A MAN who can truly be said to have devoted his working life to the Life-boat Service, and whose name is likely always to figure prominently in the history of life-boat design and construction, has retired from the full-time service of the Institution. He is Mr. R. A. Oakley, M.B.E., M.R.I.N.A.

Mr. Oakley's association with life-boats goes back to 1918, when he entered the service of the Isle of Wight firm of S.E. Saunders Ltd. The first life-boat on which he worked for this firm was a 46-foot 6-inch Norfolk and Suffolk type boat, which was built for Gorleston, but later transferred to Lowestoft. In his early days in the Isle of Wight, he worked closely with Mr. Uffa Fox, with whom he has retained a long-standing friendship.

LIFE-BOATS WERE COMPLETELY OPEN In 1928 he joined the Institution as Assistant Surveyor. At that time all lifeboats were completely open, with no shelter or protection for the crew. One of the first boats to be fitted with a shelter was built for Margate. This life-boat was shown at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924 and took part in the first overland haul of a life-boat for exhibition purposes which the Institution had ever undertaken. A trailer was specially constructed and the boat continued on page 755 Tribute To Life-Boat Designer (.combined&»,page 13$ was drawn from Southampton by a steam traction engine, the journey lasting several days.

In the course of his work for the Institution Mr. Oakley saw the construction of some 300 life-boats, i.e. twice as many as the total number now in the active fleet.

When he first joined the Institution, Mr. Oakley was the only permanent Assistant Surveyor. For seven months of the year he had to cover the entire country to deal with hull repairs during that period. During the survey season from ist April to 3ist August temporary surveyors were taken on, but there were then no reserve motor life-boats, and speed in the completion of surveys was of the utmost importance.

THE TWO TYPES In 1936 Mr. Oakley became chief hull draughtsman and in 1940 he was appointed Surveyor of Life-boats. He was made a M.B.E. in 1959 and in 1964 the title of his post was changed to that of Naval Architect.

He is of course best known for the two new types of life-boat which he himself designed. One is the 37-foot self-righting Oakley type. The first of these boats came into service at Scarborough in 1958. The other is the 48-foot 6-inch Oakley life-boat, one of which was completed in 1963. After being shown at the International Life-boat Conference at Edinburgh that year she was sent to her station at Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight. Mr. Oakley was also the designer of the first of the Institution's yo-foot steel life-boats.

In the course of his career he served under no fewer than seven chief inspectors and five secretaries. The Institution is fortunate in being able to retain his services on a part-time basis.

An interesting contribution to Mr. Oakley's standing as a life-boat designer was made by an Irish schoolgirl, who, in an essay on the life-boat service, wrote that life-boats are constructed 'either of steel or of oakley'.

Mr. F. H. Futcher, A.M.R.I.N.A., the present Assistant Surveyor of Lifeboats, has been appointed Surveyor of Life-boats. He joined the Institution from the naval construction department of the Admiralty in 1946, became senior draughtsman in 1960 and Assistant Surveyor in 1962.

Mr. R. M. Skillman, B.Sc., A.M.R.I.N.A., has been appointed Naval Architect.

He joined the Institution in 1964 after working for the Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. Ltd., the Fairfield Ship Design Office, Brooke Marine Limited and Sir J. H. Biles & Co., consulting naval architects and engineers. He took a degree in naval architecture at Glasgow University..