Sea a superhero movie Triumphs and tragedies of RNLI hit the big screen
The vital role of Scotland’s lifeboats is being celebrated in a deeply poignant new film, writes
LAUNCHED from wooden huts, rolled down slipways and hitting the water with an urgent splash, RNLI lifeboats manned by selfless volunteers have helped pluck stricken mariners to safety in Scotland since 1858.
Often venturing into stormy seas, tossed around by gales and crashing waves, they have defied danger to carry out their selfless duties – sometimes with tragic consequences.
Now, the work and sacrifices of RNLI communities across Scotland is being celebrated in a new film which pieces together poignant archive footage and modern video of lifeboat men and women at work.
Set against haunting music, Launch! is a deeply moving account of the challenges confronted by lifeboat volunteers down the decades, as they put their own lives on hold to venture into troubled waters to help save others.
Alongside fascinating 1920s film footage of lifeboats sourced from the National Library of Scotland Moving Image Archive, the film uses 1960s colour promotional films and breathtaking digital video captured by RNLI crews’ 21st-century helmet cameras while out on the wild sea.
In contrast to old grainy images of men in flat caps and waterproofs filmed pushing lifeboats down slipways or defying mountainous waves, this is a series of pictures which shows the modern face of the RNLI.
Its women volunteers were captured using glass plate photography by Jack Lowe as part of The Lifeboat Station Project – an eight-year mission to photograph all RNLI lifeboat stations in the UK.
The film also reflects the changing role of the RNLI service, from days when Scotland’s lifeboat stations provided lifelines for bustling fishing communities to more modern demands of answering calls for help from leisure cruisers, jet skiers, and sightseers in distress.
Poignant events
PARTICULARLY poignant are flickering images of a lifeboat crew racing from their homes to respond to a callout at Longhope Station in Orkney. The promotional video from 1964, part of which features in the film, was a reconstruction of the tragic loss of a fishing trawler, Ben Barvas.
However, just five years later, seven of the eight crew members from the film would lose their lives in the Longhope disaster when their lifeboat capsized in a vicious storm.
The crew had answered a plea from the 2,600-ton Liberian-registered steamship, Irene. Horrific weather conditions had driven it towards the Caithness coast, its crew powerless to resist the power of the elements.
The volunteers of the lifeboat TGB had been together for years and were well trained in coping with gales and monstrous seas. But conditions were perilous even for them.
A coastguard saw the mast light on the lifeboat as it was swept towards Lother Rock, and the lightkeeper on Pentland Skerries rocks could only watch TGB’s stern light flickering half a mile away as
Pictured left, an official historical collage of former Scots RNLI employees for the new Launch! film the gales hit force 10 and the radio fell silent.
With SS Irene aground further up the South Ronaldsay coast, fears grew for the fate of the little lifeboat. With no radar on board, fellow volunteers from other lifeboats turned their attention to scouring the sea in the hope of spotting their colleagues. As day broke, lifeboats from Kirkwall, Stronsay, Thurso and Stromness were joined by RAF aircraft. Eventually, TGB’s upturned hull was found floating four miles south-east of Tor Ness, with no signs of life.
Along with deeply poignant funeral scenes of lost RNLI volunteers are other
Launch! is an atmospheric film that I hope cinemagoers will enjoy as it truly does take a community to launch a lifeboat
scenes which reflect the respect in which lifeboats were held in coastal communities.
The modern role of lifeboat crews is far broader than the challenges faced by Scotland’s first RNLI volunteers at Fraserburgh, which opened in 1858.
Its lifeboat, Havelock, arrived after trials in London in which she was deliberately flipped over by a crane, righted herself, and self-ejected the water she had taken on board in less than 20 seconds.
BY 1860, there would be RNLI stations established at Ayr, Buckie, Thurso, Banff, Lossiemouth, St Andrews and North Berwick.
There are now 46 RNLI stations in Scotland, with callouts in the last week to emergencies involving a 28ft cabin cruiser which got into difficulty off the coast of Arran, a person rescued from the water off Peterhead, a call for Kirkwall RNLI to assist in a medical emergency on board a local survey vessel, and Stromness volunteers called out to help a group of kayakers.
Launch! has been two years in the making and saw director Shona Thomson receive unprecedented access to the RNLI’s own archives.
She said: “It’s been quite a journey but I’m grateful everyone involved in Launch! has sustained that passion for sharing the incredible work of the RNLI with audiences who want to come back together and return to their local cinemas.
“I feel honoured that the RNLI generously opened up their archives to me.
“With a beautiful soundtrack that intertwines sensitively with the archive images, Launch! is an atmospheric film made for the big screen that I hope cinemagoers will enjoy as it truly does take a community to launch a lifeboat.”
Launch! will begin a big screen tour on Sunday, June 20, at Mareel in Lerwick before visiting cinemas and community halls in lifeboat communities across Scotland throughout the rest of the year. Cinemas, film clubs and community groups can arrange a screening of the film between now and December through the project website at: launchonthesea.com