Motor Life-boat presented by King George's Fund for Sailors.

ON 22nd June the inaugural ceremony was held of a new motor life-boat which has been built for the station at The Lizard, Cornwall. It took place in the presence of hundreds of spectators round the boat-house and on the cliffs above. She is a gift to the Institution from King George's Fund for Sailors, of which the Duke of York is president, and has been named Duke of York.

Future donations from the fund are to be used towards the upkeep of the station, and to form a fund for the replacement of the life-boat, when necessary, so that the life-boat at The Lizard will always be a gift from King George's Fund.

The new boat replaces a 38-feet self-righting motor life-boat which has been at The Lizard since 1920, and is a larger and more powerful boat. She is of the Watson type, 41 feet by 11 feet 8 inches. On service, with crew and gear on board, she weighs just over 15 tons. She is divided into five water- tight compartments, and is fitted with 145 air-cases. She has twin screws, driven by two 35 h.p. engines. The engine-room is a water-tight compart- ment, and each engine is itself water- tight, so that it could continue running even if the engine-room were flooded.

Her speed is just over 8 knots, and she carries enough petrol to be able to travel 139 miles, at full speed, without refuelling. She carries a crew of eight, and in rough weather can take fifty people on board. She has two cock-pits, a line-throwing gun, and an electric searchlight, and is lighted by electricity.

THERE has been a life-boat station at The Lizard since 1859, and its record is 480 lives rescued from ship- wreck. The new boat is the eighth to be stationed there. The motor life- boat which she has replaced has gone to the new station established this year at Port Askaig, Islay, off the west coast of Scotland. This boat was a gift to the Institution from the late Mr. Frederick H. Pilley, of Upper Norwood, London, after whom she was named, and at the ceremony on 22nd June a brass tablet was unveiled at the boat-house with the following in- scription : " The first motor life-boat at this station was the Frederick H. Pilley.

Built in 1920, it served at The Lizard until 1934 and rescued from shipwreck 130 lives. She was the gift of Frederick Hornshaw Pilley, of Upper Norwood, London, out of whose estate generous contributions have been made from time to time towards the upkeep of the station and in particular towards the improvements and additions to the launching and hauling-up facilities carried out in 1933 and 1934." Mr. A. B. Borley, president of the branch, presided, supported by the Mayor and Mayoress of Penzance, the Mayor of St. Ives and the Mayor of Penryn. The life-boat was named by the Countess of Shaftesbury.

The tablet recording the services of the Frederick H. Pilley was unveiled by Mr. John Hendy, vice-chairman of the branch, and Mr. F. G. Pilley, the son and trustee of the late Mr. Frederick H.

Pilley, spoke of the pride which the family took in the life-boat bearing his father's name.

Captain H. T. A. Bosanquet, R.N., secretary of King George's Fund for Sailors, presented the new life-boat to the Institution, and in doing so said that since the fund was founded in 1917 it had distributed £834,000 to various marine charities, and of this sum £15,000 had been given to the Institution.

In the absence, owing to a bereave- ment, of Sir Godfrey Baring, Bt., chairman of the Institution, Lieut.- Commander H. L. Wheeler, R.N., inspector of life-boats for the Southern District, thanked King George's Fund for their gift and formally presented the life-boat to the branch, on behalf of which she was received by Mr. Borley.

The life-boat was dedicated by the Rev. Harry Vyvyan, the honorary secretary of the Cadgwith life-boat station since 1898, and the holder of the Institution's silver medal for gal- lantry in saving life from shipwreck, assisted by the Rev. H. O. Barratt, the vicar of The Lizard.

The Countess of Shaftesbury then named the life-boat Duke of York.

A vote of thanks to Lady Shaftesbury was proposed by Mr. A. G. W. Baxter and seconded by Mr. A. T. Cummings, chairman of the branch, and the principal guests went afloat in the life-boat..