Hartlepool RNLI set to receive a new all-weather Shannon class lifeboat
Hartlepool RNLI is set to receive a state-of-the art Shannon class all-weather lifeboat later this year.
The Shannon class lifeboat is the first modern all-weather lifeboat to be propelled by water jets instead of traditional propellers, making her an extremely agile and manoeuvrable lifeboat.
It will replace the station’s current all-weather Trent class lifeboat
Betty Huntbatch which has proudly served Hartlepool RNLI for over 19 years.
The new lifeboat is currently under construction at the RNLI’s All-Weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole.
The funding of the Shannon is thanks to the generous gift left to the Charities Aid Foundation by John Sharp, who died in 2019. A successful mathematician by training, John lived modestly but was a highly skilled and active investor.
John spent many years researching the Sharp family’s ancestry. It included the commissioning by his ancestor (also named John Sharp) of one of Lionel Lukin’s patented ‘unimmergible boats’ in 1786. This helped a local community on the North East coast to be better equipped to face the extreme dangers of venturing out into storms to save drowning sailors.
With John’s gift, the new Shannon class lifeboat John Sharp will continue the Sharp family’s invaluable legacy ensuring a safer coast in the North East for years to come.
Crew training for the new lifeboat will start before she is delivered and will continue immediately afterwards.
Hartlepool RNLI chairman, Malcolm Cook said: ‘Our current Trent class all-weather lifeboat Betty Huntbatch has done an amazing job over the years and has served our station proudly since 2004.
‘Naturally, we’ll really miss ‘Betty’, but we’re also excited that we’ll be receiving a Shannon class all-weather lifeboat, whose advanced technology means we’ll be able to reach people a lot more quickly and further offshore.
‘Our volunteer crew is incredibly grateful to the Sharp family. They can’t wait to start their new chapter of lifesaving with the Shannon and they are looking forward to embracing the training ahead of her arrival.’
RNLI Picture caption
The photograph shows Skegness RNLI’s Shannon class lifeboat at sea. Credit: Martin Fish.
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The RNLI charity saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 142,700 lives.
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