THE LIFE-BOAT FLEET 155 Motor Life-boats 1 Harbour Pulling Life-boat LIVES RESCUED from the foundation of the Life-boat Service in 1824 to 31st March, 1956 80,036 Notes of the Quarter SIR GODFREY BARIXG, who recently announced his decision not to seek re-election as Chairman of the Com- mittee of Management, has served on the Committee for forty-five years.

For nearly thirty-three years he has been the Committee's Chairman. This record is unique in the history of the institution. The only other Chair- man to hold the oifice for a compar- able period was the first man to fill this post, Thomas Wilson, who played a very large part in bringing Sir William Hillary's plan for a national life-boat service into being.

When Thomas Wilson died after serving as Chairman for twenty-eight years, it was recorded in The Life-boat that at the age of eighty-four he "filled the Chair of the last General Meeting of the Committee with that sound judgment, universal urbanity and kindness, which had been his characteristic; that lie had arduously and constantly given his personal attendance as Chairman on all occa- sions, and exerted himself by the influence of his name to raise and recruit funds for the maintenance of the Institution, as well as liberally, himself and his family, contributing towards the same." These words are remarkably applicable to Sir Godfrey Baring.

When Sir Godfrey Baring first joined the Committee of Management the motor life-boat was still at an experi- mental stage and the annual income and expenditure of the Institution amounted to something like one- eighth of the present sum. Since he joined the Committee more than 29,000 lives have been rescued, life- boats have been launched on service nearly 20,000 times and 665 medals have been awarded. A note on the new Chairman and Deputy Chairman appears on page 237.

80,000 LIVES When the New Brighton life-boat rescued five people after a sandhopper and the cargo steamer Indus had been in collision on the 16th of February, a service which is reported on page 247, it brought the number of people res- cued since the Institution was founded in 1824 to more than 80,000. During the 132 years of the Institution's existence the average number of lives rescued every month has been approxi- mately fifty. All these lives have not, of course, been rescued exclusively by the Institution's life-boats, as the figure includes those rescued by shore- boats in cases in which the Institution has made awards. In the early days it was not easy to make a clear dis- tinction in this matter, for many boats serving as life-boats were priv- ately organised and were not com- pletely under the Institution's control.

WHEELHOUSES TO BE FITTED In 1955 a new 47-feet Watson cabin life-boat, which has since been stationed at Thurso in Caithness-shire, was completed and was sent on a lengthy sea trial during which she was examined by life-boat crews at many stations. One of the new features of this life-boat was the provision of a covered steering position which vir- tually provided a wheelhouse. This was fitted experimentally and cox- swains were asked to express their opinion on it. , The majority of coxswains were in favour of this innovation, although a few wondered whether they would have as clear a range of vision as they had in boats with an uncovered steering position.

The Committee of Management has now decided that at all stations where new boats of the 47-feet and 52-feet types are to be stationed the crews will be given a choice between the wheelhouse and the open cockpit protected by windscreens as fitted hitherto in 52-feet Barnett and 46-feet 9-inches Watson boats.

NEW CAISTER COXSWAIN Twenty-four hours after a new cox- swain had been appointed the Caister life-boat was called out to take a sick man off the Cross Sand lightship.

Coxswain Jack Plummer, who was appointed on the 1st of April, is the heir to a great tradition. Of all the life-boat stations in Great Britain and Ireland none has been responsible for the saving of so many lives as Caister.

The figure of lives rescued by this station now stands at 1,764. Cox- swain Plummer, who was bowman for nearly nineteen years, first joined the crew in 1930. His predecessor, Cox- swain James Brown, became a regular member of the crew forty-two years ago and has been coxswain for the last six years.

STORIES OF THE LIFE-BOATS " Stories of the Life-boats 1956 " has recently been published. It contains accounts of a further selection of out- standing services by life-boats in the past eighty years. One account is written by the former motor mechanic of the Maryport life-boat and describes his own experiences during a service in 1934. The story of the achieve- ments of the Margate and Ramsgate life-boats at Dunkirk in 1940 is also retold. A Scottish edition containing accounts mainly of services by Scot- tish life-boats has also been published.

Both books are obtainable from Head- quarters or from branches of the Institution (price Is. 6d.)..