Ex LifeBoats
Service name Ernest William
Official number 1017
The 40ft Keith Nelson Ernest William & Elizabeth Ellen Hinde (ex-ON-1017), a one-off lifeboat which served at Sheerness and Calshot during her RNLI career, was renamed Parhelia under private ownership and was based at Carrickfergus in Ireland for many years. However, in late 2024 she was sold to new owners and transported to a boatyard at Castleford, West Yorkshire.
Lifeboat name Tillie Morrison, Sheffield
Official numbner 851
The 35ft 6in motor self-righter Tillie Morrison, Sheffield (ex ON-851) is now derelict at Bodafon Farm, Llandudno, close to the lifeboat station. She served at Bridlington from 1947 until she capsized on service on 19 August 1952 and was removed for repairs. She later served at Llandudno until 1959. She was sold out of service in November 1959 and became the yacht Imshi.
Lifeboat name George and Ivy Swanson
Official number 1211
The former Sheerness 14m Trent George and Ivy Swanson (ex-ON-1211) was sold out of service in late 2024 and renamed Steadfast. She was passaged to Fleetwood in January 2025 for further work, and following this she headed north under private ownership to Lochboisdale, South Uist on the west coast of Scotland, but it is not clear how long she will be based there, as the owner has plans for her to travel further afield.
Lifeboat name Rotary Service
Official Number 1031
Only two Thames class lifeboats were built, and now one of them has been broken up. Rotary Service (ex-ON-1031), the first of the two, which served at Falmouth and Dover, was broken up in February 2025 at Lowestoft after efforts to save the boat failed.
She has been at Lowestoft for ten years, and much work has been done to refit her for a new career as part of a youth training trust. However, financing the rebuild has proved problematic, and the site where she has been since returning to the Suffolk town is being redeveloped.
She had to be moved, but with no new buyer coming forward, despite efforts to sell her by her owner, her dismantling in situ went ahead.
Lifeboat name Sarah Ann Austin
Official Number 800
The former Blackpool 35ft 6in Liverpool Sarah Ann Austin, built in 1937, is thriving and well looked after in her role as a charter trip boat at Woodbridge. Sold out of service in 1965, she was used as a fishing boat at Lowestoft, renamed S.A.A. and then Fly By Night, and has been in East Anglia ever since. She has also been based at Gorleston at St Olaves, and has been at Woodbridge since about 2020. For her current role she has been fitted with an electric motor, making her trips carbon neutral, and has seats in front of the wheelhouse, which was fitted in about 2012. She is available for charter for trips up the River Deben, with two crew, and seating for passengers, as well as a canopy.
