What do you understand by the term ‘shout’ in lifeboating? Is it simply the launch or the entire rescue mission? Is it derived literally from the call to action and who used it first – volunteeers or the mass media? Searching the newly published digital archive of the Lifeboat, we find several red herrings – and many fascinating tales.

We find that in April 1943, two landing craft had foundered off Milford Haven with the loss of dozens of lives:

‘The [Angle] life-boat reached the scene about one in the morning. Her crew noticed a strong smell of oil, and the sea was smoother, but they saw nothing. Then, at 1.20, in the pitch darkness, they heard A SHOUT. The lifeboat steered towards it, and, in the beam of a searchlight from a naval vessel, she saw a man swimming towards her. He was covered with oil, and collapsed as soon as he had been rescued. The crew stripped him of his wet clothing, massaged him and, when he had revived a little, reclothed him in one of the emergency suits carried in the boat, and put him in the engineroom with bags as a pillow and an oilskin coat over him … Just before day broke, the lifeboat saw a floating mine only a few yards ahead, and avoided it just in time.’

But that isn’t the meaning we want! ‘Crew from nine lifeboat stations were united in a search for a missing power boat at Cardigan Bay. Fifty lifeboatmen and women looked for the 5.5m, Teymar, and her crew of two on A SHOUT that spanned 19 and 20 July 2003.’ That’s more like it, but very recent … A quick look aside at ‘maroon’ and, surprisingly, a 1920s BBC radio script appears. And what about ‘pager’?

‘In the early hours of Friday, October 16, 1987, hurricane force south-southwesterly winds left a trail of destruction. The bulk cargo vessel Sumnia warned that she was dragging both anchors and drifting east of Folkestone … Dover crew PAGERs were activated … Outside Dover Harbour, seas were up to 60ft in height. The breakwaters were suffering much severe damage (50 ton stone blocks were being broken away and hurled into the sea by the wind) … The crew mustered at 0529, having travelled in total darkness as there was no electric power. Crew Member Christopher Ryan found his car undrivable as a fallen chimney stack had demolished its roof and so he ran to the lifeboat, dodging flying portions of wooden bill board.’

Can you help with other documentary evidence of the use of ‘shout’ to mean a lifeboat call out? Perhaps you would like to be able to browse the entire 152 years of the Lifeboat for yourself, by purchasing a DVD or CD-ROM set for £100? In either case, please write to the Publications and Design team at RNLI Headquarters