It was based on a local yawl with a shallow draft and sails so it could reach offshore sandbanks, but oars were also provided.

[1] The design proved successful and was adopted by other lifeboat services in East Anglia including the Norfolk Shipwreck Association.

The Suffolk Humane Society merged with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1855 as did the Norfolk Shipwreck Association in 1857.

[2] The RNLI continued to build lifeboats to the Norfolk and Suffolk design and stationed them at other places on the east coast between the River Thames and the Humber.

The water ballast, up to 7 tons of it, was just left in the bottom of the boat so lifeboat crews worked in wet conditions.

[32] [24] The engines in motor lifeboats were regarded as a supplement to sails at first but the experimental conversions were deemed a success.

Construction of new motor lifeboats was protracted as it was difficult to obtain the parts and skilled staff, especially during World War I.

Three Norfolk and Suffolk class motor lifeboats were built for service at East Anglian stations in the 1920s.