The Hastings Lifeboat

Durbar Hall

A talk by Ken Brooks about the history of

In this presentation we will see how our local lifeboat has evolved from a simple rowing boat to a sophisticated and efficient life saving vehicle. The first lifeboat in 1858 was followed by similar boats with gradually improving safety equipment. By the 1960s the Hastings lifeboat had diesel engines, radar and an echo-sounder, and today the most recent is powered by water jets. Certainly one of their greatest rescues was the saving of troops at Dunkirk in 1940 by the Cyril and Lilian Bishop lifeboat.