The Tradition of the Lifeboat Service - a cinema appeal - video Dailymotion

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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is celebrating its 200th anniversary. The RNLI has released this nostalgic tribute to the service of its volunteers.

Transcript

00:00 [Music plays]

00:12 The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was founded by Sir William Hillary in 1824.

00:17 Not only was he the founder, but three times he won the gold medal for gallantry for saving life at sea.

00:23 The history of our lifeboat service is rich in stories of dangerous and gallant rescues by the fine, brave men

00:32 who through the years have maintained the great tradition of the service.

00:36 Many are the decorations that have been awarded to these intrepid seamen.

00:39 And so high is the standard by which their gallant deeds are judged,

00:43 that the coveted gold medal for conspicuous gallantry has been awarded only 127 times since the foundation of the institution,

00:51 an average of just once a year.

00:54 There are lifeboats all around our coasts at 154 different stations.

01:00 [Music plays]

01:08 As soon as the maroon sounds, each member of the crew, and they are all volunteers, leaves his normal employment immediately.

01:16 At any time, day or night, the call may come.

01:19 And when it does, it's all hands to the lifeboat host to get the boat away.

01:24 [Music plays]

01:29 The lifeboat plunges into the sea with a great splash.

01:32 [Sound of lifeboat splashing]

01:38 Her bows go right under, but soon she rides clear as the water rushes away through the scuppers.

01:44 [Music plays]

01:46 This is one of our most modern lifeboats.

01:48 It has twin screw diesel engines, a receiving and transmitting radio, a line throwing pistol, and a loud hailer with a range of 500 yards.

01:57 In the early days, they were very different.

02:00 The first lifeboat, the original, an open rowing boat, was given its special buoyancy by cork floats.

02:07 The early lifeboats, of course, had neither engines nor sails.

02:11 They depended on the strength of the men at the oars.

02:14 Boats were put out in the teeth of any gale, tossed like corks by stormy seas,

02:19 as the courage and endurance of the oarsmen urged her towards the ship she had gone to rescue.

02:25 This is the very last of the old pulling lifeboats still in service.

02:29 And soon the sight of a lifeboat being rowed back in the calm water of a harbour,

02:34 with the rhythm of a boat race crew, will be only a gallant memory.

02:38 (background music playing)

02:59 About the middle of last century, sails were added to assist the men at the oars.

03:04 But they could only be used if the weather was favourable, and the sails were always furled on approaching a ship in danger.

03:10 It was still the oars which brought the lifeboat alongside.

03:14 (background music playing)

03:20 Nearly 50 years ago, the first motor lifeboats were built, and sails were still kept as auxiliary parts.

03:27 (background music playing)

03:34 In the old days, the lifeboat was often hauled by hand through the narrow streets to the sea.

03:40 Sometimes half the population turned out to help the launch.

03:44 (background music playing)

03:47 And today...

03:49 (background music playing)

03:58 Our fine modern lifeboats, with their powerful engines and all the equipment that science has given them,

04:03 are an outstanding example and can sink.

04:07 But, like everything else, they cost three times as much as they did in 1939.

04:13 So, please give generously on Lifeboat Day to save life at sea.

04:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]

The Tradition of the Lifeboat Service - a cinema appeal

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