[2] Ever since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved.

On the night of 19 April 1849, the brig Love and Unity, on passage to Poole, ran aground on The Needles and broke up.

The remaining five crewmen and the Master managed to climb onto a rock, and were rescued at 10:00 the following day by the Coastguard galley crew from Hurst Castle.

A 29-foot Lamb and White lifeboat had been ordered, and was launched at Prince's Green, West Cowes, on 29 June 1868.

It was impossible for the 56-foot boat to be kept in the Totland boathouse, or even brought ashore, and the logistics of maintaining a steam-powered lifeboat on a mooring in an open bay seem highly impractical.

In the face of the severe gale, the Coxswain decided it was impossible to return directly home, and opted to take the boat all the way around the Isle of Wight, a distance of 60 miles (97 km).

The boat was monitored at various points around the coast, and successfully returned home at 17:00, 14 hours after setting out.