New Guernsey Lifeboat Named After WW2 Crew Member

Monday, 4 March 2024 10:49

The Harold Hobbs will replace the current Atlantic 85

The new St Peter Port Inshore Lifeboat is being named after a Guernsey crew member who was killed at the start of the Occupation.

Jason Hobbs, Lifeboat Operations Manager in Guernsey, is honoured his great-uncle is being remembered in this way.

"It's being named after a crew member that, sadly in 1940, was shot by German aircraft whilst on the lifeboat going to retrieve the Howard D - which was the Jersey lifeboat - with the intention of taking them both to the UK.

That name is Harold Hobbs, so the new boat will be called the Harold Hobbs.

I'm delighted and it is really fitting that the crew have made that decision."

Jason's grandfather and great-grandfather were also active on the Alfred and Clara Heath lifeboat when German soldiers started to fire at the vessel as they approached St Aubin's Bay in Jersey.

The announcement comes as the RNLI celebrates 200 years of service.

The new Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat was built at the Inshore Lifeboat Centre on the Isle of Wight and is currently undergoing sea trials.

It is due to arrive in Guernsey in the spring.

Harold's story will feature in a special episode of 'Saving Lives At Sea' to mark 200 years of the RNLI.

It will be broadcast on BBC Two on 12 March at 9pm.