The General R Dudley Blake Lifeboat
Dudley
Lifeboat Commissioned
The General R Dudley Blake (2nd) Lifeboat was commissioned in 1909 for the RNLI for £892 pounds in the Thames Iron Works, Vistoria Dock Road, Canning Town, London, UK.
Blackrock Lifeboat
For twenty six years the General R Dudley Blake served as a lifeboat in Blackrock Boathouse until 1935.
Lifeboat Station Closes
In 1935 the famous Blackrock station was shut down, motorboats at Newcastle, Co. Down and Clogherhead being deemed able to cope with casualties in Dundalk Bay and its approaches.
To Limerick A Lady
The lifeboat was moved to Limerick on 1938 where it took on a new life as a lobster boat.
Fishing Tours
In 1947 the The General R Dudley Blake Lifeboat changed role to become a vessel for fishing tours and transfered to Howth under the ownership of the Cyril Doyle family and was renamed to the “St Therese”
Blackrock Visit
In 1994 the General R Dudley Blake made a brief return for a two day trip from Howth to its former home port of Blackrock where it received a huge welcome from the crowd onshore as part of a RNLI fundraiser.
Decomissioned Days
The lifeboat was decomissioned from being a ferry and pleasure vessle in 2006 where it was brought ashore in Kildare in 2006. It was later moved to seaside storage in Wexford in 2014 close to Loftus Hall.