Lifeboat Rescued
Classic Boat|April 2017

After saving lives on the East Coast and at Dunkirk, the RNLI lifeboat Lucy Lavers needed some help herself. Two brothers stepped in…

Nigel Sharp
Lifeboat Rescued

At the end of May 1940 the RNLI Liverpool class lifeboat Lucy Lavers set off from Aldeburgh to take part in her very first rescue mission, having been delivered from her builders – Groves and Gutteridge in Cowes – earlier that month. It was to be a rescue mission like no other, and one that would become one of the most famous events in recent history: Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of 338,226 Allied soldiers from Dunkirk. Lucy Lavers was one of 19 RNLI lifeboats which took part, along with 700 or so other non-military vessels – or Dunkirk Little Ships as they would come to be known.

With a Royal Navy crew on board she was towed across the Channel from Ramsgate – many of the smaller vessels were towed over to save fuel – by the Yarmouth drifter Golden Sunbeam. With her shallow draft and stern gear protected in a tunnel, Lucy Lavers would have been suitable for picking up troops from the gently-shelving beaches to the east of Dunkirk, from which about a third of those rescued were collected, so it is surprising to learn that she operated from the East Mole, almost the only usable part of Dunkirk harbour, which had suffered considerable damage by advancing German forces. From there she embarked troops and transferred them to off-lying larger vessels: no one knows how many trips she made or how many men she rescued, although it is said that most of them were French. When her work there was done, she was towed back across the Channel, laden with more troops.

Denne historien er fra April 2017-utgaven av Classic Boat.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra April 2017-utgaven av Classic Boat.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA CLASSIC BOATSe alt
Classic Boat

The Need For Speed

Saving lives at sea has always been bound to the speed of rescue, from the first rowing boats to the 60-knot, all-weather motorboats of today

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2021
ROW YOUR BOAT
Classic Boat

ROW YOUR BOAT

There has been a steady rise in recreational rowing over the past few years, and the choice can be bewildering. What’s the right boat for you?

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2021
Traditional Tool
Classic Boat

Traditional Tool

JOINER’S NAME STAMP

time-read
2 mins  |
March 2021
Classic misuse of a word
Classic Boat

Classic misuse of a word

Real classic ownership involves rot, rust and reward

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2021
Classic Boat

SCUD MISSILE

Herreshoff’s newly-restored Bar Harbor 31 Scud lit up the classic racing scene in the Med in 2020 with a double win at Cannes and Saint-Tropez

time-read
10 mins  |
March 2021
BOSUN'S BAG
Classic Boat

BOSUN'S BAG

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE TRADITIONAL BOATER

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2021
DOUG LEEN - Tugboat man
Classic Boat

DOUG LEEN - Tugboat man

Vietnam vet, park ranger, dentist, small-craft conservator and tugboat skipper.... meet Ranger Doug!

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2021
CHANCE TO SAVE AN Albert Strange yawl
Classic Boat

CHANCE TO SAVE AN Albert Strange yawl

Chances at Albert Strange ownership don’t come up often, and Sheila II is the quintessential Strange – and one with a great history, too

time-read
4 mins  |
March 2021
AFFORDABLE CLASSIC Salcombe Yawls
Classic Boat

AFFORDABLE CLASSIC Salcombe Yawls

A friend and I once decided that walking might make a change from sailing. So we set forth to walk from Branscombe to Bigbury, a 100-mile stretch of the south-west coastal path marked by knackering climbs and knee-wrenching descents.

time-read
3 mins  |
March 2021
Cardiff, Wales - Save The Elena Maria Barbara!
Classic Boat

Cardiff, Wales - Save The Elena Maria Barbara!

A rare, 18th-century schooner replica, restored to the tune of around £1 million, could be abandoned if a buyer is not found soon.

time-read
2 mins  |
February 2021