Scarborough Lifeboat Station

Scarborough Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) operated lifeboat station in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. A lifeboat was established at Scarborough in 1801, which makes it the third oldest lifeboat station in the United Kingdom (after Montrose and Sunderland).[1]

Scarborough Lifeboat Station
Scarborough RNLI station showing slipway
Scarborough Lifeboat Station is located in North Yorkshire
Scarborough Lifeboat Station
Location within North Yorkshire
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationScarborough, North Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates54.2833°N 0.3930°W / 54.2833; -0.3930
Opened2016
Cost£3 million
OwnerRoyal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Official webpage

Since its opening in 1801 to the present day, a total of 16 crewmen have been lost whilst attempting rescues from the Scarborough lifeboat.[2] In 2016, a new station was opened on the site of the previous one. This houses two lifeboats; the Frederick William Plaxton, a Shannon-class lifeboat and the John Wesley Hillard III, an Inshore lifeboat.[3]

History

The first lifeboat in Scarborough was instituted by public donation costing just over £212[4] and saw its first launch in November 1801, when it went to the aid of a stricken vessel named Aurora in Scarborough Bay.[5] The first boat was actually built in Scarborough to a design by Henry Greathead, who had designed and built a boat for Whitby and Redcar lifeboat stations.[6] A replacement boat was built and supplied to the rescue crews in the town in 1823.[7] The first lifeboat station was at the junction of Foreshore Road and Valley Road in the town. In 1821, the station was relocated near to its present site by the West Pier in the harbour, however it was on the landward side of Foreshore Road.[5]

In 1914, the Scarborough Lifeboat Queensbury was despatched to assist in the rescue of the SS Rohilla off the coast at Whitby. Like many other lifeboats used in the rescue, she couldn't get near to the Rohilla because of the swell.[8]

In 1940, a new lifeboat station was built next to the West Pier; the old lifeboat house was later converted into an amusement arcade on the seafront.[9] The 1940 lifeboathouse had to be adapted for the larger Fanny Victoria Wilkinson and Frank Stubbs in 1991, which involved widening and heightening the door.[10]

A new lifeboat station was opened in 2016, which had been designed by the York architectural firm of Brierley Groom.[11] Approval for the new £3 million building was granted by the Borough Council in 2014.[12]

In 2018, the coxswain of the crew was dismissed; the RNLI released a statement that he had organised an operational training exercise without proper authority. The former coxswain stated that he had "the blessing and clearance of the lifeboat operations manager and several others".[13] After a groundswell of support for the sacked individual, the RNLI later released a further statement detailing their decision to stand down the coxswain citing the lack of trained professionals on the boat when she was put to sea in rough weather.[14]

Notable launches
The Mersey-Class lifeboat 'Fanny Victoria Wilkinson and Frank Stubbs (Op. No. 12-18),[15] in Scarborough's old station, 2013.
  • 17 February 1836 – The crew launched to help a sloop named John as it was trying to enter the harbour area at Scarborough to shelter from the storm. As the lifeboat came close to the sloop, it capsized and ten of her crew were washed out to sea on a strong ebb tide. One crew member managed to get back onto the boat and three others were underneath the boat, having secured themselves to the boat to prevent the same fate that had befallen ten of their comrades. The three used the conduiting pipes (used to drain seawater out of the boat)[5] set into the boat to allow them to breathe. A human chain was formed of spectators who eventually managed to rescue the four men from the sea.[16]
  • 2 November 1861 – the crew launched their new life boat Amelia after a storm besieged the east coast. Many ships were trying to make port in Scarborough, and one, the Coupland, missed the harbour entrance and was being dashed against the rocks in the South Bay (where the Spa Theatre is). In the attempted rescue, two of the lifeboatmen died, with a further 22 people dying in the sea, including three who were spectators on the shore but waded into the water to help and were drowned.[17][18]
  • 9 December 1951 – the Dutch vessel Westkust ran into trouble some 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) off the coast of Scarborough. The ECJR was launched at 11:30 am, but due to the heavy seas, she took over seven hours to reach the Westkust. As the lifeboat came alongside the sinking ship, two of the lifeboatmen jumped onto the Westkust to assess the situation, whilst the crew of the Westkust got into the lifeboat. As the two craft were side by side, they were being buffeted together and apart by the strong swell of the sea. One of the lifeboatmen managed to jump back into the lifeboat, but as the second tried, a freak wave wrenched the two ships apart, leaving him clinging to the rails of the Westkust. The swell then pushed the two boats together and crushed the lifeboatman between them. He fell into the lifeboat with a crushed pelvis and by the time they reached the port of Bridlington, he had died.[19]
  • 8 December 1954 – whilst escorting ships into harbour during a storm, the lifeboat overturned in the South Bay at Scarborough. Three crew members died.[20]

Fleet

In 2016, the crew at Scarborough accepted their new Shannon-class lifeboat, the Frederick William Plaxton.[21]

