ON 27th July, H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, E.G., President of the Institu- tion, attended the Inaugural Ceremony of the Motor Life-boat at Torbay, and named the boat George Shee, after the late Secretary of the Institution.

This name was given as a result of the resolution passed by the Com- mittee of Management, in September, 1931, to " mark their high appreciation of Sir George Shee, as Secretary of the Institution for twenty-one years, by naming a Motor Life-boat after him." Sir George Shee was given the choice of three Motor Life-boats then on the coast, but still unnamed, and he chose the Torbay boat.

The George Shee is one of the 51-feet Barnett (Stromness) cabin type, the largest and most powerful type which the Institution is now building, and was completed and sent to Torbay in 1930, replacing a 40-feet Self-righting Motor Life-boat.

The " George Shee." She is a Cabin Motor Life-boat, 51 feet by 13 feet 6 inches. On service, with crew and gear on board, she weighs 26 tons. She is divided into eight water-tight compartments, and is fitted with 160 air-cases. She has twin screws, and is driven by two 60 h.p. engines.

The engine-room is a water-tight com- partment, and each engine is itself water-tight, so that it could continue running even if the engine-room were flooded. Her speed is just- under 9 knots, which is equivalent, in a boat of this size, to 31 knots in an Atlantic liner. She carries enough petrol to be able to travel 120 miles at full speed without refuelling. She has seating accommodation in her cabin for ten people, and in rough weather can take 100 people on board. She carries a crew of eight men. She has a line-throwing gun and an electric search-light, is lighted throughout with electricity, and is fitted with an oil-spray in the bows for spraying oil on the waves to make smooth the water round the wreck.

Torbay has had a Life-boat Station since 1866. Its Life-boats have been launched on service 123 times, and they have rescued 89 lives.

The Ceremony took place in the Outer Basin of Brixham Inner Harbour.

The quays, the houses round the harbour and the shipping in the harbour were crowded, and it was estimated that some 20,000 people were present.

The Local Authorities, the people of Brixhara and the people of South Devon joined very heartily with the Institution in giving a welcome to the Prince and making the Ceremony a great success. The day was observed as a general holiday in Brixham—the schools were closed, the Great Western Railway Company issued special cheap tickets to Brixham from neighbouring places, and town, harbour and shipping were all decorated with flags.

Among those present were the Chair- man and members of the Brixham Urban District Council, the Mayors of Exeter, Dartmouth, Okehampton and Torquay, the Chairman of the Paignton Urban District Council, the Rev. the Earl of Devon, a Vice-President of the Institution and President of the Exeter Branch, Admiral the Hon. Sir Herbert Brand, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., K.C.V.O., Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth, Mr.

C. Williams, M.P. for the Torquay Division, and the officers of H.M. Mine- sweeper Forres, which came to Brixham to represent the Navy at the Ceremony.

The Ceremony was timed to begin at two o'clock. An hour before, a maroon was fired, which was the signal for a collection on behalf of the Institution, and an appeal for contributions was made by Lieut.-Colonel C. R. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., the Secretary of the Institution.

The response to this appeal, including the sale of programmes, was over £135.

Arrival of the Prince.

The Prince of Wales, who travelled by air to Haldon, was met by the Right Hon. the Lord Mildmay of Flete, P.C., J.P., Lord Lieutenant of Devon, and the Lord Churston, President of the Torbay Branch, who entertained him to lunch at Lupton Park.

At Brixham Harbour the Prince was received by a guard of honour of Life- boatmen, men who had served in the Royal Naval Reserve and members of the British Legion in Brixham, Paign- ton, Teignmouth and Torquay, under the Command of Brigadier-General E. H. Llewellyn, D.S.O.

Mr. Harold Clayton, the Chairman of the Torbay Branch, Mr. H. M. Smardon, the Honorary Secretary, Lieut.-Colonel C. E. Satterthwaite, O.B.E., Secretary of the Institution, Commander E. D.

