Atlantic 21-class lifeboat
Falmouth Round Table (B-595) during Falmouth Lifeboat Day, August 2006. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | B class (Atlantic 21) |
| Builders | Inshore Lifeboat Centre, Cowes |
| Operators | Royal National Lifeboat Institution |
| Preceded by | C class |
| Succeeded by | B class (Atlantic 75) |
| Built | 1969–1994 |
| In service | 1972–2007 |
| Completed | 96 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 95 |
| Preserved | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Lifeboat |
| Displacement | 1.4 tonnes |
| Length | 7.21 m (23 ft 8 in) |
| Beam | 2.49 m (8 ft 2 in) |
| Draught | 0.81 m (2 ft 8 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 × 70 hp (52 kW) 2-stroke outboard engines |
| Speed | 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph) |
| Endurance | 3 hours |
| Capacity | 22 |
| Complement | 3 |
The Atlantic 21 Inshore lifeboat was the first generation rigid inflatable boat (RIB), in the B-class series of Inshore lifeboats, that were operated around the shores of the British Isles and the Channel Islands by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), between 1972 and 2008.
The Inshore boat was designed at Atlantic College in South Wales, the birthplace of the RIB, after which the craft is named. The college was also one of nine locations where the RNLI first established lifeboat stations using smaller inshore watercraft. Atlantic College Lifeboat Station was operated by the RNLI between 1963 and 2013.
The development of the Atlantic 21 resulted in the larger Atlantic 75-class, with production beginning in 1993. The Atlantic 75 gradually replaced the Atlantic 21, with the majority of the ninety-six Atlantic 21 lifeboats retired from service by 2006. Just a handful remained on service into 2007 and 2008, with the last two Atlantic 21 lifeboats, at Enniskillen Lifeboat Station (Upper and Lower), both withdrawn from operational duties on 26 February 2008.