made secure to the thwarts, exactly where the man would sit to pull his oar, or on1. AT ANGLE OF ABOCT 60° 2. AT ANGLE OF ABOUT 170°, OR NEARLY BOTTOM UP.

3. PALLING OUT OP THE SLINGS— SELF-RIGHTING ! 4. NEARLY ROUND— AND SHE RIGHTS HERSELF !the deck in the positions the coxswains or bowman would occupy when afloat in the boat. Each additional man put on the gunwale or on the deck in the stability trials is also represented by a similar weight of 11 stone, such weight being considered a fair average one per man for trial purposes.

Except when the light draught is taken, all the masts, yards, sails, ropes, anchor and other stores which form the equipment of a Life-boat are either actually lashed in the boat or are repre- sented by an equivalent weight and so far as the boat is concerned she is in service trim.

The boat is capsized (if of the self- righting type) by means of a rope par- buckle with the aid of a crane, and in tests (a) and (6) is turned completely over.

She is gradually inclined until bottom up with the aid of the crane (see Fig. 1), and when she is nearly in that position (see Fig. 2) she falls out of the slings (see Fig. 3) and she rights herself (see Fig. 4).

If she does not fulfil this condition, or if she is unusually sluggish, some alteration must be made ; and it should be clearly understood that a self-righting boat is never sent to the coast unless her self-righting qualities are considered entirely satisfactory. These tests are carried out in the smooth water of the canal or dock, and even on the smoothest day it is hardly possible to balance a boat bottom up so that she will not right herself either to starboard or port.

In the motion or swell of an open sea it is obvious she would be bound to right her- self much more readily, and the rougher the sea the quicker she would recover. Of course it will be apparent to everyone that there must be a sufficient depth of water to allow the boat to complete the revolution without any portion of her striking the bottom, and her self-right- ing powers also depend on the end air boxes being intact. In tests (c) and (d) when the masts are up and the sails set, the jib and mizzen sheets are belayed and the fore sheet is slacked right off, as this rope should always be kept in hand in a Life-boat; the boat is then parbuckled over to an angle of about 130° from upright, which brings the masts and sails well under water; the parbuckle is then eased up suddenly to allow the boat to return to the upright position. In one of these tests the con- ditions are made more severe by lashing weights representing a certain number of men (varying according to the size of the boat) on the lee gunwale. This, of course, shows what the behaviour of the boat would be if a heavy sea struck her and forced her on to her beam ends, throwing most of the crew or passengers over to the lee side of the boat. This type of boat should never fail to fulfil all these conditions.

In the capsizing tests the draught of water is always taken when the boat is exactly bottom up, and after she rights herself a note is taken of the time the water on the deck takes to run out through the self-relieving valves. This generally occupies from 45 to 50 seconds.

When all these trials are over the deck air cases and the end air boxes are carefully examined to see if there is any water in them, and the drop keels (if any) are lowered and raised, the pumps are worked to see if they throw the water properly, and all other fittings are overhauled by the Inspector or Sur- veyor who is responsible for the trials.

The boat is then hoisted out of the water and the outside drain-plugs un- screwed to see the amount of water in the bilges, and it is generally found to be a very small quantity, rarely more than a bucketful or two.

On the return of the boat to the building-yard her weight is taken (empty), and in the Institution's Annual Report the dimensions and weights of all boats are tabulated.

After all these tests have been satis- factorily carried out and the defects (if any) made good, the final painting is taken in hand, and when the paint is dry she is turned over to the riggers to fit all the permanent fittings and rigging.

A final examination takes place when this is finished and the masts and rigging, with sails set, are nspected ; the sailmaker attends, and if the sails are not considered quite satisfactory the defects are pointed out to him and he has to make them good.

The new boat has now been built and tested, and is ready to start 'yfor her station either by rail or water. Doubt- less all the readers of this Journal will wish her God-speed and all possible success in the hands of the gallant crew who will probably man her for many years, and let us hope she will be the means of saving many valuable lives..