Name Colby Cubbins No 2

ON930 is an ex RNLI lifeboat, in service Port St Mary's 1956 to 1976, and in the relief RNLI 1977.  During the post-war era the RNLI embarked upon a major programme of lifeboat

construction, with many twin-engined diesel-powered craft being completed. ON930 was one of four such lifeboats which were part of this building programme. She was designed by GL Watson and Co. and constructed by one of the RNLI’s favoured boatyards of the post-war era, the renowned J. Samuel White, Cowes.  She was one of the last 46ft 9in Watsons to be completed out of a total of twenty-eight such boats.

ON930 was built at a cost of £32,829, and was one of four lifeboats funded by Isle of Man resident Robert Alfred ‘Colby’ Cubbin, after whom these lifeboats were named.  ON930 completed sea trials off the Isle of Wight in 1956 and was named by HRH the Duchess of Kent on the 25th July 1956 at Port St Mary's, Isle of Man.  She was originally constructed with an open cockpit but this was replaced by an enclosed cockpit in 1962.  During her service the RNLI also changed the colours of their lifeboats, most notably switching from a grey to the distinctive RNLI orange superstructure.

ON930’s service record  (see below) includes 35 rescues including the rescue of 64 individuals.  These include the famous rescue of lighthouse keepers on Chicken Rock.   ON930 is one of the few surviving Watson lifeboats that was not re-engined, and still has the original twin 40bhp Ferry VE4 engines.  She was sold out of the RNLI into private ownership in 1977 and was based on the river Ribble and then Bangor with one owner until 2022.  She was sold on to a second owner in 2022, and is undergoing conservation and restoration.  She remains largely unaltered from her RNLI condition.

Update, August 2024: Believed under new ownership.