Engraving of the 'Sea Messenger', a lifeboat designed for ships letters and papers, invented by J.A.R. Vandenbergh. As many ships carried mail and state papers, there was always a chance that vitally important paperwork could be lost in a shipwreck. Vandenbergh intended this rugged little vessel to be carried aboard mail ships, ready to save the paperwork in the event of its parent vessel being wrecked.