Breeches buoy

Breeches buoy during the rescue of the SS Northern Pacific on January 2, 1919
The Life Line, by Winslow Homer, 1884, depicts a breeches buoy in use during a rescue operation.

A breeches buoy is a rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one place to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harness attached. It is similar to a zip line. The breeches buoy may be deployed from shore to ship, ship to ship, or ship to shore using a Manby mortar, rocket, kite system,[1] or a Lyle gun, and allows evacuation of one person at a time. A line is attached to the ship, and the person being rescued is pulled to shore in the breeches buoy.

  1. ^ Life-Saving Apparatus, Albert F. Rockwell, US434725