Drury, O.B.E., R.D., R.N.R., the Chief Inspector of Life-boats, Mr. F. P. Lee, J.P., the Chairman of the Brixham Urban District Council, and the Mayors, were presented to the Prince, and Mr.

Lee presented to him an illuminated address of welcome, at the head of which was a sketch of Brixham Harbour, with the Motor Life-boat in the centre.

This is the first address presented to a member of the Royal Family at Brixham since the address (of which a copy is preserved in the Council Chamber) presented in 1828 to the Duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV., who was one of the original Vice-Presidents of the Institution.

Lord Mildmay, in opening the Cere- mony, said that in coming to Devon the Prince was returning to his birthplace as a sailor, for it was at Dartmouth that he received his naval training, and Brixham welcomed him as "a seaman of Devon." Sir George Shee then presented the Life-boat to the Institution, and in doing so said: " Except for the honour of knighthood conferred upon me by His Majesty the King last year, I cannot imagine a gift or honour which I would value more highly than to have a Life-boat named after me." Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., Chairman of the Committee of Management of the Institution, received the Life-boat from Sir George Shee. He expressed the gratitude of the Institution to the Prince of Wales for the " wonderful services " which he had rendered it on many occasions. He paid a high tribute to the Life-boatmen of Devon and spoke of the* " untiring energy and self- sacrificing devotion " of Sir George Shee during his twenty-one years as Secretary of the Institution.

Lord Churston, in receiving the Life- boat, said that from the days of Drake and Hawkins the seamen of Devon had been famous for their skill and con- tempt of danger, and that the men who manned their new Life-boat would not forget the great traditions which they had inherited.

After the singing of " Eternal Father, Strong to Save," accompanied by the Torquay Municipal Military Band, the Bishop of Exeter (the Right Rev. Lord William Gascoyne-Cecil, D.D.), with whom was the Rev. W. T. Long, Vicar of All Saints', Brixham, as chaplain, dedicated the Life-boat to the glory of God and the service of mankind.

The Prince's Speech.

Before naming the Life-boat the Prince said :— "It is always a privilege for me to name a Life-boat or to do anything to further the cause of the great Life- boat Institution. I am particularly pleased to name this boat that is going to find its home in Brixham because, as Lord Mildmay told you, I spent two years in this locality and I know this part of the coast. It is famous for its beautiful scenery, but for ships it is a treacherous coast indeed.

" The men of Devon have a great record as seafarers, and a great record in the Life-boat Service. The Devon Lifeboat Stations have rescued 2,047 lives from shipwreck. That is a great and inspiring figure. In these days when we need encouragement it is a heartening thing to look at the record of a great Institution such as this.

(Cheers.) It is extremely fitting that this Life-boat should be named after Sir George Shee, who gave twenty-one years of his life to the Service. He has told you how gratified he is to have his name on the boat, and we, who are connected with the Life-boat Service, are glad to think that he is still asso- ciated with us. (Cheers.) It is now my privilege to name the boat George Shee, and to wish her ' God-speed.' I hope that she will worthily continue the great traditions of the Life-boat Service in the county of Devon." (Loud Cheers.) The Prince then broke a bottle of Devonshire cider over the bows of the Life-boat.

The Ceremony concluded with the singing of " Abide with Me," the hymn which has been well described as " Brixham's gift to Christendom," for it was written by the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte, who was Vicar of Lower Brixham from 1819 to 1847. It was written at Berry Head House, Brixham, after evensong on the first Sunday in September, 1847, when the author was on the eve of leaving Brixham for Nice, where, less than three months later, he died.

At the conclusion of the Ceremony the Prince went on board the Life-boat.

Mr. Smardon presented to him Coxswain W. G. Sanders and the members of the Crew, and the Prince made a short trip in the boat, loudly cheered by the crowds on the quays.

At a meeting of the Urban District Council held in September, the Council placed on record their great appreciation of the efforts of Mr. Smardon, the Honorary Secretary of the Torbay Branch, in making the arrangements for the Prince's visit.