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	RNLB City of Bristol (ON 1030); now Gemini Explorer
Class overview
Builders	Yarrow Shipbuilders (70-001 & 70-002); Bideford (70-003);
Operators	Royal National Lifeboat Institution; Iceland SAR;
Cost	£64,000–£65,000 (first two); £196,000 (third);
Built	1965–66, 1974
In service	1968–2002
Completed	3
Retired	3
General characteristics
Type	Motor lifeboat
Displacement	78–85 tons
Length	70–71 ft (21–22 m)
Beam	17–18 ft (5.2–5.5 m)
Draft	9 ft (2.7 m)
Installed power	Twin Gardner 8L3B 230 bhp (170 kW) diesel engines
Propulsion	Twin screw
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Range	1,700 nmi (3,100 km)

The Clyde-class lifeboat was operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from two of its stations in the United Kingdom, Kirkwall and Clovelly. Only three vessels were built for the RNLI, however a fourth vessel was built in the Netherlands to the same lines as 70-001 and 70-003 as a pilot boat for Trinity House.

History

Following a visit in the early sixties to lifeboat societies in the Netherlands and West Germany, which successfully employed cruising lifeboats, the RNLI's Management Committee decided to sanction the construction of two such boats for RNLI service. The first two boats went on trials in 1966 and in 1968 went on station at Clovelly and Kirkwall. The third boat was built as a relief but took over as station boat at Clovelly, with the first boat becoming the relief. It eventually became apparent that cruising type boats were not really suited to the RNLI's operations and the boats were used at their respective bases as normal lifeboats until withdrawal in 1988.

Description

The Clyde-class cruising lifeboat was the largest ever built for the RNLI and the first to have a steel hull. The first and second boats differed in hull design, ON 987 having a hull designed by the RNLI's Richard Oakley, 71 feet (22 m) long and with a beam of 18 feet (5.5 m), while the second boat, ON 988, had a hull designed by Irish naval architect John Tyrrell and was 70 feet (21 m) long and with a beam of 17 feet (5.2 m). Both boats had similar superstructure layouts, with a flying bridge. As crews were intended to live on board, berths and messing facilities were provided.

An inflatable inshore boat was carried forward of the wheelhouse. The boats were powered by two 230 brake horsepower (170 kW) Gardner 8L3B 8-cylinder diesel engines driving twin screws. Eight years after the first boat had been built, it was decided to build a third Clyde as a relief boat for the first two. This was based on the Oakley hull design, but featured a completely redesigned superstructure resembling an overgrown Arun.

RNLI fleet

ON^[a]	Op. No.^[b]	Name	Built	In service^[1]	Principal station	Comments^[1]
987	70-001	Charles H Barrett (Civil Service No.35)	1965	1966–1968 1968–1975 1975–1988	Trials Clovelly Relief fleet	Sold 1988. Renamed Dolphin. June 2023, tripboat at Maassluis, NL. MMSI 244070415
988	70-002	Grace Paterson Ritchie	1965	1966–1967 1967–1968 1968–1974 1974–1975 1975–1988	Ullapool Relief fleet Kirkwall Relief fleet Kirkwall	Sold 1989 to Iceland SAR, named Henry A. Hálfdánsson. See below,
1030	70-003	City of Bristol	1974	1975–1988	Clovelly	Sold 1988. April 2022, Named Gemini Explorer, based Dunstaffnage Marina, Oban.^[2] MMSI 235084267

^ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
^ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

Other fleets

Iceland

RNLI ON	Name	In service	Station	Comments^[1]
988	Henry A. Hálfdansson	1989–2002	Reykjavík	Sold 2002. Renamed Grace Paterson Richie. December 2022, private ownership, Coleraine, N Ireland.^[3] MMSI 235014516

Trinity House fleet

Name	Built	In service	Service	Comments
Lodesman	1974	1974–1988	Heavy weather pilot vessel	MV Lodesman, with Roving Eye Enterprises, Orkney, MMSI 235076219^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.
^ "St Hilda Sea Adventures".
^ "Grace Paterson Ritchie". National Historic Ship Register.
^ "Roving Eye Enterprises".