Built by J. Samuel White in 1939, Jesse Lumb served as the lifeboat at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight from 1939 to 1970, becoming the last of her type in service.

Jesse Lumb is a 46-ft Watson-class lifeboat constructed from mahogany with a diagonally planked double skin.

[2] Commissioned in summer 1939 Jesse Lumb served throughout the Second World War, saving 138 lives during the conflict.

[2][nb 2] On the night of 29/30 January 1940, Jesse Lumb spent 14 hours at sea in freezing weather while rescuing the crew of the trawler Kingston Cairngorm off Chichester.

[2] On 8 August 1940, during the Battle of Britain, Jesse Lumb went to the assistance of a Royal Air Force air-sea rescue launch that had been machine-gunned by German aircraft.