Oakley-class lifeboat

The Oakley-class lifeboat refers to two types of self-righting lifeboat operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the coast of the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1958 and 1993. The 37-foot (11.3 m) Oakley was designed for carriage launching, while the larger 48-foot-6-inch (14.8 m) version was designed for slipway launching or to lie afloat. During their service they saved a combined total of 1,456 lives in 3,734 rescue launches.

Oakley class

RNLB Manchester Unity of Oddfellows (ON 960)
Class overview
Builders	William Osborne, Littlehampton J. Samuel White, Cowes Groves and Guttridge, Cowes Herd and McKenzie, Buckie Morris and Lorimer, Sandbanks
Operators	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Preceded by	Liverpool/Watson
Succeeded by	Rother/Solent
Cost	37ft: £27,000-£38,000 48ft 6in: £40,000-£72,000
Built	1958–1971
In service	1958–1993
Completed	37ft: 26 48ft 6in: 5
Retired	31
Preserved	10
General characteristics 37ft
Displacement	12 long tons (12 t)
Length	37 ft (11.28 m)
Beam	11 ft 6 in (3.51 m)
Draught	3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
Propulsion	2 × 43hp Perkins P4M/52hp Ford Thorneycroft/Parsons Porbeagle
Speed	8 knots (9.2 mph; 15 km/h)
Complement	7
General characteristics 48ft 6in
Displacement	30 long tons (30 t)
Length	48 ft 6 in (14.78 m)
Beam	14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
Draught	4 ft 4 in (1.32 m)
Propulsion	2 × 110bhp Gardner 6LX
Speed	8 knots (9.2 mph; 15 km/h)
Complement	8

The class is known by the name of its designer, RNLI naval architect Richard Oakley.

History

During the first half of the twentieth century the RNLI had equipped its lifeboat stations with motor lifeboats designed by G L Watson and, later, J R Barnett. Both these men had designed boats that were generally stable, but unlike the earlier Peake-class boats, were not self-righting. Part of the problem was that motor lifeboats were much heavier than pulling and sailing boats, which could be packed with cork to make them buoyant. Richard Oakley worked out how to use shifting water ballast to create a self-righting motor lifeboat.

Oakley's 37-foot (11 m) prototype was launched in 1958 and placed in service at Scarborough. Production boats started to be built in 1961 and in 1963 the prototype 48-foot-6-inch (14.78 m) boat was launched and sent to Yarmouth. The last Barnett-class was built in 1960 and the final Watson-class in 1963, after which Oakleys were the only all-weather lifeboats put into service for the next four years.

Design

The Oakley was designed as a self-righting boat. The design combined great stability with the ability to self-right in the event of it capsizing. This was achieved by a system of shifting water ballast. The system worked by the lifeboat taking on one and half tons of sea water at launching in to a tank built into the base of the hull. If the lifeboat then reached a crucial point of capsize the ballast water would transfer through valves to a righting tank built into the port side. If the capsize was to the starboard side of the lifeboat, the water shift started when an angle of 165° was reached. This would push the boat into completing a full 360° roll. If the capsize was to the port side, the water transfer started at 110°. In this case the weight of water combined with the weight of machinery aboard the lifeboat usually managed to stop the roll and allow the lifeboat to bounce back to upright. The water was discharged from the tank when the ship was taken out of the sea after each launch. A problem emerged with damp sand left in the tank after the water was drained. This caused a weak electrolytic action that eroded the copper nails which held the wooden hulls together.

The hull of the Oakley class was constructed from two wooden skins with a layer of calico between. After several years it was found that the calico absorbed water which caused softening of the wood around the copper nails. This led to a series of surveys in the late 1980s and the withdrawal of some boats, or replanking of others. The skins were made from diagonally laid African Mahogany planks. The outer one was 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) thick with the inner 0.25 inches (6.4 mm). The keel was iron and weighed 1.154 tons. The hull was divided into eleven watertight compartments. Two sizes were built. Most boats were 37 feet (11.3 m) in length and 11 feet 6 inches (3.51 m) in beam. It displaced 12.05 tons when fully laden with crew and gear. Five larger boats were built that were 48 feet 6 inches (14.78 m) long and 14 feet (4.3 m) wide.

