Lifeboat Heroes. Outstanding RNLI Rescues from Three Centuries

book summary

Douglas, Isle of Man, 10 December 1827
Skerries, County Doublin, 17 November 1868
Appledore, 28 December 1868
Newcastle, County Down, February 1874, and Ilfracombe, Devon, December 1874
Ramsgate, 6 January 1881
The Mexico Disaster, 9 December 1886
Faserburgh, 30 June and 7 September 1909
Ballycotton, 11 February 1936
Cromer, 6 August 1941
Humber. 6 January 1943
Moelfre and Holyhead, Anglesey, 2 December 1966
Humber, 14 February 1979
Penlee, 19 December 1981
Hayling Island, 25 October 1992
Lerwick, 19 November 1997
Torbay, 13 January 2008.
Bibliography.
It is the detailed story of the 16 of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's most dramatic rescues fron its 185-years history. It examines triumphs and disasters from all corners of the British and Irish coastline, stretching from Cornwall to Shetland and from the Humber to Cork and gives an insight into what inspired such famous lifeboat coxswains as Fish of Ramsgate, Blogg of Cromer, Evans of Moelfre and Clark of Lerwick.
Many of the incidents of outstanding bravery recounted proved to be turning points in the history of the RNLI and the business of sea rescue in general.
The wreck of the Mexico in the Ribble estuary in 1886, when 27 crewmen from two lifeboats lost their lives, hastened the quest for powered lifeboats and gave rise to flag days and street collections. The loss of the Penlee lifeboat and her crew in 1981 accelerated the development of today's powerful modern lifeboats and reminded the public of the ultimate invincibility of the sea