Engineering:RNLB Queen Victoria

From HandWiki
History
British Civil Ensign
Operator: Royal National Lifeboat Institution
In service: 1887-1902
Homeport: Bembridge, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
General characteristics
Class and type: Lifeboat
Propulsion: Oars

RNLB Queen Victoria is an historic shore-based lifeboat, built in 1887, operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and now preserved at The Shipwreck Centre, Arreton, Isle of Wight.[1][2]

A rowing boat, Queen Victoria operated from Bembridge on the Isle of Wight from 1887 to 1902.[2] It was then purchased by one of its crew, who converted it for use as a houseboat.[2]

In 1989 Martin Woodward, then coxswain of the Bembridge lifeboat, purchased Queen Victoria[2] and, after several years of fundraising, the boat was finally restored in 1998,[1] at the Classic Boat Museum, in East Cowes.[2]

The boat is now under the stewardship of the Isle of Wight Historic Lifeboat Trust, a registered charity, and is seaworthy.[2]

1999 it was taken to the BBC Television Centre in London to appear on the BBC television programme Blue Peter, to mark the RNLI's 175th anniversary.[3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "The Shipwreck Centre, Arreton, Isle of Wight". The Lifeboat Museum. http://shipwreckcentre.com/lifeboat-museum.php. Retrieved 24 January 2017. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 "Queen Victoria Lifeboat". Isle of Wight Historic Lifeboat Trust. http://queenvictorialifeboat.co.uk/. Retrieved 24 January 2017. 
  3. "Queen Victoria Lifeboat". Isle of Wight Historic Lifeboat Trust. http://queenvictorialifeboat.co.uk/pictures.htm. Retrieved 24 January 2017.