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The hull design and buoyancy of the
superstructure in the Waveney gives it, it’s
self-righting ability.
The RNLI made a number of small
changes to the original design (the Waveney is made to a
U.S. Coast Guards design) to improve its self-righting
capability such as raised fore and aft cabin
tops.
The crew of the Hartlepool
Lifeboat, (The Scout, 44-018) must have been very thankful
when their Waveney successfully self-righted itself after
twice capsizing while on service to the tanker Freja Svea on
the 28th February 1993.
Crew member, Robert Maiden, was
washed overboard during the first capsize and spent 35
minutes in the water before being picked up safely by a RAF
helicopter. Otherwise the crew only suffered some minor
injuries.
The lifeboat did sustain some
damage mainly to its communications, though it was
structurally intact and seaworthy.
These animations may take a
while to download, depending on the type of Internet
connection you have.
The
animation below shows my model of 44-016 self-righting,
which proves that the same principle of using inherent
buoyancy, even works when applied to a model.
Animated gif file size: 243 KB (10
frames)
This
video shows a 72 cm model of a 44 ft U.S. Coast Guard Motor
Lifeboat capsizing in heavy surf and then carrying on with
its service after self-righting.
Video file size: 782 KB (65
frames)
My thanks go to Lutz Zetzsche
for allowing me to use this spectacular video of his
model.
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