E-Class at Tower Lifeboat Station
The E-class lifeboat forms part of the RNLI fleet in the UK. The class was introduced in 2002 to serve the tidal reach of the River Thames, as a result of a much-delayed enquiry into the Marchioness disaster in 1989, in which 51 people died. The enquiry criticised the lack of a rescue service for the tidal Thames, which had not previously been covered by an RNLI rescue service, and the UK government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the RNLI to work together to set up a dedicated search and rescue service for this stretch of the river.
There have been three different versions of the E-class, described as the Mk I, Mk II and Mk III. Mk I boats operated from 2002, but their service came to an end with the retirement of Legacy in 2021. As of December 2023, there are four boats in service, three Mk IIs, and a Mk III, split between Chiswick Lifeboat Station to the west of central London, and Tower Lifeboat Station at Victoria Embankment in central London. This is E-07, Hurley Burly, which came into service in 2012.
The Mk II was designed by RNLI engineers, incorporating experience gained with the Mk I boats, and built by Marine Specialised Technology in Liverpool. It has a GRP composite hull with a detachable polyurethane-covered solid closed-cell foam collar, and is powered by two Volvo marine diesel engines delivering 435 hp, driving Hamilton waterjets. This combination gives the boats an improved maximum speed of 40 kts.
The boat is 10.5m long, has a beam of 2.9m without collar and 3.5m with collar, a draught of 0.7m, a displacement of 5.4 tonnes and can carry up to four crew (but normally three). The maximum endurance at full speed is three hours.
All versions of the E-class carry a variety of rescue equipment including marine VHF radios, a first-aid kit, an emergency defibrillator, a GPS navigation system, night-vision equipment, a self-righting system, a radar interrogator, towing equipment, and lighting equipment
The Tower Lifeboat Station is operated by the RNLI. It is located at Victoria Embankment on the North Bank of the Thames, next to Waterloo Bridge, from which I took this shot. The pier takes its name from the original RNLI lifeboat station which opened in 2002 further downstream at Tower Pier, next to the Tower of London. In 2006 the lifeboat station moved to its present location at Waterloo Pier, formerly known as the Waterloo Police Pier.
The station is unusual in RNLI terms as it is staffed continuously to provide an immediate response and is coordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency from a Port of London Authority operations room at the Thames Barrier. Two of the three-person crew at each station are full-time and the third crew member is a volunteer. This enables the boats to arrive at any incident within 15 minutes.
E-Class at Tower Lifeboat Station
The E-class lifeboat forms part of the RNLI fleet in the UK. The class was introduced in 2002 to serve the tidal reach of the River Thames, as a result of a much-delayed enquiry into the Marchioness disaster in 1989, in which 51 people died. The enquiry criticised the lack of a rescue service for the tidal Thames, which had not previously been covered by an RNLI rescue service, and the UK government asked the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Port of London Authority and the RNLI to work together to set up a dedicated search and rescue service for this stretch of the river.
There have been three different versions of the E-class, described as the Mk I, Mk II and Mk III. Mk I boats operated from 2002, but their service came to an end with the retirement of Legacy in 2021. As of December 2023, there are four boats in service, three Mk IIs, and a Mk III, split between Chiswick Lifeboat Station to the west of central London, and Tower Lifeboat Station at Victoria Embankment in central London. This is E-07, Hurley Burly, which came into service in 2012.
The Mk II was designed by RNLI engineers, incorporating experience gained with the Mk I boats, and built by Marine Specialised Technology in Liverpool. It has a GRP composite hull with a detachable polyurethane-covered solid closed-cell foam collar, and is powered by two Volvo marine diesel engines delivering 435 hp, driving Hamilton waterjets. This combination gives the boats an improved maximum speed of 40 kts.
The boat is 10.5m long, has a beam of 2.9m without collar and 3.5m with collar, a draught of 0.7m, a displacement of 5.4 tonnes and can carry up to four crew (but normally three). The maximum endurance at full speed is three hours.
All versions of the E-class carry a variety of rescue equipment including marine VHF radios, a first-aid kit, an emergency defibrillator, a GPS navigation system, night-vision equipment, a self-righting system, a radar interrogator, towing equipment, and lighting equipment
The Tower Lifeboat Station is operated by the RNLI. It is located at Victoria Embankment on the North Bank of the Thames, next to Waterloo Bridge, from which I took this shot. The pier takes its name from the original RNLI lifeboat station which opened in 2002 further downstream at Tower Pier, next to the Tower of London. In 2006 the lifeboat station moved to its present location at Waterloo Pier, formerly known as the Waterloo Police Pier.
The station is unusual in RNLI terms as it is staffed continuously to provide an immediate response and is coordinated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency from a Port of London Authority operations room at the Thames Barrier. Two of the three-person crew at each station are full-time and the third crew member is a volunteer. This enables the boats to arrive at any incident within 15 minutes.