The “Report of the Board of Trade on the Life-Saving Apparatus of the Coast of the United Kingdom for the year ending 30th June 1913” contains a brief history of the lifesaving apparatus and a description of its use.
The Board of Trade also published L.S.A 1 which gave detailed instructions on the use of the apparatus and was updated and reissued to take account of new developments and changes to the regulations.
The 1872 version.
The 1927 version.
More detailed accounts of the development of the equipment are given in two articles by Thomas Gray which were published in “The Engineer” in 1866 (courtesy of http://www.gracesguide.co.uk).
These two presentations describe the main items of apparatus and the heaving line and other projectiles up to 1948.
One of the major developments in the history of the apparatus was the change from mortar to rocket. The Newcastle Society for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck played a significant part in this change.
Instructions for firing Schermuly Pistol Rocket Apparatus.