The Shannon Lifeboat

For many years the RNLI provided a rescue service covering a 50 mile radius from any British coastline. With improvements and miniturisation of navigation equipment this allowed small private boats to have full navigation equipment allowing them to explore further out to sea as a result the RNLI extended its range to 100 Nautical Miles and as a result it was necessary to replace the current 15 Knot Mersey Class Lifeboat with a lifeboat that could do at least 25 Knots, Enter "The Shannon". The Shannon class now completes our all weather lifeboat fleet, the largest at 17 meters is the Seven the next largest is the Tamar at 16 meters after that comes the Trent at 14 meters and lastly at 13 meters is the Shannon. The Shannon has been developed in house by our own Naval Archtects went through a testing phase and then brought into service in 2014

The boat was funded by Several very generous legacies namely Mr F W Plaxton, The F W Plaxton Charitable Trust,, The Ganton Furse Settlement and Mr William Ranyard.

SPECIFICATION

The Boat

The Boat: Constructed using fibre reinforced composite materials

The Crew: 5 or 6

Survivor Capacity: 5

Length: 13.6 metres

The Engines: 2x 13litre 650 hp Scania D13

Propulsion: 2x Hamilton HJ364 waterjets

Fuel Capacity: 2,740 litres

Endurance: 3 hours at maximum speed

Maximum Speed: 25 knots.

Launch method: On a carriage launched by the S.L.A.R.S.

 

EQUIPMENT

Radio: Fixed VHF sets. AIS* transponder,H.F Radio, Radio Direction Finder.

Navigation:GPS,Radar, Electronic Chart Plotter

Rescue Equipment: Search Lights, Throw Lines, White Flares, Salvage Pump, Rocket Line, Breeches Buoy ,

Casualty Care: First Aid Bag, Oxygen Entonox, Stretchers

*AIS This is an electronic transponder which has to be carried on all vessels of over 200 tons it can also be carried on smaller vessels.

The transponder sends a data burst out every minute giving full details of the vessel this includes: name and details of the vessel, its exaact position, its course and speed, it can also display the vessels destination port.