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Class overview
Builders	Brooke Marine, Lowestoft
Operators	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Preceded by	Barnett-class
Succeeded by	Arun-class
Built	1973–1974
In service	1974–1997
Planned	6
Completed	2
Cancelled	4
Active	0
Retired	2
General characteristics
Type	Motor lifeboat
Displacement	24–27 tons
Length	50 ft (15 m)
Beam	14 ft 6 in (4.42 m)
Propulsion	2 × 390 bhp (290 kW) General Motors 8V71T; V-8 diesel;
Speed	17.5 knots (20.1 mph)
Range	210 nautical miles (390 km)
Crew	6

The Thames-class lifeboat was operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from its stations around the coasts of the United Kingdom between 1974 and 1997. Six were ordered but only two completed; they have both been sold on to other users.

The class takes its name from the River Thames which flows through London and into the North Sea.

History

In the 1960s the RNLI's fleet consisted of motor lifeboats of limited speed due to the shape of their hull. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) had developed a faster 44-foot motor lifeboat which planed across the water with a reduced contact area and therefore could move much faster. The RNLI obtained one in 1964.^[1] This led to the introduction of the 44-foot-10-inch (13.67 m) Waveney-class into service in 1967.^[2] The RNLI's architects designed a larger version with a longer hull and a bow of different shape. Six boats were ordered, four from Brooke Marine in Lowestoft and two from Richard Dunston in Hessle, but a cash-flow problem saw the project cancelled after just two of the Brooke Marine order had been built. Cancellation charges were paid as the builders had already ordered the necessary materials. Instead the alternative Arun-class lifeboat, which had first launched in 1971, went into full production.^[1]

Description

The Thames class had 50 feet (15 m) steel hulls. They were powered by a pair of 390 horsepower (290 kW) General Motors diesel engines.^[3]

Fleet

RNLB Rotary Service (ON 1031)

This prototype Thames-class, RNLI Official Number (ON 1031) and Operational Number 50-001 was launched in 1973 and was named Rotary Service^[2] as its £200,000 price was funded by Rotary International. It entered service at Falmouth in December 1974 and was in service there until August 1978. During this time it was used for 45 service calls and saved 17 lives. Its most meritorious service in this time was on 28 November 1977 when Coxswain Arthur West was awarded an RNLI Bronze Medal for his outstanding seamanship and tremendous courage in saving six men from a storm-lashed 110 by 70 feet (34,000 by 21,000 mm) barge.^[3] In 1979 it was reallocated to Dover^[2] where it was well liked.^[1] It was replaced in 1997^[2] by brand new Severn-class RNLB City of London II (ON 1220).^[4]

After a few months in the relief fleet, Rotary Service was withdrawn from service. The following year it was sold and by 2008 was working as the pilot boat Treffry at Castletownbere in Ireland.^[2]

In 2015, the Thames Class Lifeboat Trust (later renamed the 50001 Youth Training Trust) purchased the Rotary Service for use as a training vessel. The Lowestoft-based charity teaches young and disadvantaged individuals seamanship skills to give them the confidence to take jobs in the maritime sector.^[5]

RNLB Helmut Schroder of Dunlossit (ON 1032)

The second Thames-class vessel was launched in 1976 and received the name Helmut Schroder of Dunlossit. Until 1979 it was used for further trials but then took up station at Islay. It too was withdrawn in 1997 but the following year was sold for further use as a lifeboat. It was shipped to New Zealand where it was renamed P&O Nedlloyd Rescue and put into service with Sumner Lifeboat Institution Inc. It was sold to Lyttelton Port Company Ltd when replaced in 2010 by a new locally built Sumner-class lifeboat. It now serves as a LPC work boat and relief pilot boat named LPC Rescue.^[2]

The cancelled boats were to have been ON 1038-41, 50-003 to 50-006. These Official Numbers were not reallocated.

ON^[a]	Op. No.^[b]	Name	Built	In service	Principal stations	Comments^[6]
1031	50-001	Rotary Service	1973	1974–1978 1979–1997 1997–1998	Falmouth Dover Relief fleet	Sold 1998.
1032	50-002	Helmut Schroder of Dunlossit	1976	1976–1979 1979–1997	Trials Islay	Sold 1998. In service as P&O Nedlloyd Rescue with New Zealand.

^ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
^ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Kipling, Ray; Kipling, Susannah (2006). Never Turn Back. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. pp. 83–85. ISBN 0-7509-4307-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Denton, Tony (2009). Handbook 2009. Shrewsbury: Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 26–27.
^ ^a ^b Morris, Jeff (2002). The History of the Falmouth Lifeboats (2nd ed.). Coventry: Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society. pp. 17–18.
^ Denton, Tony (2009). Handbook 2009. Shrewsbury: Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. p. 34.
^ The 50001 Youth Training Trust. About the Trust. (Retrieved 27 December 2020).
^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.