This is a surf rescue boat (on display at the Cape Cod Maritime Museum) which was used by the Cape Cod lifesavers. The lifesaving stations were located up and down the coast of Cape Cod between 1872 and 1915.

In 1785, the Massachusetts Humane Society initiated the world’s first organized lifesaving service. Starting in Boston Harbor with shelters and food for shipwreck survivors, the Society eventually established outposts on Cape Cod in the early 1800s… ...in 1872, the first federally constructed and staffed lifesaving stations emerged as part of the Department of Treasury. They became the U. S. Life Saving Service.

Today, the Coast Guard has replaced the U.S. Life Saving Service.