RNLI Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sir William Hillary

Sir William Hillary was horrified at the loss of life from shipwrecks in the Irish Sea. (He was living on the Isle of Man at the time). In March 1824 he set up the 'National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck' (NIPLS). Fortunately, 30 years later the name was changed to RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute) which is still used today.

Answer: St. George's

In 1884, the flag was designed. It has a white background, a red cross with a blue border. A gold crown over a gold anchor are on the centre of the cross and the letters RNLI appear in each of the white corners.

Answer: Cork lifejacket

This was invented by an RNLI Inspector, Captain Ward. It gave buoyancy to rescuers.

Answer: Yes

Many have selflessly given their lives. 27 men were lost in 1886 while trying to rescue the crew from a German vessel,'The Mexico'. At Penlee in 1981, eight crew were lost, together with a further eight who were being rescued. The winds at the time were 80-95 m.p.h.

Answer: He started street collections

Following the loss of 'The Mexico', when 27 RNLI men were lost the public wanted to do something for the families. Charles Macara organised street collections.

As the RNLI is still a voluntary organisation these collections are still held for funds, nowadays they are called flag days. The RNLI gets all its funding from donations and legacies.

Answer: Gold medal

In June 1824 the Gold Medal was established. The first winner was Charles Freemantle who reached a wrecked ship off Christchurch in Hampshire by swimming through surf with a rope tied around his body.

Answer: 3

Henry is known as the greatest of all lifeboatmen. He joined the RNLI in Cromer in 1894. In 1941, almost 50 years later, he won his third gold medal. He also won the George Cross and the British Empire Medal.

Answer: Poole

The headquarters are in Poole in Dorset and a new training college was opened there in 2004 by Queen Elizabeth.

Answer: No

There are inflatables for in-shore rescues, hovercraft for rescues in areas which are inaccessible to conventional boats, and there are also Beach Lifeguard Units.

Answer: Any of these

Crews are almost entirely volunteers (4,600 sea-going members), they are alerted by a pager backed up by a maroon and make arrangements with employers to attend their station once the alert is received.
Sources: rnli.org.uk and wikipedia