THROUGHOUT HER BUILDING a lifeboat is under the regular scrutiny of the RNLI's own hull, machinery and electronics overseers; she also receives periodic visits by Lloyd's Register of Shipping surveyors and an exceptionally high standard is required in all respects because of the exceptional demands which she may have to meet on service in extreme conditions. Her building complete, she is finally submitted to a series of exhaustive sea trials, all of which she must pass before she is accepted for operational service.

First, however, come the righting trials.

So, last April, the 37ft 6in Rother lifeboat which will be RNLB Shoreline was launched down the slipway at William Osborne's yard, Littlehampton, and taken across the River Arun to a wharf equipped with a crane, ready for her righting trial.

A Rother's self-righting capability rests in the inherent buoyancy of her superstructure, together with a buoyancy chamber built into her wheelhouse roof, so, of course, before the trial starts all watertight hatches, battening down her engine room and forecabin, are closed. A parbuckle is made fast to temporary brackets fixed to strong members on the boat's port side, passed under her keel and attached to a special release hook on the crane, which then hauls away, capsizing the boat to port. Watch is kept on a dial board temporarily fixed to the stem (see photographs at top of opposite page) which will show the boat's angle of heel when the switch shutting down the engine to idling operates. When the boat is fully inverted, a trip line is pulled and the parbuckle released from the crane; within a matter of seconds the lifeboat will have righted herself and shaken herself free of the water. She is immediately boarded, the hatches opened and a check made that all is in order below decks.

Having successfully passed the righting test, the lifeboat is hauled out again and all remaining work completed in the yard before she is relaunched for her final trials programme. During six or seven days at sea the RNLl's surveyors and headquarters staff will then satisfy themselves that she meets the Institution's stringent requirements in every detail.

There will be, for instance, at least 16 hours machinery trials under the supervision of an RNLI machinery overseer, and these trials are spread over several days so that they can be conducted in different states of the sea.

Engines, generators, pumps, controls, fuel, water and ventilation systems—all must be proved in normal working conditions. There will be speed trials, too.

Accuracy of transmission being of first importance, a final check is now given to ensure the true alignment of engine and propeller shaft.

One day is set aside to try out the operation of the whole electrical installation and for tests of all electronic equipment, each piece being put to work in actual service conditions and checked by the RNLI's electronics surveyor. Radio signals are exchanged with coast radio stations and with the Coastguard; the depth recorder's readings are matched against known depths; radar and VHP direction finder are calibrated to ensure that bearings are correct relative to the ship's head; and by the end of the trials any interference and suppression problems will have been ironed out.

On another day, every piece of deck, safety and medical equipment comes under the detailed examination of an operational officer from headquarters.

Also included in the trials programme are the adjustment of the compass and an inclining test to determine centre of gravity, which is individual to each boat. The opportunity is also taken to procure official 'portrait' photographs of the boat under way.

Finally comes the day for the pass out trials, when the Institution's surveyors and operational staff give the whole boat a thorough inspection.

Paintwork, fixings, woodwork, wiring, pipes, equipment—everything comes under the magnifying glass. Anything amiss is listed and put right, and only then is the lifeboat passed as ready for operational duty at her future station.

(The end).