RNLI welcomes youngest female lifeboat coxswain

Becky Cannon, 24, has achieved her ambition of becoming Coxswain of an all-weather lifeboat in the RNLI, the UK lifesaving charity.

Cannon has grown up with the sea in her blood. Not only is her immediate family part of the crew, but the tradition goes back nearly 85 years to Dunkirk and beyond when Cannon’s great, great, great uncle Alf Moody was second coxswain when the Prudential lifeboat launched to evacuate the beaches.

Cannon, who works at Dover Harbour as a Vessel Traffic Services Officer, had to be assessed by someone other than her family. A perfect opportunity arose when her father went away on holiday and his role was covered by Dan, a relief Coxswain, who was also an assessor for the RNLI.

After passing her collision regulations exam, the lifeboat went to sea, where the assessor gave Cannon her search scenario. Cannon first recovered a ‘body’ from the water with one engine failure. After recovering the ‘body’, there was a simulated fire to contend with in the engine room, which meant that the abandon ship procedure by launching the life raft had to be demonstrated, as well as fire fighting.

Then, Cannon was expected to show how she would manoeuvre the lifeboat with a single engine around the harbour and then into a boat hoist. This last manoeuvre was extremely difficult, involving moving the boat astern into the hoist with just enough room for a fender on either side. All of this was carried out under intense scrutiny and while answering many questions.

Speaking to Cannon after she had successfully passed out, she talked about her pride in being what is believed to be the youngest female coxswain in the RNLI ever. The news comes in the same year that the RNLI turns 200 and celebrates over 146,000 lives saved.

Cannon credits her family for their inspiration and support and, in particular, mentioned her grandfather, Ron Cannon MBE. Sadly, Ron passed away in 2018, so he never got to see how well she had done, but her grandmother Julia said how proud Ron would have been of her.

Her father Ian, the current Coxswain at Ramsgate and her uncle Paul who is deputy Coxswain echoed the sentiment.

Cannon says she wishes to thank the crew of Ramsgate RNLI for their support during her training and the volunteer team who were with her on the assessment day.

Asked if she would be happy for her own children to continue the family tradition and join the RNLI she replied: “Absolutely, with no hesitation! The RNLI training teaches you great skills, confidence, teamwork, courage and a sense of being part of something meaningful. Who wouldn’t want that for their children?”