Urad, and her Courageous Crew

Posted on by Fredrik Bodin
The Urad was designed and built in Aalesund, Norway by Captain Ole Brude. He felt the vulnerable open lifeboats currently in use could be improved upon. He built the sail powered Urad of steel plate, 18' long, and 8' wide and deep: It was called an egg or a football. It could accommodate 40 passengers. On August 7th, 1904, he and three crewmen sailed from Norway to America. After a brief stop in Newfoundland, They beached on Pavilion Beach in Gloucester. Urad proved herself in several North Atlantic storms, the worst being off our coast. To read his account: http://books.google.com/books?id=TXYeAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=urad+lifeboat&source=bl&ots=0gm2V8ILVt&sig=9n1aOg3ovzISHSlKmOGri0P7wqI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2CHLUvjvDOO1sATD94GADQ&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=urad%20lifeboat&f=false
The Urad was designed and built in Aalesund, Norway by Captain Ole Brude. He felt the vulnerable open lifeboats currently in use could be improved upon. He built the sail powered Urad of steel plate, 18′ long, and 8′ wide and deep: It was called an egg or a football. It could accommodate 40 passengers. On August 7th, 1904, he and three crewmen sailed from Norway to America. After a brief stop in Newfoundland, They beached on Pavilion Beach in Gloucester. Urad proved herself in several North Atlantic storms, the worst being off our coast. To read his account: http://books.google.com/books?id=TXYeAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA115&lpg=PA115&dq=urad+lifeboat&source=bl&ots=0gm2V8ILVt&sig=9n1aOg3ovzISHSlKmOGri0P7wqI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2CHLUvjvDOO1sATD94GADQ&ved=0CE8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=urad%20lifeboat&f=false
This is an accurate replica of Urad, in a Norwegian driveway. It'll give you a good idea of what she looked like before being battered by the North Atlantic. Don't forget that this was supposed to be a lifeboat, not a transatlantic vessel. I think she proved herself, right?
This is an accurate replica of Urad, in a Norwegian driveway. It’ll give you a good idea of what she looked like before being battered by the North Atlantic. Don’t forget that this was supposed to be a lifeboat, not a transatlantic vessel. I think she proved herself, right?

Published by Fredrik Bodin

Fred Bodin is a photographer who owns a gallery on Main Street in downtown Gloucester, MA. The gallery features Fred's land and seascapes, as well as historic images printed from the old negatives.

6 thoughts on “Urad, and her Courageous Crew”

  1. Very interesting post! I’d never heard of this and read that it was hoping to compete as the best lifeboat at the St. Louis Expo., and that the word name means “fearless”. Thanks for sharing this one!

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  3. An FYI if you want to google about the 1904 trip of the Urad: The town it came from in 1904 was Aalesund, Norway. The town changed its name in 1921 to Ålesund.

    It left Aalesund and stopped in St. John’s NS then landed at Pavilion Beach. Not sure but it was suppose to go to New York City then onto the St. Louis Exposition of 1904. Hard to tell if it made it to the Expo.

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  5. Very good back ground and history here the design proved itself sea worthy! Sort of design and concept of the life boats today out of the elements?

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