THE 41-feet Watson motor life-boat is intended for those stations where a powerful life-boat, of the stable type, is needed, but where the conditions of service make it impossible or unneces- sary to place the 51-feet Barnett (Stromness) or 45-feet 6-inches Watson (Cabin)—cruising motor life-boats with a big radius of action and cabins.

The first of the Watson motor life- boats was built in 1909. She was 40 feet long, with a beam of 11 feet, and a freeboard of 3f inches on service.

She was driven by a 40 h.p. engine, which gave her a speed of 7j knots.

The present boat of the type has a foot more in length, 8 inches more in beam and 5 inches more 'in freeboard. How greatly her stability and buoyancy have been increased is strikingly shown by the fact that in the old type of 40-feet boat fifty-six men on board would sink the boat on a level keel to the point at which her main deck was awash. With the present type it needs 150 men to bring not the main deck, but the cockpit or lower deck awash, and when the life-boat is in this condition she still has 20 tons of reserve buoyancy.

With crew and gear on board this life-boat weighs 15f tons, and has a mean draught of 3 feet. She is divided into seven water-tight compartments and is fitted with 145 air-cases. She has sixteen relieving scuppers, and these can free her entirely of water in 27 seconds. She has two cock- pits with shelters, fore and aft, with room in them for sixteen people.

She carries a crew of eight and in rough weather can take sixty-five on board.

She is built with a double skin of mahogany, keel of teak, ribs of Canadian rock elm, stem and stern posts of English oak, and air-cases of Columbian red cedar, which is now being used in- stead of white deal, as being a lighter wood.

She is a twin-screw boat, having two 6-cylinder high-speed engines, runningat 3,300 revolutions a minute, as com- pared with 1,200 revolutions a minute in the 60 h.p. and 40 h.p. engines used in the larger types of life-boat. These are the same engines as used in the two light types. They develop 35 h.p.

each, with a combined self-contained reduction and reverse gear, giving a propeller speed of 900 revolutions a minute. They are in a water-tight compartment, and are themselves water-tight, so that they would con- tinue running even when entirely sub- merged, for the air-intakes are well above the water-line, even when the boat herself is water-logged. The maxi- mum speed is 1 knots, and, as with all the Institution's motor life-boats, there is a great reserve of power, so that the maximum speed can be main- tained even in very severe weather.

The boat carries 114 gallons of petrol and the engine's consumption is just over 7 gallons an hour at full speed, so that she can travel 122 miles at full speed without refuelling.

She is fitted with a medium sail- spread of a stay-sail and lug, which can be used either with the engines for steadying the boat, or as auxiliary power in the event of any failure of the engines. She carries a line-throw- ing gun and an electric searchlight, and is lighted by electricity.

There are several of the 40-feet Watson life-boats on the coasts, but at present only one of the improved 41-feet type. This boat was com- pleted at the beginning of 1933 and stationed at Shoreham Harbour, Sussex. Another of the type has just been built for The Lizard, Cornwall..