Ex Aldeburgh No. 2 RNLB Lucy Lavers
RNLB Lucy Lavers (ON 832) is a Liverpool class single engine lifeboat which was also equipped with a sail, as was favoured by the RNLI for all single engine Liverpool class lifeboat. To stabiliser the lifeboat when under sail she was also fitted with a drop keel. The installed engine was a 35 hp Weyburn petrol engine. She was built for the RNLI by Groves and Gutteridge at Cowes, Isle of Wight, being laid down in 1939 and finished in 1940. The lifeboat is 35 ft. 6in. long and has a beam of 10 ft. 3in. and a draft of only 2 ft. 3.5in. She has a displacement of 6 tons. With a light double diagonal mahogany hull and shallow draft, Lucy Lavers was designed for carriage launching and was well-suited for working in shallow waters, close to beaches.
Lucy Lavers arrived in Aldeburgh in 1940 and was almost immediately commandeered, along with Aldeburgh's 41ft. Watson class No.1 lifeboat RNLB Abdy Beauclerk (ON 751) by the Royal Navy. Both boats were summoned to Ramsgate and arrived at the port on 31st. May. Along with 18 other RNLI lifeboats and 700 private vessels, Lucy Lavers was needed for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army from Dunkirk.
Records show that she was towed to Dunkirk on 2nd. June by the Golden Sunbeam, Lucy Lavers was the only single- screw Liverpool type lifeboat to take part in the evacuation. More details survive about the experiences of other lifeboats at Dunkirk, and these go some way to explaining what would have happened to Lucy Lavers. Most of the lifeboats were requisitioned by the Royal Navy, with the exception of those which sailed direct from Ramsgate and Margate. There was clearly some appreciation for the qualities of the lifeboats, one Naval Officer remarked “I took the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat across to Dunkirk on two nights. Her performance was a revelation and a delight.” Former coxswain of 27 years at Wells-next-the-Sea David Cox remembers Lucy Lavers well, she served as relief boat for east coast stations when she retired from Aldeburgh.
‘I was always told Lucy never went on the beach because, if she had, they’d have had trouble trying to get her off, consequently, she went alongside the big mole (breakwater) with all these troops on. She’d take them off the mole and out to the destroyers. She did a good job.’
Returning to Aldeburgh the station records show that during the rest of the Second World War, Lucy Lavers along with Abdy Beauclerk were called out on many occasions. Most of these 'shouts' were in response to reports of aircraft crashed into the sea. Both Lifeboats spent long hours searching exhaustively for survivors but on most occasions all they found was wreckage or patches of oil. The lifeboats at Aldeburgh were responsible for saving a total of 107 lives during the war period.
The Lucy Lavers served at Aldeburgh for 19 years, during which she and her crew undertook 30 operations which saved 7 lives. During her service in the RNLI’s reserve fleet at Wells-next-the-Sea, Sheringham, and Rhyl, she undertook a further 52 missions, saving 37 lives.
In 1968 she was finally sold by the RNLI and began a career as a pilot boat in the port of Saint Helier, Jersey. She was also renamed L’esperance and eventually became a private fishing boat. In 1986 the lifeboat was given a new role when she was bought by The Dive and Ski club of St. Helier. During this period she spend most of her time around the island of Sark. In 1997 she was finally retired and her engine canopy and some of her remaining fixtures and fittings were stripped out and used in the restoration of Howard D (ON 797), an ex-Saint Helier lifeboat.
As of 2000, Lucy Lavers whereabouts were unknown but following some keen detective work by two lifeboat enthusiasts David Hewitt and Graeme Peart from Norfolk, who had been looking for the Lucy Lavers for some time, she was found in 2006 at Husband's Yard, Marchwood, near Southampton.
