Tamar class lifeboat

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Tamar class lifeboat
The Padstow lifeboat Spirit of Padstow
Class overview
Name:Tamar class lifeboat
Builders:Green Marine/SAR Composites[1] (Builders of hull and superstructure)
Babcock Marine (Fitting-out)
Piran Marine (Bond hull & deck together)
Operators:23px Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Preceded by:Tyne class lifeboat
Cost:£2.6m
Built:2002–
In service:2006–
Completed:10 (ongoing) plus prototype
General characteristics
Displacement: 31.5 t (31 long tons)
Length: 16 m (52 ft)
Beam: 5 m (16 ft)
Draught: 1.35 m (4.4 ft)
Propulsion: 2 × Caterpillar C18 diesel engines 1,000 hp (746 kW)
2 × fixed pitch 5-blade propellers
4,600 litres fuel
Speed: 25 knots (29 mph; 46 km/h)
Range: 250 nmi (460 km)
Capacity: Self Righting 40
Non-Self Righting 100
Complement: 7

Tamar class lifeboats carry out life-saving duties in the UK as part of the RNLI fleet. The Tamar class is the replacement for the Tyne-class slipway launched All Weather Lifeboat (ALB). They are named for the River Tamar, which forms the majority of the border between Devon and Cornwall.

The Tamar is the most advanced vessel in the RNLI fleet. It hosts new technology, including fly-by-wire joystick steering, suspension seats to protect crew in severe weather, and an onboard computer system called Systems and Information Management System or SIMS. SIMS allows complex tasks such as engine and navigation management to be displayed on a single flat LCD screen, six of which are positioned around the vessel, to allow crew to operate all the systems without moving from their seats.

It carries a Y Class (pre-inflated) inflatable daughter boat housed in a pen recessed into the stern of the Tamar, accessed by lowering the transom, and lifting a section of deck. This allows the tender to be launched and recovered on to a ramp provided by the lowered transom section. Alternatively, the Tamar can be equipped with a PWC (jetski) similar to that used by beach lifeguards, which is housed in the same compartment.

Service

The boat completed its trials in July 2005. and the first entered service at Tenby in March 2006.


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