Dates in service Class ON[lower-alpha 1] Op. No.[lower-alpha 2] Name Comments
1801–1823 Unknown [22]
1823–1852 Unknown [22]
1852–1861 Unknown This was the first self-righting lifeboat to serve at Scarborough.[10][22]
1861 Amelia The Amelia was the first boat used when the RNLI assumed control of Scarborough Lifeboat Station. She was wrecked in the storm of 1861.[23]
1861–1872 The Mary [24]
1872–1887 Lady Leigh A gift from the Freemasons of Warwickshire.[24][25]
1887–1895 Queensbury A gift from Herbert Foster of Queensbury in West Yorkshire.[26][24][22]
1896–1901 Queensbury II [22]
1901–1902 Edward and Lucille [22]
1902–1918 Queensbury III [22][27]
1918–1924 Brothers Rickwood [22]
1924–1931 Herbert Joy This was the first motor boat to serve at Scarborough[22][10] Donated by Alex Joy and named after his brother who drowned in the bay at Scarborough.[28]
1931–1951 Herbert Joy II [22][9]
1951–1956 35ft 6in Self-righting motor-class ECJR [22]
1956–1958 Liverpool-class 792 Annie, Ronald and Isabella Forrest [22]
1958–1978 Oakley-class 942 37-01 JG Graves of Sheffield The prototype Oakley Class lifeboat.[22][29]
1978–1991 Oakley-class 979 37-12 Amelia II [22][30]
1990–1991 Oakley-class 977 37-10 Charles Fred Grantham
1991–2016 Mersey-class 1175 12–18 Fanny Victoria Wilkinson and Frank Stubbs [31] Sold to the Chilean rescue service in 2018 and works out of Valparaíso, 75 miles (121 km) to the north west of the capital, Santiago.[32]
1992–2001 D-class D-434 John Wesley Hillard
2009–2021 D-class D-724 John Wesley Hillard III [33]
2016– Shannon-class 1322 13–15 Frederick William Plaxton Officially unveiled by the Duke of Kent in April 2017[31]
2021– D-class John Wesley Hillard IV [34]
  1. ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

References
  1. Chrystal 2012, p. 56.
  2. Berry 2016, p. 32.
  3. "Scarborough's lifeboats". rnli.org. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  4. "Supporting Scarborough's lifeboat heroes". York Press. 11 August 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. "Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre | Lifeboat – early years". www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  6. Theakston 1847, p. 101.
  7. Theakston 1847, p. 102.
  8. "Heroic role in Rohilla tragedy". Whitby Gazette. 7 July 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  9. Chrystal 2012, p. 55.
  10. Berry 2016, p. 30.
  11. Leach 2018, p. 124.
  12. "New lifeboat station plans approved". BBC News. 12 June 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  13. "Lifeboat coxswain hits back at sacking". BBC News. 11 April 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  14. Newton, Grace (15 April 2018). "RNLI reveals why they sacked Scarborough coxswain in damning statement". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  15. Leach 2018, p. 123.
  16. "Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre | 200 year history of Scarborough's RNLI". www.scarboroughsmaritimeheritage.org.uk. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  17. "Service to honour shipwreck heroes". The Scarborough News. 1 November 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  18. Swift, Nina (31 October 2011). "Aristocrat in lifeboat rescue tragedy honoured". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  19. "Single release to raise funds for the RNLI". The Scarborough News. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  20. "Plaque commemorates lifeboat disaster". BBC News. 7 December 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
  21. "RNLI £2m lifeboat arrives at new home". BBC News. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  22. Berry 2016, p. 28.
  23. Swift, Nina (31 October 2011). "Aristocrat in lifeboat rescue tragedy honoured". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  24. "Genuki: SCARBOROUGH: Geographical and Historical information from the year 1890., Yorkshire (North Riding)". www.genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  25. Coggins 1991, p. 125.
  26. "The lifesaving lifeboat from John Crossley". Halifax Courier. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  27. Coggins 1991, p. 127.
  28. Coggins 1991, p. 128.
  29. "Richard A Oakley (1906–1988)" (PDF). rina.org.uk. p. 2. Retrieved 22 February 2019.
  30. "Name Amelia | National Historic Ships". www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  31. "Royal naming for new Scarborough lifeboat". Ships Monthly. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  32. MacDonald, Corinne (4 July 2019). "PHOTOS: See old Scarborough lifeboat enjoy new life in Chile". The Scarborough News. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  33. Leach, Nicholas (29 May 2018). "The Scarborough Lifeboat Service – History, Timeline and Facts. The famous life saving service in Scarborough is one of the county's best-known and most-loved institutions – Nicholas Leach looks at the history". On: Yorkshire Magazine | Yorkshire's Online Publication. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  34. Mitchinson, James, ed. (11 October 2021). "Resorts lifeboat is named and shown off by RNLI crew". The Yorkshire Post. p. 8. ISSN 0963-1496.

Sources
  • Berry, Dave (December 2016). "The Dawn of a New Era for Scarborough RNLI". Scarborough Review. No. 40. Derby: Hold the Front Page. OCLC 1065135198.
  • Chrystal, Paul (2012). Lifeboat Stations of North East England; From Sunderland to The Humber, Through Time. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-1376-5.
  • Coggins, Denis (1991). Scarborough in Old Photographs. Stroud: Alan Sutton. ISBN 0-86299-932-4.
  • Leach, Nicholas (2018). The Lifeboat Service in England; the North East Coast, Station by Station. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-6832-1.
  • Theakson, Solomon Wilkinson (1847). Theakston's guide to Scarborough (3 ed.). Scarborough: Theakson. OCLC 26770480.
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