Apon visiting the boatyard David and Graeme found Husband’s Yard was no longer in existence, it seemed likely that Lucy Lavers had been scrapped, or burned on site, when the yard closed. A couple of years later David noticed in the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society handbook that this may not have been the end of her story after all. The Dunkirk Little Ships Association had managed to grab hold of her right at the last minute before she was burned!' he says. 'They said she’d been allocated to a boat-building college down on the south coast somewhere. Another year went by and we got an email asking if we’d like to have her. So we bought her for £1.
Lucy Lavers was taken to Rescue Wooden Boats at Stiffkey, Norfolk in 2013. Having been stripped back to little more than a bare hull, the majority of her original mahogany hull remains. Lovingly and expertly restored over the next 2 to 3 years, Lucy Lavers now resides in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk looking better than ever. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Vessels by National Historic Ships, her certificate number is 2206.
In early May 2015 Lucy Lavers left Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, calling at Lowestoft, Southwold, Aldeburgh, Levington, Harwich and finally Ramsgate. Here she joined the flotilla of other 'Dunkirk Little Ships, and crossed the Channel to Dunkirk in convoy with them to mark the 75th. anniversary of Operation Dynamo.
Class: Liverpool class
Type: Motor lifeboat
Official Number: ON 832
Length: 35 ft. 6 in. (10.82 m) overall
Beam: 10 ft. 3 in. (3.12 m)
Draught: 2 ft. 3.5 in. (0.699 m)
Depth: 4 ft. 4 in. (1.32 m)
Tonnage: Displacement of 6 tons 10cwt
Installed power: 35hp Weyburn petrol engine
Speed:7.42 knots (8.5 mph - 13.74 km/h)
Notes: Fitted with mast and carried two oars
Laid down: 1939
Acquired: 1940
Builder: Groves & Gutteridge, Cowes, Isle of Wight
In service: 1940 to 1968
Station : Aldeburgh No. 2
Stations - relief: Wells-next-the-Sea, Sheringham and Rhyl
Other name: L'Esperance, pilot boat in the Channel Island port of St. Helier, Jersey.
Ex Aldeburgh No. 2 RNLB Lucy Lavers
RNLB Lucy Lavers (ON 832) is a Liverpool class single engine lifeboat which was also equipped with a sail, as was favoured by the RNLI for all single engine Liverpool class lifeboat. To stabiliser the lifeboat when under sail she was also fitted with a drop keel. The installed engine was a 35 hp Weyburn petrol engine. She was built for the RNLI by Groves and Gutteridge at Cowes, Isle of Wight, being laid down in 1939 and finished in 1940. The lifeboat is 35 ft. 6in. long and has a beam of 10 ft. 3in. and a draft of only 2 ft. 3.5in. She has a displacement of 6 tons. With a light double diagonal mahogany hull and shallow draft, Lucy Lavers was designed for carriage launching and was well-suited for working in shallow waters, close to beaches.
Lucy Lavers arrived in Aldeburgh in 1940 and was almost immediately commandeered, along with Aldeburgh's 41ft. Watson class No.1 lifeboat RNLB Abdy Beauclerk (ON 751) by the Royal Navy. Both boats were summoned to Ramsgate and arrived at the port on 31st. May. Along with 18 other RNLI lifeboats and 700 private vessels, Lucy Lavers was needed for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force and the French Army from Dunkirk.
Records show that she was towed to Dunkirk on 2nd. June by the Golden Sunbeam, Lucy Lavers was the only single- screw Liverpool type lifeboat to take part in the evacuation. More details survive about the experiences of other lifeboats at Dunkirk, and these go some way to explaining what would have happened to Lucy Lavers. Most of the lifeboats were requisitioned by the Royal Navy, with the exception of those which sailed direct from Ramsgate and Margate. There was clearly some appreciation for the qualities of the lifeboats, one Naval Officer remarked “I took the Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat across to Dunkirk on two nights. Her performance was a revelation and a delight.” Former coxswain of 27 years at Wells-next-the-Sea David Cox remembers Lucy Lavers well, she served as relief boat for east coast stations when she retired from Aldeburgh.
