The 44' MLB was designed by the U.S. Coast Guard, with work starting on the prototype (USCG 44300) in April 1961, which was completed on the 9 March 1962. A total of 110, 44' MLB's were built for the U.S. Coast Guard, with the last boat (USCG 44409) being completed in 1972.
There was a great interest shown in the 44' MLB at the Ninth International Lifeboat Conference in Scotland in 1963, which eventually resulted in several countries adopting the design with some modifications for their own life saving organisations.
As a measure of the success of the design of this boat, over half of the decommissioned US Coast Guard 44 MLB's were transferred to foreign maritime services, under the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program. More than half of the RNLI's Waveney's started a new era of lifesaving in Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and Canada but in later years these were sold on to private and commercial owners.Below is a photo taken at Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles in 2018 of the last built 44's in the U.S.A. and Britain. They are the 44409 (left) then owned by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. and the 44-022 (right) in private ownership and used for coastal cruising.
If you have not been lucky enough to have experienced this boat or doubt the qualities of it, why not have a look at my guestbook and see what some of the crewmembers have to say.
It is my aim to accumulate as much information as possible, for inclusion on this site. I am particularly interested in finding out where each boat was stationed and during which years and where they are now. If you can help with this or with any of the missing photos, please drop me a line. (e-mail)
Photos by (top) Capt. U.S. Coast Guard (second from top) John Mercer (second from bottom) Capt. Tony Toxopeus (bottom) Kris Carpenter.
Throughout the U.S. Coast Guard, Master Chief Thomas McAdams (Ret.) is probably one of the most renowned lifeboat men in modern times and his list of achievements are second to none. He has taken lifeboats to and way beyond there limits, so I thought who better to ask for an insight into the 44’s!!!
For an insight into the design and development of the 44, I am grateful that my friend Capt. Robert W. Witter USCG (Ret.) also agreed to write a few words for us.
