American Coastal Rescue Craft: A Design History of Coastal Rescue Craft Used by the USLSS and Uscg

Series Foreward

Water is unquestionably the most important natural feature on earth. By volume the world’s oceans compose 99 percent of the planet’s living space; in fact, the surface of the Pacific Ocean alone is larger than that of the total land bodies. Water is as vital to life as air. Indeed, to test whether the moon or other planets can sustain life, NASA looks for signs of water. The story of human development is inextricably linked to the oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers that dominate the earth’s surface. The University Press of Florida’s series New Perspectives on Maritime History and Nautical Archaeology is devoted to exploring the signi ficance of the earth’s water while providing lively and important books that cover the spectrum of maritime history and nautical archaeology broadly defined. The series includes works that focus on the role of canals, rivers, lakes, and oceans in history; on the economic, military, and political use of those waters; and upon the people, communities, and industries that support maritime endeavors . Limited by neither geography nor time, volumes in the series contribute to the overall understanding of maritime history and can be read with profit by both general readers and specialists. Aslongashumanshavegonetosea,therehasremained a possibility that their craft would encounter danger and suffer damage, possibly sinking and even taking down the crew. From the beginning, individual fishermen and shore boatmen braved treacherous and unpredictable seas in small, ill-equipped craft to render aid to distressed fellow sailors. By the early eighteenth century, Chinese benefactors had placed a number of “lifeboats” along the shores of the Yangtze River to aid those in trouble on that waterway. Similar efforts began in Britain and Holland during the late eighteenth century and in the United States by the early nineteenth century. American lifeboat stations—initially created by nongovernmental organizations and later institutionalized by the U.S. federal government—began developing highly specialized equipment such as coastal surfboats and lifeboats to bring victims of shipwrecks safely ashore. William D. Wilkinson and Timothy R. Dring vividly describe the development of inshore coastal rescue craft having the necessary balance of seaworthiness, handling ease, speed, weight, strength, and capacity to get the job done. This development has produced a very particular type of boat that incorporates a sophisticated design and the latest advances in naval architecture and marine engineering . From surfboats—small, open craft generally launched seaward by crews from a beach through heavy surf—to coastal lifeboats—larger craft with greater draft, generally launched via marine railway or slipway—these small boats have been more thoughtfully and meticulously designed than any others to carry out their specific mission successfully. Inshore coastal rescue craft forge ahead into seas from which other vessels try to escape. They work under the harshest, most trying conditions in attempts to return to shore safely with their full crew and all of the rescued. Their design characteristics—including hull form, structural strength, stability, buoyancy, self-righting ability, self-bailing ability, weight, and draft—serve these ends. In their comprehensive volume, Wilkinson and Dring trace the evolution and development of these characteristics over the course of two centuries of rescues. While some, such as self-righting and self-bailing abilities, have been known and accepted since the mid-nineteenth century , others have emerged only as technology advanced during the twentieth century. The internal combustion engine represents the most significant technological leap during this evolution. Although it was introduced to rescue craft at the beginning of the twentieth century, almost sixty years passed before hull design was adapted to take full advantage of this form of mechanical power. Within the last generation, more ef- ficient and higher horsepower engines have enabled crews to locate distant lifesaving stations without losing response time. Fiberglass, aluminum, steel, and glass- and fiber-reinforced composite materials have made possible more efficient hull forms, greater strength and power, and longer cruising ranges. More sophisticated navigational and communication equipment, including global satellite positioning, have permitted lifeboats to pinpoint the location of vessels in distress. All of these advances have combined to minimize the risk involved in rescuing those in danger. During the 1950s some observers predicted that SERIES FOREWORD ...