Duke of Kent leads renaming ceremony for Guernsey's historic lifeboat

  • Report by ITV Channel's Kate Prout

One of Guernsey’s most celebrated lifeboats has been given a new lease of life.

The Duke of Kent Prince Edward presided over an official renaming and dedication ceremony at St Katharine Docks in London.

The Sir William Arnold boat, also known as RNLB 5202, was originally paid for by islanders.

It operated out of St Peter Port for three decades and was responsible for helping to save hundreds of lives at sea, including the Bonita shipwreck rescue in 1981.

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The freight liner was sailing from Panama to Hamburg in a force 12 hurricane when she was knocked sideways by three huge waves.

In very testing conditions the crew of the Sir William Arnold rescued 29 people on board.

They were awarded the gallantry medal for their bravery.

Former Coxswain Mike Scales said: “We don’t do it for the commendations. All lifeboat crews in those days were seafaring crew as well. We did what we had to do.”

Now owned and restored by Colin Trowles, the boat is docked at Heybridge basin in Essex and is used as a training and education centre for the RNLI.