Registration number 461
Status National Historic Fleet
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Previous names

  • 1925 - 1953 Prudential

Details

Function Service Vessel
Subfunction Lifeboat
Location Ipswich
Vessel type Ramsgate Class Lifeboat
Current use Private use
Available to hire No
Available for excursions No
Info required Yes

Construction

Builder Saunders Roe, Cowes, Isle of Wight
Built in 1925
Hull material Wood
Number of decks 1
Number of masts 2
Propulsion Sail
Number of engines 1
Primary engine type Diesel
Boiler type None
Boilermaker None

Dimensions

Breadth: Beam
12.98 feet (3.96m)
Depth
3.61 feet (1.10m)
Length: Overall
48.56 feet (14.81m)

History

TRIMILIA, built in double diagonal teak by Saunders Roe in 1925 at Cowes, Isle of Wight, was a new design of lifeboat, designed specifically for use out of Ramsgate. Her class was known as Ramsgate Class, although only a couple are believed to have been built. She was originally named PRUDENTIAL, having been paid for by The Prudential Assurance Co. Ltd.  After a sea trial at East Cowes on 20th November 1925 she was sent to Ramsgate to be kept on a swinging mooring and on 24th April 1926, witnessed by thousands of spectators and with the harbour decorated with flags and bunting, the official naming honours were performed by Mrs Horne, the wife of the deputy Chairman of the Prudential Assurance Co.  She was in service at Ramsgate from 1925 to 1953 and saved 330 lives during this time.  

At the beginning of the war she saved 31 lives from the 5182 ton Antwerp steamship KABINDA’, broken in half on the Goodwins and 17 lives from the Sunderland steamship ASHLEY.  Just days after Dunkirk, she saved 68 people from two French motor boats and 31 from the London steamship HARCOLA. TRIMILIA took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk during the Second World War under the command of Coxswain Howard Knight with a crew of eight. They sailed at 2.30pm on the 30th May 1940, towing eight wherries filled with water and supplies for the troops at Dunkirk. Once the supplies had been unloaded, her job was to tow these boats, laden with eight troops each, between the beaches and the larger vessels offshore. Operating for the most part off La Panne and under constant fire, she helped bring off some 2,800 men in 30 hours.

TRIMILIA was used as the Flagship of the Commodore, Lifeboat Division, at the Spithead Naval Review in 1953, the year of her retirement.  Since leaving RNLI service, she has passed through the hands of five private owners.  In November 1953, she was sold out of service for £1000 to City of London Chief Architect F.H.W. Haywood at R.J. Prior & Son’s Boatyard in Burnham on Crouch. Conversion commenced at the boatyard and this included the raising of her gunwales by roughly  ten inches. 

In 1972, retired Group Captain Sidney Swain, purchased the vessel and although, in his ownership, little major work was carried out, a number of ex-MOD items of electrical and mechanical gear were added. In recognition of her saving of over 3000 lives, it was Sidney Swain who gave the boat her new name of ‘Trimilia’. In 1983,  financed by  Prudential Insurance, he was in the process of assigning her over to the new Ramsgate Museum, but his death put an end to the transfer.

In the Summer of 1983, TRIMILIA was offered for sale under the brokerage of Frank Knights Shipwrights and purchased by Richard Rothery, from Ipswich, who moved aboard with his Afghan dog. In 1996, following his death, TRIMILIA was purchased by Daniel Elves from Debach nr. Woodbridge, who, over a period of 9 years, began to restore her. He also took TRIMILIA back to Dunkirk in 2000 and 2005 as part of the Dunkirk anniversary celebrations.  Family commitments required Daniel, very reluctantly, to sell TRIMILIA in 2005.

In January 2011 she moved from Woodbridge to Ipswich and spent 5 years situated near the lock gates in use as a liveaboard vessel.  In 2015 she was transferred to the hammerhead opposite the Old Customs House at Ipswich Marina and, during this time, saw a change in hull colour, from her traditional blue to grey.

 

 

Significance

  1. What is the vessel’s ability to demonstrate history in her physical fabric?

Evidence for designs, functions, techniques, processes, styles, customs and habits or uses and associations in relation to events and people.  How early, intact or rare these features are may impact on significance.

