RNLI Lifeboat (Wheelhouse)

3D Model

This site was documented as part of a 2023 ECU Field School in partnership with the Antigua and Barbuda National Parks Authority. The wreck was originally built as a 52-foot Barnett Class lifeboat for the UK-based Royal Navy Lifeboat Institute (RNLI). Historical research indicates a possible identity for the vessel as James and Margaret Boyd (ON-913), built in 1954 by J. Samuel White in Cowes, UK. Named for Scottish nobles, James and Margaret Boyd served for 19 years in Stornoway, Scotland, one year at Macduff lifeboat station in Aberdeenshire (pictured here), and nine years at Invergordon before being sold to a private owner. It was brought to the West Indies and placed in charter service with its sister ship John Gellanty Hyndman (ON-923), which remains in service in English Harbour, Antigua. Personal correspondence suggests that the wreck began leaking and sank at anchor in Freeman’s Bay, Antigua. This wheelhouse is detached from the main wreckage shown in the model: RNLI Lifeboat (Main Wreckage).