Search and Rescue
Over the centuries, rescue at sea has advanced from the most basic methods to the current level of high tech. Each advance in technology serves to improve the responsiveness of rescue and the chances of victims to be survivors. One thing that all techniques have in common is that the risk to the rescuer remains extremely high. A 'can do' attitude, and an unwillingness to turn back without a rescue, tend to keep crews on the edge when conditions are really hairy.
The ancients may have used small boats to rescue shipwreck victims, but no record has come down to us about any such activity. Stout rowboats, powered by oars and human muscle, were the earliest method of sea rescue. They were limited in range, speed, and carrying capacity. Rescues may have been done informally, by local residents for centuries, but the first formal life boat 'station' may have been in Formby, Lancashire, England, when a 'boat was stationed among the sand dunes specifically for helping shipwrecked sailors on that part of the coast', during the 1770's. Beach patrols had already been conducted in that area for 14 years before a boat was procured. No mention is made of a station for the boat.
http://www.iwightc.ac.uk/rescue/bristow/... About 1790, several boats were put into service, either converted or purpose built, in other areas of England. These were apparently staffed by volunteers, and the boats were supported by donations.
Ships aren't designed for the stresses involved in being aground. The sea begins to break them apart as soon as they ground, and depending on the severity of the weather and surf, the crew is in immediate danger. The time available for a rescue may be limited to a few hours, or less. Any delay in rescue rapidly increases the odds against the crew's survival. Since the range and speed of rowboats is extremely limited, and the amount of time available after receiving word of a shipwreck is also limited, one station could cover only a few miles of coastline. Long stretches of coast were unmonitored until formal services established chains of lifesaving stations near the major wrecking grounds.
The obstacles that ships foundered on were seldom convenient to a harbor, which meant that the boat first had to be hauled to a usable beach and launched through the surf. Just getting to the beach was enough to exhaust the crew. As for launching into stormy surf, imagine trying to paddle a surf board out to sea through the surf you see on TV during hurricane coverage. Now imagine that your board weighs 2000 pounds and you only have six or eight men to handle it. Swamping the boat happened frequently, and it frequently took several tries for a successful launch.. By the time the crew is out past the surf line, they're already exhausted, and they might have to make half a dozen trips to get the whole crew off. Their chances of survival lessened with every trip they made back out to the wreck, but that didn't slow down very many crews.
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