41ft Watson-class lifeboat

Name41ft Watson-class

Builders

Groves & Guttridge, Cowes
Morgan Giles, Teignmouth
Sussex Yacht Co., Shoreham-by-Sea
William Osborne, Littlehampton

Operators

Preceded byVarious

Class overview

RNLB Edmund and Mary Robison (ON812), 6th of 13 in the Watson 41 Class. Off Princes Dock, Liverpool, on the occasion of her naming ceremony.


Name	41ft Watson-class
Builders	Groves & Guttridge, Cowes Morgan Giles, Teignmouth Sussex Yacht Co., Shoreham-by-Sea William Osborne, Littlehampton
Operators	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Preceded by	Various
Succeeded by	42ft Watson
Cost	£5,636–£20,700
Built	1932–1939, 1948–1951
In service	1933–1982
Completed	13
Lost	2
Retired	11


General characteristics
Class & type	41ft Watson-class motor lifeboat
Displacement	14-15 tons
Length	41 ft (12 m)
Beam	11 ft 8 in (3.56 m) - 12 ft 3 in (3.73 m)
Draught	3 ft 8 in (1.12 m)
Propulsion	2 x 35-bhp Weyburn AE6 6-cyl. petrol 2 x 47-bhp Parsons Porbeagle 4-cyl. diesel (8 upgraded, 1963)
Speed	71⁄2 knots
Crew	8

The 41 ft Watson-class was a non-self-righting displacement hull lifeboat built between 1933 and 1951 and operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution between 1933 and 1982.

The 41 ft Watson was designed for service at stations which required a larger and more powerful boat than the standard carriage launched types, but which could not accommodate the larger Watson types through boathouse or slipway constraints.

The boat is not to be confused with the earlier 41ft Beach Type Motor lifeboat, which was developed from the Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboats. Production ran from 1933 to 1939, with thirteen lifeboats completed.^[1]

Between 1948 and 1952 a further four boats were built, before the introduction of the much modified 42ft Watson-class lifeboat, which appeared in 1954.^[2]

Description

The 41 ft Watson had an aft cockpit, with a cabin ahead of it containing the engine controls. There was a separate forward shelter and there was room in the two for sixteen people. The boats carried two sails as an auxiliary to the twin Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines.

The type was put back into production in 1948, nine years after the last had been built, in a revised version with an enlarged cabin which replaced the forward shelter.^[2]

From 1963, eight of the boats were re-engined with 47 bhp Ford-based Parsons Porbeagle 4-cylinder diesel engines.^[2]