‘I was always told Lucy never went on the beach because, if she had, they’d have had trouble trying to get her off, consequently, she went alongside the big mole (breakwater) with all these troops on. She’d take them off the mole and out to the destroyers. She did a good job.’
Returning to Aldeburgh the station records show that during the rest of the Second World War, Lucy Lavers along with Abdy Beauclerk were called out on many occasions. Most of these 'shouts' were in response to reports of aircraft crashed into the sea. Both Lifeboats spent long hours searching exhaustively for survivors but on most occasions all they found was wreckage or patches of oil. The lifeboats at Aldeburgh were responsible for saving a total of 107 lives during the war period.
The Lucy Lavers served at Aldeburgh for 19 years, during which she and her crew undertook 30 operations which saved 7 lives. During her service in the RNLI’s reserve fleet at Wells-next-the-Sea, Sheringham, and Rhyl, she undertook a further 52 missions, saving 37 lives.
In 1968 she was finally sold by the RNLI and began a career as a pilot boat in the port of Saint Helier, Jersey. She was also renamed L’esperance and eventually became a private fishing boat. In 1986 the lifeboat was given a new role when she was bought by The Dive and Ski club of St. Helier. During this period she spend most of her time around the island of Sark. In 1997 she was finally retired and her engine canopy and some of her remaining fixtures and fittings were stripped out and used in the restoration of Howard D (ON 797), an ex-Saint Helier lifeboat.
As of 2000, Lucy Lavers whereabouts were unknown but following some keen detective work by two lifeboat enthusiasts David Hewitt and Graeme Peart from Norfolk, who had been looking for the Lucy Lavers for some time, she was found in 2006 at Husband's Yard, Marchwood, near Southampton.
Apon visiting the boatyard David and Graeme found Husband’s Yard was no longer in existence, it seemed likely that Lucy Lavers had been scrapped, or burned on site, when the yard closed. A couple of years later David noticed in the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society handbook that this may not have been the end of her story after all. The Dunkirk Little Ships Association had managed to grab hold of her right at the last minute before she was burned!' he says. 'They said she’d been allocated to a boat-building college down on the south coast somewhere. Another year went by and we got an email asking if we’d like to have her. So we bought her for £1.
Lucy Lavers was taken to Rescue Wooden Boats at Stiffkey, Norfolk in 2013. Having been stripped back to little more than a bare hull, the majority of her original mahogany hull remains. Lovingly and expertly restored over the next 2 to 3 years, Lucy Lavers now resides in Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk looking better than ever. She is listed on the National Register of Historic Vessels by National Historic Ships, her certificate number is 2206.
In early May 2015 Lucy Lavers left Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk, calling at Lowestoft, Southwold, Aldeburgh, Levington, Harwich and finally Ramsgate. Here she joined the flotilla of other 'Dunkirk Little Ships, and crossed the Channel to Dunkirk in convoy with them to mark the 75th. anniversary of Operation Dynamo.
Class: Liverpool class
Type: Motor lifeboat
Official Number: ON 832
Length: 35 ft. 6 in. (10.82 m) overall
Beam: 10 ft. 3 in. (3.12 m)
Draught: 2 ft. 3.5 in. (0.699 m)
Depth: 4 ft. 4 in. (1.32 m)
Tonnage: Displacement of 6 tons 10cwt
Installed power: 35hp Weyburn petrol engine
Speed:7.42 knots (8.5 mph - 13.74 km/h)
Notes: Fitted with mast and carried two oars
Laid down: 1939
Acquired: 1940
Builder: Groves & Gutteridge, Cowes, Isle of Wight
In service: 1940 to 1968
Station : Aldeburgh No. 2
Stations - relief: Wells-next-the-Sea, Sheringham and Rhyl
Other name: L'Esperance, pilot boat in the Channel Island port of St. Helier, Jersey.