The 48ft 6in Oakley

48-12 Charles Henry in private use (Exeter, 2007)

After five years production of the 37ft boat, the RNLI decided to extend the water ballast self-righting principal to a larger boat suitable for slipway launching and lying afloat. In 1962 a prototype boat was built, 48-01 Earl and Countess Howe (ON 968) and in appearance it resembled an extended 42ft Watson-class with a long tapering superstructure running forward from an aft cockpit which was covered, but open to the stern. The boat's water ballast system used 23⁄4 tons of water compared to 11⁄2 tons in the smaller boats. Power came from two 110 bhp Gardner 6LX six cylinder diesel engines, the redesigned and uprated version of the engine fitted to the last ten 52ft Barnett class boats. Displacing 29 tons and built at a cost of £40,000, RNLB The Earl and Countess Howe (ON 968) was the first RNLI lifeboat to be built with radar installed and went on station at Yarmouth in February 1963. It was four years before further examples were built, by which time a major redesign of the superstructure had resulted in the Mk. II version. In this an enclosed wheelhouse was positioned amidships, accessed by sliding doors on either side at the forward end. Behind the wheelhouse was an aft cabin which could accommodate a loaded stretcher. Initially, radio aerials were rigged between the foremast and a bipod mast at the back of the aft cabin, on the roof of which the radar scanner was mounted on a pylon. Later, the masts were removed and twin pole aerials fitted to the aft cabin just behind the wheelhouse with a small tripod mast fitted to the wheelhouse roof. RNLB Ruby and Arthur Reed (ON 990) went on station at Cromer in March 1967, followed by RNLB James and Catherine Macfarlane (ON 989) which took up duties at Padstow in July 1967.

Attention now turned to a steel-hulled development of the 48 ft 6 in Oakley which would dispense with the complex water ballast system and achieve its self-righting capability from a watertight superstructure. This emerged as the Solent class and initial orders for eight boats were placed with Operational Numbers following on from the Oakleys (48-004 to 48-011, the three digit second part of the number indicating a metal hull). Two final Oakleys were then ordered, taking Operational Numbers 48-12 and 48-13. The first of these, 48-12 Charles Henry (ON 1015) went on station at Selsey in January 1969, a few months before the first Solent. 48-13 Princess Marina (ON 1016) began service at Wick in July 1970.

Like the smaller boats, the 48 ft 6 in Oakleys were prone to hull deterioration through electrolysis and were not considered for sale for further use. Initially, all five boats were put on display at various locations, but two, 48-01 and 48-13 were subsequently broken up. After ten years on display, 48-12 was sold to a private owner who removed the water ballast system and put the boat back on the water, leaving 48-02 and 48-03 on public display at Lands End and Hythe Marina respectively. 48-02 James and Catherine MacFarlane after being out in the open at Lands End since 1988, has been sold to a private owner in July 2016 and moved to Berkshire for restoration.