41 ft Watson-class fleet

ON^[a]	Name	Built	In service^[1]	Stations	Re-engined	Comments^[2]^[1]
758	Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn	1932	1933–1963	Shoreham Harbour	1963	^{[Note 1]} Sold in 1973. Renamed Dowager. At International Boat-building Training College (IBTC) at Lowestoft, until its closure in Nov 2025.^[3]
758	Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn	1932	1963–1973	Relief fleet	1963
769	Duke of York	1933	1934–1961	The Lizard	No	^{[Note 2]} Sold in 1961. Broken up at Castlebridge, Co. Wexford, April 2024.
806	Rachel and Mary Evans	1936	1937–1968	Barry Dock	No	^{[Note 3]} Wrecked after breaking moorings on relief duty at Weston-Super-Mare 12 April 1969.
806	Rachel and Mary Evans	1936	1969	Weston-super-Mare	No
807	Inbhear Mor	1938	1938–1968	Arklow	1963	^{[Note 4]} Sold in 1974. Broken up at Ynyslas Boatyard near Borth, Ceredigion, December 2013.
807	Inbhear Mor	1938	1968–1973	Relief fleet	1963
808	Mary Ann Hepworth	1938	1938–1974	Whitby	1963	^{[Note 5]} Sold in 1975. 1988, fully restored as a trip boat at Whitby. Sold 2023, at Caernarfon, November 2025.
812	Edmund and Mary Robinson	1938	1938–1950	New Brighton No.2	No	^{[Note 6]} Sold March 1964. Broken up near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, February 2016.
812	Edmund and Mary Robinson	1938	1950–1964	Relief fleet	No
813	Ann Letitia Russell	1938	1939–1976	Fleetwood	1963	^{[Note 7]} Sold April 1977. Renamed Angela, then Olive, used as a yacht/ houseboat at Lowestoft (2014). Was stored at ABP Marine, Fleetwood from 2016 awaiting restoration and intended display as Ann Letitia Russell, but the project failed, and she was broken up, April 2025.^[4]^[5]
823	Matthew Simpson	1939	1939–1972	Port Erin	1963	^{[Note 8]} Sold in 1976. Renamed Penros. May 2022, unaltered pleasure boat with the Hayling Island Yacht Company, August 2025.
823	Matthew Simpson	1939	1972–1976	Relief fleet	1963
824	John Pyemont	1939	1939–1941	Tynemouth	No	^{[Note 9]} Boathouse and lifeboat destroyed in an air raid, 9 April 1941.
856	Susan Ashley	1948	1948–1972	Sennen Cove	1963	^{[Note 10]} Sold 1981. On display at RNLI Heritage Collection at Chatham Historic Dockyard from April 1996.^[6]
			1973–1979	Barry Dock No.2
			1979–1981	Tynemouth Boarding Boat
857	Glencoe, Glasgow	1949	1949–1960	Buckie	1963	^{[Note 11]} Sold in 1979. Renamed Vagrant. On hard at Burghead Harbour, Moray, February 2026.^[7]
			1960–1961	Girvan
			1961–1965	Relief fleet
			1965–1978	Portavogie
858	R. L. P.	1949	1949–1975	Swanage	1963	^{[Note 12]} Sold August 1981. Renamed Beya. Was a workboat at Millport, Great Cumbrae, last reported to have been given to a Sea Cadet group, June 1989.
858	R. L. P.	1949	1975–1981	Relief fleet	1963
897	St. Andrew (Civil Service No.10)	1951	1952–1959	Whitehills	1963	^{[Note 13]} Sold in 1982. Restored at New Ross Boatyard, County Wexford. October 2023, on display at West Wales Maritime Heritage Centre, Pembroke Dock, September 2025.^[8]
			1959–1961	Relief fleet
			1961–1968	Girvan
			1968–1973	Arklow
			1973–1976	Relief fleet
			1976–1977	Girvan
			1977–1982	Relief fleet

↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.

Notes

↑ Legacy of Mrs Lord, plus collections from Mr Lunn and Mrs Perowne, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £6,132. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Funded from the King George's Fund For Sailors, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £5,636.
↑ Legacy of Mr Evans, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £6,459.
↑ From RNLI Funds, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £6,506. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Gift of Mr A. Hepworth, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £6,576. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Gift of Mrs M. Robinson, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £6,534.
↑ Legacy of Miss A. L. Russell, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £6,634. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Legacy of Miss C. F. Simpson, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £7,206. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Legacy of Mr J. Pyemont, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £7,358.
↑ Legacy of Mr C. C. Ashley of Menton, France, built by Groves and Guttridge of Cowes, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £13,357. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Legacy of Miss Lily Glen, built by Morgan Giles of Teignmouth, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £11,885. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Legacy of Mrs A. Pugh, built by Sussex Yacht Co. of Shoreham-by-Sea, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £15,584. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.
↑ Legacy of Mrs A. Pugh, built by William Osborne of Littlehampton, with twin 35-hp Weyburn AE6 6-cylinder petrol engines, costing £20,700. Re-engined with twin 47-hp Parsons Porbeagle diesel engines, 1963.

41ft Watson-class lifeboat

Description

41 ft Watson-class fleet

See also

Notes

References

External links

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