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DNLB 19-03 "John Shepard" - Sentinel Class Lifeboat

The DNLI was founded in 2023 with the goal of covering the entirety of the Isles - Donkk, the Sawyer Isles, and the various small islands around them. Work was done primarily with the much smaller Denali class lifeboats. These are extremely fast, but their DECS system turned out to be very temperamental, and they perform very poorly in heavy seas. As a result, they could not cover the more open seas north of Donkk. Furthermore, the Denali-class is not self-righting. These factors meant that operation of the Denali-class outside of the littoral zone carried unacceptable risk; this was the beginning of the Sentinel-class.

DNLI worked closely with Dynamarine Works, a local shipbuilder, to develop what was then known as Type 17-06: a minimum speed of 23 knots, a minimum range of 80 km and the ability to right itself passively were key requirements to the design.

The prototype Type 17-06 was launched in January 2026 and was named Count Sawyer. Trials started later that year and lasted until October 2027 when the boat was damaged beyond economical repair in the Sawyer inlet. The initial construction of the hull was found to be too stiff, leading to cracking in heavy seas.

Lessons learned from the first prototype led directly to the construction of the second prototype, completed in June 2028. The second prototype incorporated a variety of changes to the hull frame, and carried a small crane and a rescue runner jetski for shallow water operations. Overall, trials of the second prototype were much more successful, finding no major faults with the design aside from a lack of a searchlight. Following a retrofit to install one, the still-unnamed prototype was shown in December 2029 to several lifeboat stations, particularly along the north coast of the Sawyer Isles. The lifeboat house at Holt Town, till then operating the functional but ageing Denali, was so impressed that they asked the DNLI to station it there until another vessel of that class could be constructed for them. The type was finally named the Sentinel-class, and Type 17-06-X02 was immediately renamed to DNLB 19-01 Sentinel .

Just three weeks after the crew had completed familiarization with the type, the Sentinel-class was given the opportunity to prove its worth: The research vessel R/V Icarus had suffered a catastrophic fire 40 km to the north of the Sawyer Islands.

Conditions were awful. A northerly gale of Beaufort scale 8 was blowing down from the Arctic waters up north, and the swells were over 6 m high.

Had the Holt lifeboat house still been equipped with the Denali-class, the rescue could have ended in tragedy.

But Cox'n Jim Reid took the brand-new Sentinel out of the sound after the Icarus. Also responding was one rescue helicopter.

Icarus was beam wind, and the helicopter had to stand by and wait. But the fire on the casualty was spreading. Realizing they didn't have time to wait, Reid moved to the fly bridge, making a series of daring passes, ultimately evacuating seven crew from the stricken ship as his mate attempted to fight the fire using the lifeboat's fire hose. In that time, the captain of the Icarus managed to swing the bow into wind, enabling the rescue helicopter to work the scene and recover the remaining five crew. With the crew evacuated and the fire still growing out of control, Sentinel was forced to evacuate the casualties to Holt central hospital, leaving the empty Icarus to burn down at sea.

For his sublime seamanship and daring maneuvers, Reid was honoured with the Stanhope Silver rescue medal, and his crew with bronze medals.

The test had come, and the Sentinel had passed. The existing order for three additional Sentinel class lifeboats was increased to nine, of which the first three have currently been delivered to the DNLI.

The Sentinel class has had an illustrious start to its career, but there will be no resting on laurels for the crews of these boats. They must - and will - always be ready.

19-03 has had an interesting career as the only Sentinel where self-righting was a deciding factor in a rescue. 19-03 has capsized three times, leading to the nickname "Poseidon".

The Sentinel-class is an ALB in service with the DNLI as of 2032. It is fully modern and well-equipped, with a heading hold autopilot, a bow thruster, a RADAR, a radio, a launched craft, and a variety of ancillary equipment.

All that means that the boat is capable of just about anything, from towing using the rope anchor on the stern work deck, to firefighting, to evacuating casualties and treating them in the belowdecks medical facility. And it's self-righting, which means no sea is too rough for the Sentinel.

The boat has a semi-automatic clutch which is engaged using the clutch button behind the power levers. Once engaged, there is no need to manually disengage the clutch; it will automatically disengage and re-engage as needed.

The boat spawns in ready for a quick turn-around; as such, the breakers are all closed. To cold-and-dark the Sentinel, it is necessary to open all of the circuit breakers.

To start the boat, flip on all the circuit breakers. Then open the fuel valves for the port and starboard engine banks (driver's side, deckhouse). Finally, flip the engine master switches (driver's side, deckhouse).

To shut off the boat, turn off the engine masters. Be sure to turn off the electrics if you intend to leave the boat for an extended period: there is passive draw on the electrics (mostly the radio).

To deploy the jetski:
-In the starboard equipment locker (aft stb deckhouse, hatch near floor) there are several crane attachments. Take the one with an electrical anchor on one end and a rope anchor on the other out to the aft work deck.
-In the port equipment locker are two ropes. Use them to connect the rope anchors on the jetski to the rope anchor on the crane attachment.
-In the starboard equipment locker, there is an electrical cable. Use this to connect the crane attachment to the winch of the crane.
-Release the tie-downs of the jetski and lower the railing. It is good practice to tighten the ropes on the jetski by lowering the crane attachment into the driver's seat of the jetski and disconnecting and reconnecting the bow and stern ropes of the jetski. This will enable the crane to actually lift the jetski off the deck.
-Use the crane to deploy the jetski. Return the ropes to their lockers and use the jetski.

To recover the jetski:
-Same as above, but from sea to boat instead of from boat to sea.

Relevant information to multi-crewing: The driver inside the deckhouse will override the driver up top on the flying bridge. This is automatic, and can't be changed manually. The navigator sits to the right of the driver in the deckhouse, and plots courses using the keypad next to the power levers. They also control the radio, ELT locator, and RADAR systems of the boat. Note also that the driver does have a RADAR display, but that it only activates when the navigator turns it on.

Lifeboat category:
All-weather

Year introduced to the DNLI fleet:
2030

Last built:
In production

Launch type:
Afloat

Crew:
6

Survivor capacity:
Self-righting – 28
Non self-righting – 122

Range/endurance:
109 km at 20 kt (80%)

Length:
17.25 m

Beam:
5.75 m

Draught
2.00 m

Displacement:
46 tonnes (maximum)

Engines:
4 x Dynamarine D12-600 marine diesel engines

Number in fleet:
4 at stations and 6 under construction

Communications and navigation:
Includes:
• Standard 88-channel marine radio
• Emergency beacon ranging equipment
• Global positioning system (GPS)
• Radar