RNLB Thomas McCunn

Longhope Lifeboat Thomas McCunn c.1933

Longhope Lifeboat Station was established by the RNLI in 1874 with the construction of a lifeboat house at Brims. A new shed followed in 1906. The station covers the north side of the Pentland Firth, some of the most dangerous waters around Britain.

The Thomas McCunn, shown here, was built at Cowes following a bequest by William McCunn of Largs and was the fifth lifeboat to be stationed at Longhope. She was 45 feet 6 inches (13.7 metres) long and contained eight watertight compartments. Her twin engines were capable of 8 knots and she could travel at full speed for 116 miles without refuelling, and was said to be able to accommodate ninety five people on board.

She was certainly tested before her arrival in Orkney. The new boat left Cowes, where she had been built at a cost of £7120, on 5 January 1933. Three of the Longhope lifeboat crew had travelled down to assist in sailing the new boat home; Coxswain John Swanson, 67 years old at the time, bowman George Johnston and second engineer elect Eric Mowat. On leaving Cowes they immediately ran into a strong southerly gale, and the bad weather was to continue for much of the journey. Eight days later they arrived at Longhope, to the rousing cheers of a crowd on the pier. The crew returned the cheers and the local members declared that they were glad to get home as they had only managed one nights sleep in the whole journey.

The Thomas McCunn was taken around to the lifeboat shed on Friday 15 January to replace the old lifeboat, K.T.J.S. This boat, built only six years before, was to be taken round to Stromness. There, she would be collected by a crew from Shetland and taken north, where she was destined to serve as Britain’s most northerly lifeboat, in a new station built at Aith.

The Thomas McCunn is, to this day, the longest serving Longhope lifeboat. During her twenty nine years of service she was launched 101 times and rescued a total of 308 people. Though she left in 1962, to serve at other stations, this revered old boat’s links with Longhope were not completely severed. She was eventually sold by the RNLI in 1972, to Mr. Bill Speares. Mr. Speares lovingly restored the vessel and renamed her Pentland Speir. He subsequently sold the boat to his cousin, Mr. Peter Roberts of Midhurst in Sussex.

In the interim the Longhope Lifeboat Museum Trust had acquired the disused lifeboat shed, which closed in September 1999, for use as museum premises. Subsequently, Peter Roberts generously offered to sell Pentland Speir to the Trust for the sum of £1.00. This offer was gratefully accepted and in July 2000 a crew, comprising of members of the current lifeboat crew and honorary secretary Dr. Tony Trickett, travelled to Sussex to sail the old boat home to Orkney. In August 2000, 38 years after leaving, the former Thomas McCunn sailed back into Longhope to become the centrepiece of the new museum.

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