ABDY BEAUCLERK

ABDY BEAUCLERK  (now St Ita?)
Type: Lifeboat (Aldeburgh)
Length: 41ft
Beam: 12ft 3ins
Draft: N/k
Displacement: N/k
Engine: 2 x 35hp AEC Weyburn petrol
Construction: Mahogany
Builder: J. Samuel White
Year: 1931

Like many lifeboats Abdy Beauclerk was paid for by a private legacy. Built in 1931 by J. Samuel White at Cowes, Isle of Wight and named by Prince George (later King George VI), the following May Abdy Beauclerk was stationed at Aldeburgh on the East Coast of England.

Abdy Beauclerk was the first lifeboat to leave its station and arrived at Dover where Able Seaman Charles Strudwick was put in command as coxswain. He had an ordinary seaman and a stoker to look after the two 35hp engines.

After being towed across the English Channel by a drifter they arrived at a beach just East of Dunkirk harbour on 31st May. Their orders were to 'remain there until ordered to return'.

They remained, ferrying people out to larger ships and waited until late on the evening of June 4th in case stragglers reached the beaches. They returned overnight to Ramsgate.

Abdy Beauclerk remained on the Aldeburgh station until sold out of RNLI service in 1959. She was renamed St. Ita and spent time working as a pilot vessel for Cork Harbour Commissioners, Southern Ireland. She is believed to be still in Southern Ireland.

As of April 2018, no further information concerning this historic vessel has been received. We would invite persons with knowledge of her history and whereabouts to contact the Association.

Updated April 2018.