History of the Lady of Mann

The Lady of Mann is a Board of Trade ship’s lifeboat constructed in 1930. It is lifeboat number 8 of 10 from the TSS (RMS) Lady of Mann. The lifeboat’s construction features mahogany planks on an oak frame, with an iroko cabin added.

The RMS Lady of Mann was built for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and launched in 1930, the company’s centenary year, by the Duchess of Atholl. The vessel was named after the Lady of Mann. At the time of her construction, she was the largest ship owned by the company. Built by Vickers Armstrong Ltd at their Barrow-in-Furness yard, the ship represented the latest development in fast home-trade passenger service.

Designed as an elegant vessel, the Lady of Mann featured an unbroken and gently sheered shelter-deck, a straight stem, elliptical stern, two long superstructures, and a raked and cowled funnel, which became a hallmark of the company’s ships. She was the first British ferry fitted with an Oertz rudder. During trials, the Lady of Mann exceeded 22 knots and often maintained speeds over 23 knots in service.

Constructed during the Great Depression, the ship was described as "foreman built," as most of the builder’s yard staff had been laid off, leaving only key personnel to complete her construction.

At the outbreak of the Second World War, the Lady of Mann was requisitioned as a personnel ship. Due to her speed, she was able to participate in the Dunkirk evacuation, rescuing 4,262 men. On 31 May 1940, she spent six hours at Dunkirk, enduring shelling by shore batteries and dive-bombing, emerging with little damage and reportedly shooting down one aircraft. She returned on 1 June to evacuate 1,500 casualties and again on 2 June, although ordered to leave due to a lack of troops, rescuing 18 French soldiers from a small boat on the return journey. Her final Dunkirk trip occurred in the early hours of 4 June, embarking 1,244 troops in one hour from the East Pier. Operation Dynamo ended that afternoon.

Twelve days later, the Lady of Mann participated in Operation Aerial, evacuating troops from Le Havre, Cherbourg, and Brest. As one of the last three ships to leave Le Havre, she steamed out under air attack carrying an estimated 5,000 personnel, despite being designed to carry 2,873 passengers.

From August 1940 until April 1944, the vessel performed trooping duties between Invergordon, Aberdeen, Lerwick, and the Faroes, and served as a tender to the RMS Queen Mary, ferrying Allied troops from the Queen Mary in Belfast Lough to Greenock. She was one of several ships servicing the Cunarder.

In preparation for the D-Day landings, the Lady of Mann was converted to a Landing Ship Infantry (Hand Hoisting) (LSI (H)), carrying six landing craft, 55 officers, and 435 assault troops. She took part in the landings at Juno Beach as the headquarters ship of the 512th Assault Flotilla. After repairs later that month, she resumed personnel transport duties for the remainder of the war, moving troops and displaced persons across the English Channel.

The Lady of Mann was reconditioned and returned to Steam Packet service in May 1946, having carried an estimated two million troops during the war. She received a civic reception in Douglas on 9 March 1946.

Following the war, the Lady of Mann continued to serve the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company until 1971. Her final passenger sailing was from Ardrossan to Douglas at 14:00 on Sunday, 14 August 1971. A large crowd gathered at the Point of Ayer to witness her final homecoming. The Ramsey Coastguard station marked the event with a display of flares, and lighthouse keepers on Maughold Head saluted with their fog siren. Two days later, she departed Douglas for the last time, bound for lay-up in Barrow, witnessed by thousands on the piers and promenades.

She was put up for sale, with demolition considered likely for the 41-year-old steamship. The Lady of Mann was purchased for breaking by Arnott Young of Dalmuir, Clyebank, and was broken up in 1971 on the Clyde. Her eighth lifeboat was saved before demolition and converted into a fishing boat and cabin cruiser in Maldon, Essex. Lifeboat number 8 was unique among the ten lifeboats as it was the only one fitted with an onboard engine. It saw more action than the other lifeboats, being the preferred choice for exercises and real-life man-overboard recovery operations.

The lifeboat spent the next 38 years fishing off the East Coast. In 2009, it was advertised for sale in a dilapidated state, with most buyers interested only in its 35hp Beta Marine 4-cylinder water-cooled diesel engine, installed during the 1972 conversion, which had replaced an older air-cooled Lister engine. The seller, an Isle of Man Steam Packet enthusiast aware of the lifeboat’s heritage, refused to sell it to anyone unlikely to preserve it.

In summer 2010, the lifeboat was brought to the Thames at Old Windsor. After remedial hull work by Stanley and Thomas boat builders, it was cruised around the Windsor area for several years, culminating in participation in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant in 2012 as part of the Historic Lifeboat Squadron. Its last outing was at the 2013 Thames Traditional Boat Rally in Henley.

In early 2014, the lifeboat was damaged during severe floods. It is believed that the vessel foundered due to water ingress and lack of power to the automatic bilge pump, as flooding prevented regular engine use and battery charging. The lifeboat was salvaged and taken to Michael Dennett’s boat builders in Chertsey. While the original hull remained sound, the marine ply cabin constructed in 1972 was unsalvageable and required complete rebuilding.

Under the expert guidance of Stephen Dennett of Dennett Boat Builder, the lifeboat was beautifully restored beyond expectations and was scheduled to be ready for the 2018 boating season. It was welcomed into the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, with plans to return to Dunkirk for the first time in 80 years in 2020.

The lifeboat holds strong emotional significance for its current owners, both Manxmen, as well as for their family. The grandfather of one owner, George Cain, was rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk (though not by the Lady of Mann) and recalled the vessel’s presence as a symbol of hope and home.

The Dunkirk evacuation was a defining moment for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, with eight company ships participating and rescuing a total of 24,699 Allied troops—approximately one in fourteen of those evacuated. This operation was also the company’s darkest day, as three ships were lost with many Manx crewmen. To date, the Lady of Mann is believed to be the last surviving vessel present at Dunkirk from the company until her dismantling in 1971.