Name William & Kate Johnston

WILLIAM & KATE JOHNSTON was launched in the summer of 1923 and was designed as a prototype lifeboat by James R. Barnett, the consulting naval architect to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. At the time of her launch, she was believed to be the largest lifeboat in the world.  She wasn’t self righting, but was designed to sail submerged in an attempt to get home at all costs. The hull was constructed of timber and was divided into fifteen watertight compartments and the lifeboat was also the first motor lifeboat to be built with flush decks, similar to earlier steam driven lifeboat. She went on station at New Brighton, covering the entrance of the Mersey and replacing the steam lifeboat QUEEN. Her inaugural ceremony took place on 24 September 1924 at the Prince's Landing Stage, Liverpool, where she was named by Mrs. Stewart Johnston. The cost of building her, a sum of £16,084, had been provided out of gifts from Mr. Stewart and his sister Mrs. W. Kendall. Their gifts were supplemented with money raised by the Liverpool Motor Lifeboat Fund. On 24 November 1928, she went to the aid of the French steamer EMILE DELMAS.

She rescued the crew, receiving some damage in the process and set a course home to New Brighton. During the return journey, the lifeboat's bowman and the chief engineer were washed overboard and the engine room was flooded. Although the bowman was picked up, the chief engineer was lost. When she returned to her station, coxswain George Robinson was awarded the silver medal for his efforts and bronze medals went to each crew member. The vessel also received a special award from the Government of France. Another outstanding rescue took place on 23 November 1938. WILLIAM & KATE JOHNSTON went to the aid of two casualties, saving three lives from the first vessel and four from the second. She sustained considerable damage, including three holes to her hull. Although this turned out to be quite serious, it did little to impair her seaworthiness. The silver medal went to coxswain William Jones for skill and courage, and bronze medals were awarded to three other members of the crew. In 1950, WILLIAM & KATE JOHNSTON was sold out of service having saved more than two hundred lives.

She was stripped of her engines, batteries and specialist equipment. Her new owner, James Turner, re-named her JYMPHANY and then fitted her with two Gleniffer paraffin motors. He sailed the boat from the Mersey, to the Caledonian coast and the Thames. The boat was then sold to Mr. L. Law in 1953. He took her to Salcombe where she was converted at Winters Yard, ready for use in 1954. Mr. Law and his family cruised in her to Brittany and ports in the West Country. In 1987, she was sold once again and moved to Hartlepool and later sold again and moored between Ramsgate and Dover. between 2012-2021.

At some point she was fitted with Ford Propulsion twin mk5, 2,5L, engine.  In November 2021, her owner purchased the vessel after it had been moored in Dover and began restoring her.  In October 2022, the owner sailed the vessel from Dover to Brighton, with the intention of undertaking a further voyage to South Africa to undertake restoration work. 

After being advertised for sale on Ebay when she was at serious risk of being scrapped, NHS-UK intervened and reached out to our contacts and the press to help find a new owner and save the vessel. A new organisation, the William and Kate Johnston Preservation Society, was set up on Merseyside to return the vessel there and restore her as a working vessel.  They took ownership of the vessel in August 2023, however she remained moored at Boathouse 4 in Portsmouth until funding could be raised for her move to her new permanent home.  

In April 2024, WILLIAM AND KATE JOHNSTON arrived back home on The Wirral and restoration began.