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Commander Walcot of HMCS Protector reports on the state and preparedness of the various lifeboat stations in South Australia. Most of the ports where lifeboats were maintained had been inspected at this time and an instructor had been detached for some intensive work with the crews. In areas where the lack of roads did not allow wheeled vehicles to transport the rocket apparatus, the use of pack horses had been authorised. Walcot also suggested that a shoulder gun should be used for firing a line when it was too difficult to get a line aboard from the shore because of reefs. He also recommended a lifeboat be stationed at Hog Bay (Penneshaw) on Kangaroo Island. Reports of the individual stations follow Walcot's summary.

The lifeboat service had been established fairly rapidly following the wreck of the Admella on the southeast coast in 1859. Over the next decade or so it expanded gradually with additional boats being stationed and more rocket apparatus being placed at more ports or at lighthouses. However, following the wreck of the Star of Greece at Port Willunga in 1888, when 11 seamen lost their lives partly because of delays in getting the rocket equipment to the site, an overhaul of the lifeboat service was made. As a result, the South Australian Navy, in the form of Commander John Walcot of HMCS Protector, was placed in charge of the lifesaving service. Intensive training and regular inspections saw an improvement in the lifeboat service. The colonial navy remained in charge of the service for the next 20 years.

Walcot, John Cotterell Phillipps

Protector (Ship)

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Library exhibitions. Wooden Walls and Iron Sides August 2004-