Fleet

37-foot boats

ON	Op. No.	Name	Built	In service	Principal stations	Comments
942	37-01	J.G. Graves of Sheffield	1958 WO	1958–1978	Scarborough	Preserved at Chatham Historic Dockyard, April 1996.
				1979–1988	Relief fleet
				1988–1991	Clogherhead
				1991–1992	Relief fleet
				1992–1993	Newcastle
960	37-02	Manchester Unity of Oddfellows	1961 WO	1961–1990	Sheringham	Sold April 1991. Preserved at The Mo Sheringham Museum.
961	37-03	Calouste Gulbenkian	1961 JSW	1962–1969	Weston-super-Mare	Sold November 1991. 12/22, Under restoration at Donaghadee.
				1970–1990	Relief fleet
				1990–1991	New Quay
966	37-04	Robert and Dorothy Hardcastle	1962 GG	1962–1968	Boulmer	Sold April 1993. Preserved at Hartlepool.
				1968–1991	Filey
				1991–1993	Relief fleet
972	37-05	The Will and Fanny Kirby	1963 WO	1963–1979	Seaham	Preserved at Chatham Historic Dockyard, April 1996.
				1979–1983	Relief fleet
				1983–1993	Flamborough
973	37-06	Fairlight	1964 WO	1964–1988	Hastings	Sold October 1994. Pleasure boat at Blakeney Harbour.
				1988–1989	Relief fleet
				1989–1990	St Ives
				1990–1991	Relief fleet
				1991–1992	New Quay
974	37-07	Jane Hay	1964 WO	1964–1974	St Abbs	Broken up at Arklow 1995.
				1974–1980	Relief fleet
				1980–1992	Newcastle
975	37-08	Sir James Knott	1963 GG	1963–1969	Cullercoats	Sold 1990. Preserved at Kirkleatham Old Hall Museum, Redcar.
				1969–1972	Relief fleet
				1972–1985	Redcar
				1985–1990	Relief fleet
976	37-09	Lilly Wainwright	1964 GG	1964–1990	Llandudno	Sold 1993. 12/22, Pleasure boat at Crosshaven Boatyard, Cobh.
				1990–1992	Kilmore Quay
977	37-10	Charles Fred Grantham	1964 GG	1964–1990	Skegness	Broken up 1993.
				1990–1991	Scarborough
				1991–1992	Relief fleet
978	37-11	The Royal Thames	1964 JSW	1964–1969	Caister	Sold 1994. 12/18, Stored inland, 5 mi (8.0 km) from Cromer.
				1970–1978	Runswick
				1979–1991	Pwllheli
				1991–1993	Clogherhead
979	37-12	James and Catherine Macfarlane (1964-1967) Amelia (1967-1991)	1964 JSW	1964–1978	Relief fleet	Sold February 1992. Preserved at Charlestown until museum closure in 2019. 2019, awaiting restoration in a breakers yard. Unknown on state as of 2022.
				1978–1991	Scarborough
980	37-13	William Henry and Mary King	1964 JSW	1964–1967	Cromer No.2	Sold 1990. Located in Children's playground, Drayton Park Primary School, Highbury, London.
				1967–1988	Bridlington
				1989–1990	North Sunderland
981	37-14	Mary Pullman	1964 WO	1965–1989	Kirkcudbright	Hull on display at Baytree Garden Centre, Weston, Spalding.
982	37-15	Ernest Tom Neathercoat	1965 WO	1965–1990	Wells-next-the-Sea	Sold 1992. Restored display/training boat, Wells-next-the-Sea December 2022.
				1990–1991	North Sunderland
983	37-16	The Doctors	1965 WO	1965–1991	Anstruther	Sold 1993. Under restoration at Donaghadee.
				1991–1993	Relief fleet
984	37-17	Mary Joicey	1966 HM	1966–1981	Newbiggin	Sold 1989. On display at Newbiggin Maritime Centre December 2022.
				1981–1985	Relief fleet
				1985–1986	Redcar
				1986–1988	Relief fleet
				1988–1989	Hastings
				1989	St Ives
985	37-18	Valentine Wyndham-Quin	1967 HM	1968–1984	Clacton-on-Sea	Sold 1988. On display at The Lifeboat House, The Green, Harwich July 1995.
				1984–1988	Clogherhead
986	37-19	Lloyds II	1966 ML	1966–1990	Ilfracombe	Broken up 1993.
				1990–1992	Sheringham
991	37-20	Edward and Mary Lester	1967 WO	1967–1989	North Sunderland	Broken up 1989.
992	37-21	Frank Penfold Marshall	1968 WO	1968–1989	St Ives	Broken up 1989.
993	37-22	Har Lil	1968 WO	1968–1990	Rhyl	Sold December 1991. Restored, at Porth Penrhyn December 2022.
994	37-23	The Vincent Nesfield	1969 WO	1969–1972	Relief fleet	Broken up in 1991.
				1972–1973	Port Erin
				1973–1988	Relief fleet
				1989–1991	Kilmore Quay
995	37-24	James Ball Ritchie	1970 WO	1970–1991	Ramsey	Broken up 1992.
996	37-25	Birds Eye	1970 WO	1970–1990	New Quay	On display at Moelfre Seawatch Centre from May 1991.
997	37-26	Lady Murphy	1971 WO	1972–1988	Kilmore Quay	Sold 1990. Broken up 1995

48-foot 6-inch boats

All built by William Osborne, Littlehampton except ON 989, Berthon Boat Co., Lymington

ON	Op. No.	Name	Built	In service	Stations	Comments
968	48-01	The Earl and Countess Howe	1963	1963–1977	Yarmouth	Displayed at RNLI Depot, Poole 1984-2004. Broken up 2004.
				1977–1984	Walton and Frinton
989	48-02	James and Catherine Macfarlane	1967	1967–1983	Padstow	Sold 1988. On display at Land's End for many years. Restored. Afloat, based at St Mary's, Isles of Scilly August 2022.
				1983–1987	Lizard-Cadgwith
990	48-03	Ruby and Arthur Reed	1966	1967–1984	Cromer	On display at Hythe Marina, Southampton from 1990,
				1985–1988	St Davids
1015	48-12	Charles Henry	1968	1969–1984	Selsey	On display at Merry Hill, Dudley 1989-1999. Pleasure boat at Royal Quays Marina, North Shields April 2022.
				1984–1987	Baltimore
1016	48-13	Princess Marina	1970	1970–1988	Wick	Displayed at National Lifeboat Museum, Pitsea. Broken up 2003.

External links

• RNLI