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Ships under sail were dependent on the weather, tides and currents. Strong winds and waves could ground a ship or break it upon rocks, with limited options available to rescue the crew and passengers. Most frequently, these wrecks occurred , at which distance mariners could see land, but could not reach it without drowning or being smashed by the violence of the waves.

In early 1807, a storm off the Norfolk coast caused twelve ships to come to shore between Cromer and Great Yarmouth. The gun-brig HMS Snipe attempted to land, but was grounded on the Yarmouth coast, less than fifty yards from the barracks. Captain , the barrack master at Great Yarmouth, that he witnessed the crew onboard attempting to push a buoy off the ship, and men on shore trying to throw lines into the ship’s rigging.

George William Manby, ca. 1813 ()

Despite its proximity to the shore, a connection could not be made between the crew on board and the potential rescuers on land. After six hours, the ship was swept out to sea, and all sixty-seven lives on board were lost. Manby was so affected by this that he set to work on a powered mortar or line launcher, which used black powder to shoot a small cannonball attached to a metal chain or strong rope into the rigging of a vessel in distress. Once attached, buoys and rescue rafts could be used to ferry the crew from ship to shore.

Photograph of a Manby mortar from the , © Nicole Salomone, 2025

Manby first used his invention on 25 February 1808 to rescue the crew of , in difficulties on the southern coast of the Yarmouth shoreline near Gorleston. When the mortar was fired over the ship, the rope fell into the rigging, preventing the Elizabeth from rolling over or being carried back out to sea. Once the ship and lines were secure, a hammock was affixed to the rope and carried each crew member to safety, one by one.

A Manby mortar in action, 1808 ()

Manby’s method proved successful even when wind and waves prevented boats from getting close to imperilled vessels. His invention gained recognition from the Select Committee of the House of Commons and the Admiralty, and he became a leading light for the Royal Humane Society, which was responsible for improving and distributing new methods of resuscitation. His apparatus was used in the rescue of 167 people from the Thames and the Serpentine in London between 1813 and 1814 (see ‘Captain Manby: Correspondence, 1814-1846’ – unpublished manuscript, London Metropolitan Archives LMA/4517/C/03/001).

Manby devised several other life-saving inventions, such as a , and also a hand-held mechanism that enhanced the . To test this, Manby accompanied the whaling captain (later FRS) on his 1821 Baffin voyage. Proud of their skills, the harpooners were not interested in trying out the harpoon gun; instead, Manby wrote descriptions of the animals he saw, including polar bears and narwhals (which he called ‘unicorns’).

On , Manby was included in a group of thirty prominent men gathered at the request of , a former soldier who had been greatly moved by the loss of lives due to shipwrecks that he witnessed while living on the Isle of Man. With the help of the assembled company, Hillary set up the , whose purpose was to assist sailors in peril, to preserve ships, property and cargo, and to reward those who took part in rescue efforts.

Manby’s Royal Society election certificate,

On 12 May 1831, Captain George William Manby was elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society for his work in ‘Recovering the Lives of Sailors from Stranded Peoples & Preservation of Shipwreck…’. He was proposed by four existing Fellows, the first of whom, , was one of London’s leading surgeons. Known for his advancements in understanding the inner workings of the ear and how some forms of deafness could be cured, Cooper also conducted extensive anatomical experiments. Manby appears to have been aware of these experiments, and (having earlier been shot in the head in a 1799 duel) that, after his death, his head be removed and sent with the bullets to Cooper for study! However, Manby outlived Cooper, so this never came to pass.

The three other Fellows to propose Manby were , Secretary to the Commissioners on Public Records, known for his for the Royal Society, the Chapter House in Westminster and various other libraries; , a chemist who was  in 1829 after initially being ; and , recognised for his research on the brain and his knowledge of the natural sciences. Pettigrew, who knew Manby , was a Professor of Anatomy at the Charing Cross Hospital, where he frequently for dissection.

Following his election to the Royal Society, Manby continued to promote the use of his innovations to preserve the lives of people who fell into the water in shipwrecks, or when ice-skating on frozen rivers. After a disagreement about his eligibility for the – bequeathed by Dr for the preservation of the lives of shipwrecked mariners – Manby refocused his efforts towards the newly developed National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, which would later become the .

After surviving his head injuries from the duel and living a long and active life, George William Manby , at the age of 89, in his Yarmouth residence. He was buried at All Saints Church in Hilgay, Norfolk, with a plaque now marking his birthplace in the nearby village of Denver.

Photo: SMacB, CC BY-SA 4.0 via