Built in double diagonal teak by Saunders Roe in 1925 at Cowes, Isle of Wright, TRIMILIA was a new lifeboat design, constructed specifically for use out of Ramsgate. It is thought that only two others of this class were built, both of which were twin-engined.  Her hull was 48 foot 6 inches long, 13 foot wide, with a draft of 3 foot and an additional 5 foot 6 inch drop keel. A 76hp Weyburn DE 6 cylinder petrol engine was initially installed in the vessel generating a maximum speed of just over 8 knots.  Six oars were originally carried on the vessel, as well as a standing lug, mizzen and jib sails.  After being sold out of service, TRIMILIA was converted for use as a houseboat by F.H.W Haywood, at the time the City of London Chief Architect. The gunwales were raised 10 inches, a new deck and coach roof were added, both in teak, and the beginnings of a new wheelhouse. A new Russel Newbery engine and a self-changing gears gearbox were purchased and installed in 1962.  She was further adapted into a spacious and comfortable yacht, in which configuration she has spent the following 50 years.

  1. What are the vessel’s associational links for which there is no physical evidence?

Associations with people or places.  Off-ship research. 

TRIMILIA served as the Ramsgate lifeboat for twenty-eight years from 1925 to 1953 under her original name PRUDENTIAL and consequently has strong significance for the area. Built by Saunders Roe at Cowes on the Isle of Wight, she was paid for by the Prudential Insurance Co Ltd.   During her RNLI service, TRIMILIA saved 330 lives which included several rescues of international shipping, such as the French steam trawler JUBARTEand the Antwerp steamship KABINDA.  In 1940, TRIMILIA took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk, being the first RNLI vessel to respond from Ramsgate.  During the first night, TRIMILIA saved up to 800 servicemen.  By the third day, she had helped rescue 2800 lives, both British and French, and had worked at the Dunkirk beaches, under fire, for a continuous 30 hours. Her Coxswain Howard Knight and the crew received the Distinguished Service Medal for their role at Dunkirk. TRIMILIA was used as the Flagship of the Commodore, Lifeboat Division, at the Spithead Naval Review in 1953 and has since taken part in the 2000, 2005 and 2015 Dunkirk anniversary celebrations. Historic photographs survive depicting the vessel’s service life and crew.  She was recorded on the National Register of Historic Vessels in 1996 and given the status of inclusion in the National Historic Fleet.

  1. How does the vessel’s shape or form combine and contribute to her function?

Overall aesthetic impact of the vessel, her lines, material she was built from and her setting.  Does she remain in her working environment?

As a prototype of the Ramsgate class, TRIMILIA was designed specifically for work in and around the estuary.  Her large size and powerful engine contributed greatly to her success in rescue operations, particularly during the evacuation at Dunkirk where large amounts of evacuees were taken onboard the vessel.  Her engine was also constructed to function even if totally submerged during potential rough conditions of a rescue. The six oars carried onboard further aided in rescue operations.  She is now converted to a liveaboard vessel with spacious accommodation including saloon, galley, master and guest cabin, plus wheelhouse. She retains her distinctive lifeboat hull form, although the addition of a wheelhouse and coach roof has changed her upper appearance. TRIMILIA is maintained afloat as a houseboat, currently located in Ipswich, Suffolk.

Source: NHS-UK Team, February 2024

Key dates

  • 1925

    Built by Samuel E. Saunders at Cowes, Isle of Wight

  • 1926

    Named PRUDENTIAL at a ceremony in Ramsgate Harbour

  • 1926

    Assigned as the Ramsgate lifeboat

  • 1940

    Took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk

  • 1941

    Adopted by Miss Violet Bonnings of Walton School for Girls at Aylesbury

  • 1953

    Put into reserve and chosen as Flagship of the Commodore of Lifeboat Division at the Spithead Naval Review

  • 1953

    Sold out of service to Mr  F. H. W. Haywood and converted for use as a houseboat

  • 1972

    Named TRIMILIA

  • 1983

    Offered for sale at Woodbridge, Suffolk

  • 2000/2005

    Returned to Dunkirk for the Anniversary Celebrations

  • 2011

    Based at Ipswich Haven Marina

Grants

  • April-September 2010

    A Sustainability Award of £1250 for engine repair was made from the Strategic Development Fund of National Historic Ships

  • April 2008

    A Sustainability Grant of £750 for wheelhouse repair was made by the Strategic Development Fund of National Historic Ships

Sources

Brann, Christian, The Little Ships of Dunkirk: 1940-1990, Collectors Books Ltd, 1989
ADLS News: Fleet news, Spring 2015

Own this vessel?

If you are the owner of this vessel and would like to provide more details or updated information, please contact info@nationalhistoricships.org.uk