QUEENSCLIFFE on display inside the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum.

Images(8)

View of the rudder and stern of QUEENSCLIFFE.

An historic picture of the lifeboat QUEENSCLIFFE being launched, date unknown.

Queenscliffe

Vessel numberHV000029

Designer Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Previous owner Victorian Government Ports and Harbours Division.

Builder A McFarlane & Sons

Date1926

DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 13.72 m x 3.65 m x 1.1 m, 26.57 tonnes (45 ft x 12 ft x 3.6 ft, 27 tons)

DescriptionQUEENSCLIFFE was built in 1926 to a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) design called the Watson Class. The double-diagonal planked vessel was built by A McFarlane and Sons in Port Adelaide SA, commissioned on the 6th of March 1926, and then officially named and launched on the 9th of April 1926.

QUEENSCLIFFE was originally built with two masts, but the mizzen was removed in the 1960s. It had a retractable centreplate fitted and used when under sail. The original Wayburn petrol engine was replaced with a Gardner diesel. This gave QUEENSCLIFFE a top speed of 7.5 knots with a range of 350 miles. The equipment carried aboard included a VHF Radio Telephone, HF radio transceiver, visual signals, life rafts, hand rocket gun, flare gun, generator, search light and first aid supplies.

In the tradition of many shore based lifeboats, QUEENSCLIFFE had its own shed and slipway and was always ready for launching when required to go to sea in response to an emergency call. Its area of operation included 'the Rip' at Port Phillip Heads and the Bass Strait seas immediately offshore.
SignificanceQUEENSCLIFFE is a wooden lifeboat built in 1926 in South Australia. It has a long association with the Victorian port of Queenscliff. It was manned voluntarily by their local fishermen and is therefore closely attached to families of the Queenscliff community. It is a rare surviving example of the coastal shore-based lifeboats that were based around the Australian coastline.