Greathead Lifeboat model, early 19th century
The competitions organised by the Hollandsche Huishoudelijke Maatschappij (Dutch Household Society), later renamed Maatschappij voor Nijverheid en Handel (Society for Industry and Trade), could be described as catalysts for innovation. In 1809, for example, chief designer Pieter Glavimans submitted a design for a redesigned lifeboat, which was to make an important contribution to a lasting and practical improvement in lifesaving in the Netherlands. Until then, due to a lack of suitable lifeboats, little attempt was made to rescue people on board when a ship sank within sight of the coast during storms. But it was not the shipbuilder Glavimans who introduced the lifeboat to the Netherlands. That honour went to Adriaan Arend Titsingh, the former equipment master at the VOC shipyard in Amsterdam. In 1803, Titsingh designed a lifeboat based on an English model he had purchased. It was a so-called ‘Greathead lifeboat’, developed by the British sloop builder Henry Greathead. He did so in response to a group of prominent citizens from the town of South Shields, where many ships were lost in the mouth of the River Tyne. They wanted to improve the organised assistance for ships in distress once and for all and in 1789 offered a prize in the local newspaper for the best design for a lifeboat.
Greathead designed a lifeboat made of oak, just over nine metres long with a maximum width of three metres, which owed its buoyancy mainly to a wide cork belt under the gunwale. In January 1790, the Greathead lifeboat made its first successful trial run. Glavimans showed great interest in Titsingh's Greathead ship model. He had a copy made and, based on this, built several new, adapted boats at the Rotterdam Admiralty Shipyard. He quickly recognised opportunities to give the lifeboat more buoyancy and added a so-called Rückekarre to the boat. This was a two-wheeled cart that could be used to move the boat to and from the tide line. His designs served as inspiration for ship designers for generations to come.
