Atlantic 21 class lifeboat
Encyclopedia
B class Atlantic 21 class lifeboats serve the shores of the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as a part of the RNLI inshore fleet. The Atlantic 21 is the first generation Rigid Inflatable Boat (RIB), first developed at Atlantic College
Atlantic College
The United World College of the Atlantic, also known as Atlantic College, is an international IB Diploma Programme boarding school in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1962, the school was the first of the United World Colleges and was among the first schools in the world to follow an international...
, Wales. The rollbar assembly installed above the engines contains a self righting bag which is operated by a member of the crew activating a gas bottle. The boat may be launched from either a davit, trolley or floating boathouse.
Nearly all of the Atlantic 21s have been retired from service by 2006, one of the notable exceptions to this being the boat allocated to Walmer
Walmer
Walmer is a town in the district of Dover, Kent in England: located on the coast, the parish of Walmer is six miles north-east of Dover. Largely residential, its coastline and castle attract many visitors...
in Kent (B-589 James Burgess was retired to the relief fleet in December 2006, it was replaced by an Atlantic 85)
Equipment carried comprises; 2 × VHF radio
Marine VHF radio
Marine VHF radio is installed on all large ships and most seagoing small craft. It is used for a wide variety of purposes, including summoning rescue services and communicating with harbours, locks, bridges and marinas, and operates in the VHF frequency range, between 156 to 174 MHz...
s, First Aid Kit & oxygen, GPS
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System is a space-based global navigation satellite system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites...
navigation system, night vision equipment, self-righting system, anchor and various warps, toolkit, towing system, illuminating and distress pyrotechnics
Flare (pyrotechnic)
A flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
, spotlight, torches.