When I captured this image of the John Russel, I had no idea as to what she was or had been and certainly no clue whatsoever as to her origins. My researches on the Internet prior to uploading the image to this Web Site produced one excellent hit that included an image of her and a reference to her having started life as an RNLI lifeboat. Further searches revealed that she had been built on the Isle of Wight in 1926 as a Watson Class Life boat. She saw service at Melrose between 1926-1939 before she was placed in the Reserve Fleet between 1939 and 1955. She was sold in July 1956 to what I presume were private owners. This image was captured in September 2016 when she was motoring in the Solent Southampton, just off the coast of the Isle of Wight.