I have just retired and at these times, thoughts turn to the things you have done and projects you have worked on. I have been fortunate enough to work for the same company for nearly 43 years and it has turned out to be an interesting and varied career. Projects include the only British rocket to launch a satellite, hovercraft and ship model hydrodynamic tank testing, and working in the Company's experimental department.
As an apprentice in the early 70s, I worked on a project to retrofit the RNLI's Watson and Barnet lifeboats to be self-righting. l have searched the web and can find only brief references to this work which I have always been proud to be involved in and that eventually went on to save lives. As I am one of the few people from the small team who were involved in the project to still be around I thought I would record this account for posterity.
The Company won the contract after the Longhope and Frazerburgh disasters in 1969 and 1970 when 13 brave men were lost. It designed a single use system and used its tank testing capability, and hovercraft skirt technology to produce an inflation bag system to roll the boat upright in the event of a capsize. These were the early days of such technology but since then, the company has become heavily involved with helicopter floatation systems, and similar systems can be found on inshore lifeboat today. It was interesting work and as an 18 year old engineering apprentice I had the opportunity to travel to many lifeboat stations and boatyards around the country, from Plymouth to Lerwick in Shetland (before North Sea oil) with a skilled fitter to install the kit.
I met some amazing people and, in some of the small, obscure Scottish stations, I really did meet crew members who were the local butcher and baker. I still have the greatest respect and admiration for these people who selfless lay down their lives to help others on a regular basis. These meeting inevitably ended as a late night in the local bar with many tales of rescues. It was work experience for a youngster in the truest sense!
My first involvement in the project was in assisting in the assembly of the component parts that were all manufactured in-house. This was my first experience with pneumatics and included pressure testing and proof loading the system parts. In the end I could assemble a whole system and install it on a boat.
The system was relatively simple and included a huge rubber inflation bag mounted on the aft cabin roof and a large 2500 psi compressed air bottle fitted with a bespoke valve. This valve was capable of venting the entire contents of the bottle into the inflation bag in a few seconds. Finally there was a control box containing a bleed valve operated by a weight on a lever arm. The weight was held in place by a 'V' shaped pendulum pivoted at the point of the 'V'. This straddled the lever arm and prevented the main weight lifting and operating due to heaving and pitching in heavy seas, but if the boat capsized and turned upside down, the 'V' pendulum would rotate and release the main weight that would drop under gravity and operate the system
Although large, the inflation bag was folded and stowed under a flexible cover that snapped into longitudinal channels on the aft cabin roof. This was easily jettisoned by the bag as it inflated. When looking at a photo of a Watson or Barnet boat it is easy to see if the kit is fitted as the stowed bag can be seen, along with three retaining straps fitted in wide retaining channels on the side of the aft cabin. Sometimes an aft cabin window would be removed and banked off to accommodate the correct alignment of the straps.
The initial installations took place locally at the Groves and Gutteridge boatyard at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. We carried out the first Barnet installation there which was followed by a capsize trial. The boat was to be rolled over using the old, hammerhead crane that was such an important part of the J Samuel White's shipyards in the war. It still stands there today and is a listed monument, although in poor condition.
The trial was to be filmed by the BBC technology programme 'Tomorrow's World' and the presenter, Michael Rodd and the TV team arrived. The purpose of the test was not only to check the self-righting system but also the additional systems installed to blank off engine intakes and exhausts to preserve the engines and prevented internal flooding that would make self -righting more difficult. Ropes were wrapped around the boat and the crane attached. As the crane lifted, the Barnet majestically rolled over. The system triggered and she rolled back upright. When we reboarded her to set up another test, we found the main air bottle valve to be completely surrounded by ice, a huge block over a foot cubed. This made the combined weight of the ice and air bottle too much for us to lift to exchange for a charged bottle so the next test, and the TV team had to wait while we tried in vain to thaw the ice. It still amazes me to think of the temperature involved to freeze seawater instantly to such a block. Some while later we carried out a similar test on a Watson boat at Devonport dockyard in Plymouth.
To be honest I can't fully remember all the boats that capsized and used the system in the rough seas. There was the Salcombe boat, Barra and I think the Islay boat. The Penlee boat was fitted but in 1981 it failed to save the crew and survivors. One issue coxswains had was that the bag would act as a sail when deploy and maybe even cause another capsize. The feeling among those I spoke to was that they would cut the bag free but that it would be a decision that only the Cox could make at the time, all things considered.
