RNLB Freddie Cooper (ON 1193)
.JPG)
RNLB Freddie Cooper (ON 1193)
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Owner: | Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) |
| Builder: | Groves & Gutteridge, Cowes, Isle of Wight |
| Official Number: | ON 1193 |
| Donor: | |
| Station | Aldeburgh |
| Acquired: | 1993 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Mersey |
| Displacement: | 14.3 tonnes |
| Length: | 38 ft 1 in (11.61 m) overall |
| Beam: | 13 ft 1 in (3.99 m) |
| Draught: | 2 ft 3.5 in (0.699 m) |
| Depth: | 3 ft 11 in (1.19 m) |
| Installed power: | 2 x Caterpillar 3208T marine diesel; 280hp each at 2,800rpm |
| Speed: | 17 kn (31 km/h) |
| Range: | 240 nmi (440 km) |
| Complement: | 43 people (Max) |
| Crew: | six |
RNLB Freddie Cooper (ON 1193) is the current all-weather lifeboat on station in the town of Aldeburgh in the English county of Suffolk. The Freddie Cooper has the operation No: 12-34 and has been on station since 1993. She is a Mersey-class fast carriage lifeboat.
The Freddie Cooper was laid down in 1992 by Green Marine of Southampton, Hampshire. She was delivered to the station in 1993. Her hull has been constructed using a fibre-reinforced composite making her robust, strong and very light. The lifeboat is designed to self-right if capsized but only if her passenger capacity has reached 21 people. If the lifeboat’s survivor compartment is fully ladened with 43 people then the lifeboat is non self-righting. Due to the nature and terrain at the Aldeburgh station, the lifeboat is launched and retrieved using a supplied carriage which gives her quick and safe access across Aldeburgh’s shingle beach. The lifeboat is powered by two Caterpillar marine diesel 3208T engines. Each engine produces 285 horsepower which will push the lifeboat through the water at a top speed of 17 kn (31 km/h). Her fuel tanks hold 1,110 of diesel which give a range of 240 nmi (440 km). The lifeboats propellers are installed in tunnels which protect them when launching or in the shallow waters as is the situation at Aldeburgh.
On 29 August 1996, during storm force winds the Freddie Cooper was launched, along with the Lowestoft Lifeboat RNLB Spirit of Lowestoft (ON 1132) to go to the assistance of the yacht Red House Lugger which had sent out a Mayday and was approximately 30 miles (48 km) south east of Lowestoft. The yacht was on passage from the Netherlands with her skipper, a schoolmaster, and four teenage school children as passengers. Both lifeboats reached the stricken yacht at 10:15 am and found that the P&O cargo ferry MV Norking was standing by and was providing some shelter for the yacht.
Freddie Cooper coxswain Ian Firman managed to get alongside and pulled three of people of the yacht. The second coxswain of the Spirit of Lowestoft, Shane Coleman was then put aboard the yacht and helped the remaining people on to the Lowestoft boat. The yacht was then towed to Harwich to complete what had been a long and arduous shout. By the time the Freddie Cooper returned to her station she had been out at sea for 12 hours. The Lowestoft lifeboat finally got back to its berth at 11:30pm. On the 27 November 1996, coxswain of the Freddie Cooper, Ian Firman, and the coxswain of the Spirit of Lowestoft, John Cathpole both received RNLI bronze medals for their part in this rescue. Second coxswain Shane Coleman was awarded "the Thanks of the Institution on Vellum".
...
Wikipedia