made in Great Yarmouth

Model, of Beeching lifeboat

This wooden model is a copy of the lifeboat designed in 1851 by James Beeching of Great Yarmouth for the Duke of Northumberland's competition to find a satisfactory lifeboat. Built for the Ramsgate Harbour Commissioners, Beeching's lifeboat was the first self-righting lifeboat to go into service. The model was built to a scale of 1:12 by Mr P A Rumbelow of Great Yarmouth.

The lifeboat was clinker-built i.e. the hull was constructed of overlapping planks. It was able to self-right due a variety of factors. It had high end boxes which encased the raised air cases. It had a ten-hundredweight iron keel. It also had a tank between the bottom and the deck which was divided into compartments and which carried two and a half tons of water.

Beeching's lifeboat greatly influenced the design of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's boats for the following 35 years. It also influenced the general lines of self-righters for the next century.

Record details

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Online ID:	000-180-002-093-C
Image Rights Holder:	National Museums Scotland
Project:	0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2 Project description \| View all records in project
Ref:	National Museums Scotland T.1983.199
Date:	Model: 20th century; Original: 1851
Material:	Inscription: NORTHUMBERLAND PRIZE LIFE BOAT BY JAMES BEECHING
Dimensions:	38.00" x 11.00" x 10.50"
What:	Boat / lifeboat / model
Subject:	23. SHIPPING, Special Purpose Vessels (Departmental Classification)
Who:	Duke of Northumberland (Holder of competition for improved lifeboat) James Beeching (Builder of the original boat) P.A. Rumbelow, Great Yarmouth, England (Model maker)
Where:	England, Norfolk, Great Yarmouth
Event:
Description:	Model of the self-righting lifeboat built in 1851 by James Beeching of Great Yarmouth, winning the prize offered by the Duke of Northumberland, model by P.A. Rumbelow, scale 1:12
References:	Storer, J D. Ship Models in the Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh: A catalogue of models representing the history of shipping from 1500 BC to the present day. Edinburgh: Royal Scottish Museum Information Series, 1985, p 87.
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