That's it really. It has been interesting going back over what was a formative point in my career, fondly and proudly remembered. I am also pleased that this project is now on the web for others to read about in the future. I hope too that you have enjoyed reading it.
As an apprentice in the early 70s, I worked on a project to retrofit the RNLI's Watson and Barnet lifeboats to be self-righting. l have searched the web and can find only brief references to this work which I have always been proud to be involved in and that eventually went on to save lives. As I am one of the few people from the small team who were involved in the project to still be around I thought I would record this account for posterity.
The Company won the contract after the Longhope and Frazerburgh disasters in 1969 and 1970 when 13 brave men were lost. It designed a single use system and used its tank testing capability, and hovercraft skirt technology to produce an inflation bag system to roll the boat upright in the event of a capsize. These were the early days of such technology but since then, the company has become heavily involved with helicopter floatation systems, and similar systems can be found on inshore lifeboat today. It was interesting work and as an 18 year old engineering apprentice I had the opportunity to travel to many lifeboat stations and boatyards around the country, from Plymouth to Lerwick in Shetland (before North Sea oil) with a skilled fitter to install the kit.
I met some amazing people and, in some of the small, obscure Scottish stations, I really did meet crew members who were the local butcher and baker. I still have the greatest respect and admiration for these people who selfless lay down their lives to help others on a regular basis. These meeting inevitably ended as a late night in the local bar with many tales of rescues. It was work experience for a youngster in the truest sense!
My first involvement in the project was in assisting in the assembly of the component parts that were all manufactured in-house. This was my first experience with pneumatics and included pressure testing and proof loading the system parts. In the end I could assemble a whole system and install it on a boat.
The system was relatively simple and included a huge rubber inflation bag mounted on the aft cabin roof and a large 2500 psi compressed air bottle fitted with a bespoke valve. This valve was capable of venting the entire contents of the bottle into the inflation bag in a few seconds. Finally there was a control box containing a bleed valve operated by a weight on a lever arm. The weight was held in place by a 'V' shaped pendulum pivoted at the point of the 'V'. This straddled the lever arm and prevented the main weight lifting and operating due to heaving and pitching in heavy seas, but if the boat capsized and turned upside down, the 'V' pendulum would rotate and release the main weight that would drop under gravity and operate the system
Although large, the inflation bag was folded and stowed under a flexible cover that snapped into longitudinal channels on the aft cabin roof. This was easily jettisoned by the bag as it inflated. When looking at a photo of a Watson or Barnet boat it is easy to see if the kit is fitted as the stowed bag can be seen, along with three retaining straps fitted in wide retaining channels on the side of the aft cabin. Sometimes an aft cabin window would be removed and banked off to accommodate the correct alignment of the straps.
The initial installations took place locally at the Groves and Gutteridge boatyard at Cowes on the Isle of Wight. We carried out the first Barnet installation there which was followed by a capsize trial. The boat was to be rolled over using the old, hammerhead crane that was such an important part of the J Samuel White's shipyards in the war. It still stands there today and is a listed monument, although in poor condition.
The trial was to be filmed by the BBC technology programme 'Tomorrow's World' and the presenter, Michael Rodd and the TV team arrived. The purpose of the test was not only to check the self-righting system but also the additional systems installed to blank off engine intakes and exhausts to preserve the engines and prevented internal flooding that would make self -righting more difficult. Ropes were wrapped around the boat and the crane attached. As the crane lifted, the Barnet majestically rolled over. The system triggered and she rolled back upright. When we reboarded her to set up another test, we found the main air bottle valve to be completely surrounded by ice, a huge block over a foot cubed. This made the combined weight of the ice and air bottle too much for us to lift to exchange for a charged bottle so the next test, and the TV team had to wait while we tried in vain to thaw the ice. It still amazes me to think of the temperature involved to freeze seawater instantly to such a block. Some while later we carried out a similar test on a Watson boat at Devonport dockyard in Plymouth.
To be honest I can't fully remember all the boats that capsized and used the system in the rough seas. There was the Salcombe boat, Barra and I think the Islay boat. The Penlee boat was fitted but in 1981 it failed to save the crew and survivors. One issue coxswains had was that the bag would act as a sail when deploy and maybe even cause another capsize. The feeling among those I spoke to was that they would cut the bag free but that it would be a decision that only the Cox could make at the time, all things considered.
That's it really. It has been interesting going back over what was a formative point in my career, fondly and proudly remembered. I am also pleased that this project is now on the web for others to read about in the future. I hope too that you have enjoyed reading it.