RNLB Queen Victoria

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History
British Civil Ensign
OperatorRoyal National Lifeboat Institution
In service1887-1902
HomeportBembridge, Isle of Wight, United Kingdom
General characteristics
Class and typeLifeboat
PropulsionOars

RNLB Queen Victoria is an historic shore-based lifeboat, built in 1887, operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and now preserved at The Shipwreck Centre, Arreton, Isle of Wight.[1][2]

A rowing boat, Queen Victoria operated from Bembridge on the Isle of Wight from 1887 to 1902.[2] It was then purchased by one of its crew, who converted it for use as a houseboat.[2]

In 1989 Martin Woodward, then coxswain of the Bembridge lifeboat, purchased Queen Victoria[2] and, after several years of fundraising, the boat was finally restored in 1998,[1] at the Classic Boat Museum, in East Cowes.[2]

The boat is now under the stewardship of the Isle of Wight Historic Lifeboat Trust, a registered charity, and is seaworthy.[2]

1999 it was taken to the BBC Television Centre in London to appear on the BBC television programme Blue Peter, to mark the RNLI's 175th anniversary.[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "The Shipwreck Centre, Arreton, Isle of Wight". The Lifeboat Museum. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Queen Victoria Lifeboat". Isle of Wight Historic Lifeboat Trust. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Queen Victoria Lifeboat". Isle of Wight Historic Lifeboat Trust. Retrieved 24 January 2017.