25 years ago From the pages of THE LIFEBOAT December 1965 Scottish Station Closed The life-boat station at Newburgh, Aberdeenshire, was closed on 30th September. The life-boat had not been called out on service for nearly four years, and it is more than eight years since a life-saving service was carried out by the Newburgh boat. The life-boat was a small 32- foot surf boat.

A life-boat station was established at Newburgh as early as 1828. Earlier records are incomplete, but the station appears to have been closed down for a number of years. It was re-opened by the Institution in 1877, and since that date Newburgh life-boats have had a fine record and saved no fewer than 155 lives, but with changed conditions there is no evident need for a life-boat today.

Rescue by Hovercraft On 5 August, a young girl was rescued by the hovercraft operating between Ryde and Gosport. This appears to have been the first rescue carried out at sea by a hovercraft off the coast of this country. There is a certain division of opinion over the question whether a hovercraft should be regarded as a ship or an aircraft.

The view taken by the Institution is that the hovercraft is essentially a marine craft, and future rescues by hovercraft can come within the same category as rescues by shore boats.

New Steel 70-foot lifeboat A steel life-boat, which is the first of her kind to be built for the Institution, was completed in the yards of Messrs. Yarrow & Co. Ltd. of Scotstoun, Glasgow, in September. She is the first vessel to be built for the RNLI in steel, apart from some steam life-boats built around the turn of the century.

The vessel was built to the design of the RNLI's Naval Architect, Mr. R. A. Oakley, M.B.E., as a cruising rescue craft which can operate in bad weather. With a maximum speed of 11.4 knots, and a range at this speed of 650 nautical miles, the new vessel is faster and has a wider range than any of the RNLI's standard lifeboats.

The vessel carries two additional rescue craft on board. One is an inflatable inshore rescue boat which is stowed on the engine casing forward of the wheelhouse and powered by a 33 h.p. outboard motor.

Derricks are arranged for handling this craft. A smaller boat of similar type with an 18 h.p. engine is stowed in the forward cabin.

Unlike the standard RNLI life-boats, the 70-footer has facilities for the crew to sleep aboard. The crew's quarters are arranged aft below deck, with four berths, lockers and lavatory.

(Editor's note: The last of the 70ft lifeboats, later named the Clyde class, was withdrawn in August 1988).