Keith Nelson-class lifeboat
RNLB Ernest William and Elizabeth Ellen Hinde (ON 1017), now Parhelia, at Carrickfergus, 2023. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | |
| Operators | Royal National Lifeboat Institution |
| Built | 1968 |
| In service | 1969–1985 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Length | 40 ft (12 m) |
| Beam | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion | 2 x 125-hp Thornycroft T400 6-cylinder four-stroke turbo-charged diesel |
| Speed | max: 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h) |
| Range | 440Nm at 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h) |
| Complement | 4 |
The Keith Nelson-class lifeboat was an experimental lifeboat, built for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and designed to test the capabilities of a Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) hull in the most severe weather conditions, in order to assess its possibilities for future use in life-boat construction, which might allow higher speeds, and reduce construction costs.