A lifeboat was first stationed here by the Norfolk Association for Saving the Lives of Shipwrecked Mariners (NASLSM) in 1845. Management of the station was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1857.[1]
After 112 years, the RNLI decided that with sufficient nearby operational assets, Caister Lifeboat Station was no longer required. The RNLI withdrew in 1969.[2]
In the late 1700s, a group of men, mainly fishermen, formed the "Caister Company of Beachmen", in order to find extra employment offering additional boat services, ferrying passengers and pilots, retrieving discarded anchors to re-sell, and in times of shipwreck, to rescue people, and more importantly, salvage boats and cargo. When lifeboats started being placed along the coast, these would be the men to crew the lifeboat. This company would survive until 1941, when a motor-lifeboat was placed at Caister. During this time, the company would also provide their own boats, and carry out rescues, sometimes in conjunction with the lifeboat.[4]
The first Lifeboat was placed at Caister in 1845, by the Norfolk Association for Saving the Lives of Shipwrecked Mariners (NASLSM) (or Norfolk Shipwreck Association). The boat was transferred from its previous service at Bacton Lifeboat Station in Norfolk, but on arrival, it was found to be in very poor condition. The Caister boatmen refused to use the boat.[4]
The NSA then provided a new boat, a 42-foot Norfolk and Suffolk-class non-self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with Oars and Sails, built of oak, by Branford of Yarmouth, which arrived in Caister in 1846. A store and lookout were constructed at the end of Beach Road with the permission of the Lord of the manor, Thomas Clowes. The lookout was the top of a ship's mast, purchased for £3-10s-0d, and standing 60 feet (18m) tall.[4]
In 1857, management of the Caister lifeboat was transferred to the RNLI, who provided a new lifeboat in 1865. A gift of the Birmingham Lifeboat Fund, the boat was named James Pearce Birmingham No.2. In the following 18 years on service at Caister, the boat would save 484 lives.[4]
The RNLI would provide an additional second lifeboat in 1867, Caister No.2 Lifeboat, a smaller 32-foot lifeboat named Boys (ON 18), thanks to a donation from the Routledge magazine for boys. In 1875, Caister No.2 boat Boys would be renamed Godsend, following a donation by Lady Jane Barbara Bourchier (1810–1884) of Hampton Court Palace.[5] Lady Bourchier had previously funded a boat, also the Godsend, at Chapel Lifeboat Station in Lincolnshire. In 1878, donations from the Covent Garden Lifeboat Funds would be appropriated to the Caister No.1 lifeboat, it being renamed Covent Garden. This would then be the first of three Caister lifeboats to carry that name.[6][7]
Covent Garden was launched on 25 March 1879 to the aid of the brigCato, wrecked on Haisborough Sands whilst on passage from Arendal to Calais. All eight crew were rescued.[8] On 6 November 1880, sixteen crew were rescued from the steamshipSwan, aground on Haisborough Sands. 10 days later, on 16 March 1880, 17 survivors were rescued from the steamshipRingdove, which had run aground on Cross Sand.[9][10]
In 1887, a new lifeboat building was built, located approx. 1⁄4 mile (0.40km) to the south of Beach road, and known as the "white shed". The shed was used just for equipment storage, with the lifeboats standing on the beach.[4]
Launching just after 4:00am on 8 November 1899, Caister No.2 lifeboat Beauchamp (ON 327) would save the lives of eight men from the luggerPalestine, stranded on Cockle Sand. Setting anchor and veering down, the lifeboat was washed on top of the partly sunken vessel, causing considerable damage to her bow. With waves crashing over both boats, the master and a boy from the vessel had a lucky escape, being pulled from the water, after having jumped and missed the lifeboat. With all eight aboard, the lifeboat moved clear, and then waited until daybreak, at which point the tug Gleaner was signalled, and she towed the lifeboat back to Caister. In her 9-years of service, Beauchamp would be launched 81 times, and save 146 lives. [11]
Launched on 29 January 1919 to the aid of the barquentineNimrod, aground on Barber Sands, Coxswain John Haylett of the Covent Garden (ON 431) was injured, and died some weeks later. Only two crew of the Nimrod survived, making it ashore in the ships boat.[12][13]
In 1929, the Caister No.1 lifeboat was withdrawn, and that 'station' was closed. James Leath (ON 607) was transferred to Aldeburgh, serving there until 1936. The boat is now preserved as part of the RNLI Heritage Collection at Chatham Historic Dockyard.[14]
It would be 1941 before Caister got their first motor-powered lifeboat, a single-engine Liverpool-class lifeboat. A new boathouse was constructed on the site of the White Shed to house the boat for the first time, and also for the first time, the lifeboat was transported on a carriage, using a Clayton tractor (T12). This boathouse is currently the Caister Lifeboat Heritage Museum.[15]
In 1964, Caister got a new 37-foot 8-knot Oakley-class lifeboat, 37-11 The Royal Thames (ON 978), the first self-righting lifeboat to be placed at Caister. Her time at Caister, however, was short-lived. A coastal review by the RNLI in the late 1960s deemed that there was sufficient local lifeboat cover, with a faster 16-knot Waveney-class lifeboat now at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston, just 6 miles (9.7km) to the south. In 1969, after 112 years, the RNLI withdrew from Caister Lifeboat Station.[2]
Caister held the record for the most lives saved by any lifeboat station in the British Isles, and there was a public outcry at the closure. Caister Volunteer Rescue Service (CVRS) was formed, and took over on the same day as the RNLI withdrew.[3]
The service still operates today, as Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service, and further details can be found at:
Just after 11:00pm on 13 November 1901, Cockle light-ship fired a signal, indicating a ship in distress on Barber Sands. First attempts to launch the lifeboat Beauchamp failed, the boat being washed off the skids, and it wasn't until 2:00am that the boat was finally launched. Most of the launchers headed home for dry clothing, but 78-year-old James Haylett Snr, former Asst.Coxswain stayed on watch, having two sons, two grandsons, and a son-in-law on board. Not long after, cries for help were heard. The 5-ton Beauchamp had capsized on the shore, trapping the crew underneath. James Haylett Snr, along with Frederick Haylett, was instrumental in the rescue of the three survivors, Charles Knights, John Hubbard, and James' grandson Walter Haylett. Without food or dry clothing, he remained with the boat until it was finally righted at 11:30am, and the last of the bodies recovered.[16]
At the subsequent inquest of the 1901 Caister lifeboat disaster, when questioned if the lifeboat had abandoned its mission, James replied "They would never give up the ship. If they had to keep at it 'til now, they would have sailed about until daylight to help her. Going back is against the rules when we see distress signals like that." In the press, it was reported that he said "Caister Men Never Turn Back".
A memorial was erected in Caister cemetery, and a new stained glass window in the parish church was dedicated to the disaster. At a ceremony at Sandringham House on 6 January 1902, King Edward VII, Patron of the RNLI, and George Prince of Wales, and RNLI president, presented James Haylett Snr., Launcher and former Asst. Coxswain, with the RNLI Gold Medal.[17][18]
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