Vandal attack on historic former Cornish lifeboat

AN old sailor has been left heartbroken after cruel yobs smashed up a famous old lifeboat which he has spent years restoring to its former glory.

Former lifeboatman Rod Shaw, 73, salvaged the 90-year-old exPenlee lifeboat, W&S – which saw service in West Cornwall – around five years ago, after it had fallen into disrepair.

The historic vessel had a key role during World War Two, rescuing cargo ships sunk by German submarines, and helped save hundreds of lives during its service.

The boat, built in 1930, still holds the record of being the longestserving lifeboat on a single lifeboat station, and is recorded on the National Register of Heritage Boats.

Rod, from Harwich in Essex, has been fondly restoring the vessel over the last few years, as a retirement project – putting in “hundreds and hundreds of hours” of work. But last week, Rod was devastated when he went to do some work on the 45ft-long vessel and found that it had been smashed up.

The heartless vandals had shattered every bit of glass they could find – including all of its windows, and even the original 1930s portholes that were set in the deck.

Rod said they had also thrown all of his tools overboard – with most of them now lost on the seabed. The vandalism took place on Tuesday evening last week at around 6.30pm – and Essex Police are currently examining CCTV footage and gathering witness statements.

Former RNLI captain Rod, who ran Harwich Lifeboat Station for 35 years, estimates the damage will cost over £5,000 to repair. He revealed: “It’s a project I have been working on for a long time – hundreds and hundreds of hours have been spent on bringing this boat back to life.

“I was just nearing the end of this five-year restoration. I was hoping that, by the spring, the boat would be up and running and I could enjoy my hard work – but now this has set me back about another 18 months.

Rod added that he had been trying to retain as many original features of the lifeboat as he could, but now he is not sure whether some of the damaged parts are even replaceable.

He added: “This is an ex-Penlee lifeboat – it’s quite a famous lifeboat. It’s done absolutely outstanding rescues in its time.

“All of the parts which have been restored so far are bespoke, which is why it will cost so much money to repair. The original 1930s portholes in the deck were really quite a feature, and now I don’t know if I will be able to replace them.

“The vandalism will cost over £5,000 to repair because of the damage to some of the original fixtures and fittings, which are not readily available.”

Built in 1930, the W&S lifeboat is made out of mahogany on oak frames, and was specially strengthened to launch down the slipway at Mousehole. It was stationed at Penlee for over 30 years, until 1961, and saved more than 100 lives in that time – with its coxswain and crew awarded bravery medals.

After its retirement, the W&S was replaced at Penlee by the Solomon Browne lifeboat – which became well known for the Penlee Lifeboat Disaster of December, 1981, in which the courageous eight-strong crew perished.

‘This is an ex-Penlee lifeboat – it’s quite famous and carried out outstanding rescues’

ROD SHAW