Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Equipment - Lifebuoy, late 19th to early 20th century
... flotation device...Lifebuoys are flotation devices used to rescue and save... Warrnambool great-ocean-road Lifebuoys are flotation devices used ...
Lifebuoys are flotation devices used to rescue and save people whose lives are at risk in the water. They are part of a ship's safety equipment. The cork material is very buoyant.
The first use of life saving devices in recent centuries was by the Nordic people, who used light weight wood or cork blocks to keep afloat. From the early 20th century Kapok fibre was used as a filling for buoys. Light weight balsa wood was used as a filler after WW1. In 1928 Peter Markus invented and patented the first inflatable life-preserver. By WW2 foam was combined with Kapok. Laws were passed over time that has required aeroplanes and water going-vessels to carry life-preservers on board. The lifebuoy is an example of equipment carried on vessels in the late 19th and early 20th century to help preserve life. There were many lives lost in Australia’s colonial period, particularly along the coast of South West Victoria.Lifebuoy, round cork inner only, no canvas covering.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, maritime-museum, shipwreck-coast, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, lifebuoy, cork lifebuoy, flotation device, safety equipment, life rings, safety ring, life-saving buoy, ring buoy, life preserver, personal floating device, floatation device
Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
Greensborough Historical Society