Zetland (lifeboat)

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

History
United Kingdom
NameZetland
BuilderHenry Greathead, South Shields
Launched1802
In service1802
Out of service1864
StatusPreserved in the Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre
General characteristics
Class & typeLifeboat

The Zetland is the oldest surviving lifeboat in the world. During its time on service, it is estimated to have saved over 500 lives.[1]

It is currently the primary exhibit at the Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre, a museum in Redcar, England.[2]

The name Zetland comes from the local Lord of Manor, the 1st Earl of Zetland. The Zetland is listed on the National Register of Historic Ships, as part of the National Historic Fleet.

History

[edit]

In 1802, an unnamed lifeboat constructed by Henry Greathead of South Shields, costing £200, was placed at Redcar, a small fishing hamlet on the north coast of Yorkshire, consisting of two rows of terraced houses. The boat was known locally as Lifeboat. It is said that the cost was raised by the local population, but this seems highly unlikely in the early years of the 19th century, especially with regard to the size of the village.[1][3]

With records showing that the site and lifeboat house were provided by landowner Lieutenant-Colonel Lawrence Dundas of Marske Hall, MP for Richmond (Yorks), it is more likely that he also furnished most, if not all, of the cost of the lifeboat.

The lifeboat was a clinker-built vessel, constructed of 20-year-old seasoned oak, and was a double-ended boat, measuring 30 ft (9.1 m) long by 10 ft (3.0 m) beam. The outside was originally lined with cork for bouyancy, and had eight valves to release water if swamped. A crew of 13 were required, Coxswain, Second Coxswain, Bowman, and 10 oars. Five oars were blue, and five were white, allowing for the easy instructions to "pull on the blues", or "back on the whites".[1]

From 1825, the Lifeboat came under the management of the Tees Bay Lifeboat and Shipwreck Society (TBLSS).[4]

On Christmas Day 1836, the Lifeboat launched to the Danish brig Caroline, which was wrecked on Salt Scar Rocks. Attempting to throw a line to the vessel, Bowman William Guy, normally a pilot on the River Tees, was washed overboard and drowned. Only a short time earlier, Guy had been called from a service at the Methodist chapel to take his place in the lifeboat. All nine crew of the Caroline also lost their lives.[2][5]

It is known that Redcar's Lifeboat was later named Zetland, in honour of the Lord of the Manor, Lawrence Dundas. The date is unknown, but it is likely to have been in 1838 or 1839. It was only on the occasion of the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1838, that Lawrence Dundas was given the new title of 1st "Earl of Zetland". Alternatively, it may have been after the death of Dundas, who died the following year in 1839.[1][6]

At the request of the TBLSS, and agreed at the meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) committee of management on 5 August 1858, the three lifeboat stations of Middlesbrough, Saltburn and Redcar, were transferred to the management of the RNLI.[7][8]

On 17 February 1864, the Zetland sustained damage whilst rescuing the crew of seven from the brig Brothers. The RNLI considered the old boat no longer fit for service and supplied a new self-righting lifeboat named Crossley. Arrangements were made to have the Zetland broken up and a local carpenter was employed to carry out the task. Representations were made to the RNLI, and after negotiation, the boat was given to the townspeople, with the proviso that it would not 'compete' with the new RNLI lifeboat.[9]

Repairs to the Zetland to a seaworthy state were carried out in 1865, at the expense of Lord Zetland and Mr H. W. Yeoman.[10]

In 1880, Zetland was brought out of retirement, and launched along with two other Redcar lifeboats, the RNLI lifeboat Burton-on-Trent and the Independent lifeboat. Seven sailors' lives were saved from the brig Luna.[11]

1877 Independent Lifeboat House, now Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre

A new lifeboat, The United Free Gardeners, (known locally as Emma), was operated at Redcar between 1877 and 1898. Not built to RNLI preferred standards, it was not adopted by the RNLI, and operated Independently. As a result, it required the construction of a new boathouse, which was constructed at the junction of King Street and The Esplanade. In 1907, after being stored outside, and in a number of locations, the now vacant Independent boathouse was able to provide a permanent home for the Zetland. The building was purchased by the RNLI in 1936.[2]

In 1963, the boat was the centre-piece display of the International Lifeboat Conference in Edinburgh. Then, in November 2018, the lifeboat was removed to Middlesbrough for restoration work, returning to the museum on 5 April 2019.[12][13]

Of over 1000 vessels listed on The National Historical Ships Register, 200 are regarded to be of "pre-eminent National or Regional significance". Of these, only six are older than the Zetland, which sits alongside vessels such as Mary Rose, HMS Victory, HMS Warrior (1860), HMS Trincomalee and Cutty Sark.

Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, the Zetland lifeboat remains fully preserved and open for public visits in the Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre, which is a listed building on the Esplanade, Redcar, just a few hundred yards from the present Redcar Lifeboat Station. The RNLI withdrew from operating the museum in 2015, and the centre is now operated independently, run by volunteers, and funded entirely by visitor donations.[2][14]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  • "Redcar Lifeboat's history". Zetland200. Retrieved 22 November 2007.
  • "The Heritage Trust". RNLI. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  • "Lifeboat museum marks centenary". BBC News. 25 April 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  • "National Register of Historic Vessels · Zetland". Retrieved 5 October 2011.
  • "National Maritime Museum Cornwall | Falmouth, Cornwall". Retrieved 5 October 2011.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Phillipson, David (14 April 1994). All Her Glories Past: Story of the Zetland Lifeboat. Smith Settle Ltd. ISBN 1-85825-024-2. OCLC 37397778.
  • The Zetland lifeboat (Information sheet). Langbaurgh Museum Service. 1974. ISBN 0-906022-00-2. OCLC 16370720.
  • Leach, Nicholas (2018). The Lifeboat Service in England; the North East Coast, Station by Station. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 9781445668321.
[edit]

54°37′05″N 1°03′42″W / 54.61816°N 1.06179°W / 54.61816; -1.06179

  1. ^ a b c d "Zetland". The Lifeboat. 51 (512): 283. Summer 1990. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d "Brief History". Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  3. ^ Leach 2018, p. 15.
  4. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2025). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2025. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. p. 116.
  5. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Caledonian Mercury. No. 18209. Edinburgh. 2 January 1837.
  6. ^ "DUNDAS, Hon. Lawrence (1766-1839), of Marske, nr. Redcar, Yorks". History of Parliament Online. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
  7. ^ Morris, Jeff (November 2005). The Closed Lifeboat Stations of Yorkshire. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 1–46.
  8. ^ "Meetings of the Committee". The Lifeboat. IV (30): 104–105. 1 October 1858. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  9. ^ "Additional Stations and New Life-Boats". The Lifeboat. V (54): 522. 1 October 1864. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  10. ^ "The Redcar Old Lifeboat". Huddersfield Chronicle. 26 August 1865.
  11. ^ "1880: The Zetland's final launch - Timeline - Our history - RNLI". rnli.org. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Ninth International Life-Boat Conference". The Lifeboat. XXXVII (405): 502–505. September 1963. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  13. ^ "Conservation Update 2019". Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  14. ^ Historic England. "Zetland Lifeboat Museum and Redcar Heritage Centre, and attached wall (Grade II) (1329601)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 February 2019.