Peake-class lifeboat

The Peake-class lifeboats were the most numerous lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the coasts of the United Kingdom including Ireland between the 1850s and the 1890s.

Lifeboats of various designs had been stationed at many towns in the United Kingdom by the middle of the 18th century. Some were self-righting and all were rowed or "pulled"; many were designed by local committees to their own preferred design. In 1850 a competition was held by the Duke of Northumberland to design a lifeboat that could also use sails so that its range could be extended, a "pulling and sailing" lifeboat. 280 entries were received and that by James Beeching considered the best. Several Beeching-class lifeboats were built but James Peake, a master shipwright at the Royal Woolwich Dockyard, was asked by the RNLI to develop the design further.^[1]

Peake produced a self-righting lifeboat similar to Beeching's design, some 30 ft (9.1 m) long and 7 ft 6 in (2.3 m) wide. It drew just 14 in (36 cm) of water and weighed only 4,256 lb (1,930 kg), lighter than Beeching's 3.5 t (3,500 kg) and therefore easier transport on its specially designed carriage to a launch site and get into the water.

A 784 lb (356 kg) iron keel enabled it to self-right if it capsized. The ballast beneath the floor was cork whereas Beeching had used water tanks. The boat was fitted with large air-tight cases in the bow, stern, and along the sides which were covered in cork to give better grip to people moving around in the boat. There were also one-way valves at the bottom of the boat to drain out water. Tests showed that the boat could self-right in about 3 seconds and a boat full of water could drain in about 30 seconds.^[1][2]

Los botes salvavidas diseñados por Peake fueron la opción preferida tanto para botes nuevos como para reemplazos en la mayoría de las estaciones, aunque se proporcionaron otros diseños para satisfacer las necesidades locales. El primero en construirse medía 9,1 m (30 pies ) de largo y estaba diseñado para 12 remos. ^{[ 3 ]} La mayoría de las estaciones contaban con botes diseñados generalmente para 6 o 10 personas remando.  

En el momento del informe anual de 1863, la RNLI contaba con 124 estaciones, de las cuales 99 operaban botes salvavidas según el diseño de Peake y 6 según el de Beeching . El resto eran botes no autoenderezables, incluyendo 7 de la clase Norfolk y Suffolk y 2 botes salvavidas tubulares Richardson . A partir de entonces, los informes dejaron de especificar la clase del bote salvavidas, aunque a veces se mencionaba cuando se proporcionaba un diseño no estándar. El diseño que había evolucionado se denominaba generalmente bote salvavidas "autoenderezable". El diseño continuó evolucionando y se probaron nuevas características. Algunos utilizaban lastre de agua como el de Beeching, pero con una construcción más ligera como la empleada por Peake. ^{[ 23 ] [ 26 ]}

George Lennox Watson fue nombrado asesor de arquitectura naval de la RNLI en 1887. En 1888 construyó un prototipo de lancha no autoenderezable de la clase Watson , pero las lanchas autoenderezables con muchas de las características diseñadas por Peake se siguieron construyendo hasta 1916. La mayoría medían 11 m (35 pies) o 11 m (37 pies) de largo. ^{[ 27 ]}