SIR WILLIAM ARNOLD lifeboat 1973

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Built by VT Halmatic for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and fitted out by the yard of William Osborne.
She was one of the Arun class lifeboats the second largest lifeboat for the RNLI.
Tonnage 28.65 ton, dim. 15.8 x 5.2 x 1.5m. (draught).
Powered by two Caterpillar 3408 TA diesel engines, 485 hp., speed 18 knots.
Range 102 mile at full speed.
Fibreglass hull with aluminium superstructure.
Crew 6.


She was based in St. Peter Port where she arrived in 1973 No 52-02.
23 May 1974 named SIR WILLIAM ARNOLD by HRH Duchess of Kent, named after a deceased Bailiff of Guernsey Sir William Arnold.

When she retired in 1997 she had completed over 600 missions, and many of her crew were decorated for gallantry.
1997 Sold to Theocrat and renamed OUR LADY.
2005 Sold to John O’Regan, East Ferry, Cobh, Cork Harbour, renamed SAMUEL J.
Used as a motor yacht along the coast of Ireland and the U.K.

Restoration
Colin Trowles acquired the SIR WILLIAM ARNOLD in 2019 from  volunteer lifeboat station (not Blyth Lifeboat Station), where she had been since 2014.After restoration, at  Maldon in Essex she was moved to ST KATHARINE DOCKS in London as an educational museum.

2024 She is still there.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arun_class_lifeboat and various other web-sites
Guernsey 1999 26p sg 828, Scott? 2024 88p sg?, Scott?