The Story of The Penlee Lifeboat by Frazer Flintham Based on the book, Penlee: The Loss of a Lifeboat by Michael Sagar-Fenton. On Saturday 19 December 1981, the Penlee lifeboat ‘Solomon Browne’, was launched in hurricane conditions to go to the aid of the coaster ‘Union Star’ which was being swept towards the southern coast of Cornwall. What followed ranks not only with the greatest acts of courage in the history of the RNLI, but with any human achievement.