Castletown Lifeboat Station is a former RNLI lifeboat station located on the outer harbour at Castletown, a town in the south of the Isle of Man, a British Crown Dependency, and formerly the capital of the island until 1869.
A lifeboat station was established at Castletown by the Royal National Institute for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1826, but ceased to operate by 1851. The station was re-established by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1856.[1]
Castletown Lifeboat Station was closed in 1922.[2]
History
Motivated by the loss of life from shipwreck around the Isle of Man, and his involvement in the rescue of 97 men from HMS Vigilant on 6 October 1822, Douglas resident Sir William Hillary, Bt. published his "Appeal to the Nation" in 1823, and at a public meeting held at the City of London Tavern, Bishopgate on 4 March 1824, was instrumental in the establishment of the (Royal) National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck,[3]
Following his first request for a lifeboat for Douglas in 1824, a second lifeboat was requested, to be placed at Castletown. A 22-foot 6in lifeboat arrived on station in 1826.[4]
On 7 December 1828, the steam packet Earl of Roden of Liverpool was driven on the rocks at Derbyhaven, with 60 passengers on board. The Castletown lifeboat launched at 01:00, with three extra volunteers supplementing the crew. After standing by until 06:00, all were safely landed ashore. The three volunteers, George Quirk, Thomas Brine and William Henry Carrington, were each awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.
By the 1840s, with falling financial support, the RNIPLS was in decline, not helped with the death of Hillary in 1847. It is thought that the Castletown lifeboat ceased to operate sometime between 1842 and 1851.[2]
The fortunes of the RNIPLS were turned around in the early 1850s, and in 1854, the Institution became the RNLI. At a meeting of the committee of management on Thursday 6 Dec 1855, Capt. John R. Ward, Inspector of Lifeboats, reported that the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of ManCharles Hope, and other notable residents, had promised their cooperation for the re-establishment of a branch of the RNLI on the Island. It was decided to commission the construction of a boathouse at Castletown, ready for the arrival of a new lifeboat and carriage.[5][6]
A 27-foot self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with both sails and (8) oars, weighing two tons, along with a transporting carriage, was provided to Castletown in 1856. The boat, which cost £136-2s when new, had initially been placed at Newcastle, but had been found to be too heavy for the location. Lieutenant Governor Charles Hope was appointed president of the Isle of Man Branch of the RNLI.[7]
The first launch was on 15 November 1858, to the luggerQueen of the Isles. Her crew of three were rescued.[8]
In 1865, the Castletown lifeboat was found to be suffering from dry rot. A larger 32-foot self-righting lifeboat and a new carriage were provided. The new boat was funded from the Commercial Travellers Lifeboat Fund, through the efforts of W. Bishop of Boston, Lincs, and Robert Affleck of Stretford, the latter better known as the founder of Affleck and Brown in Manchester. The fund had previously provided a lifeboat for Barrow, Commercial Traveller No.1. With the principal support for the fund coming from the midland counties, the lifeboat was first taken to Sheffield, transported free of charge by the Midland Railway Company, where after being paraded through the streets, the lifeboat was placed on public exhibition in the Botanical Gardens. Miss Jessop, daughter of Thomas Jessop, mayor of Sheffield, was called to name the lifeboat Commercial Traveller No.2. The proceedings would invigorate fundraising for the Sheffield Lifeboat Fund, which went on to provide a lifeboat for Runswick the following year. The lifeboat was then transported to Liverpool, from where it was shipped free of charge by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.[9]
Castletown Lifeboat House, in the shadow of Castle Rushen, c.1900
Commercial Traveller No.2 was launched at 01:00 on the 28 May 1877 to the barqueJunak of Split, Croatia, (then known as Spalato), which was on passage from Alexandria to Glasgow, when it was driven ashore in Castletown Bay. With the regular coxswain absent with illness, the Honorary Secretary Mr Quayle joined the crew. All 14 crew of the Junak were rescued.[10][11]
In 1881, the Institution was the recipient of the bequest of £1500-0s-0d from the late Mrs. S. H. Bradshaw of Reading, Berkshire. The funds were for the provision of three 34-foot self-righting (P&S) lifeboats, all sent to their respective stations in 1885:[12][13]
Coxswain William Callow was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal on 3 June 1886, "In recognition of his long and valuable services".[14][15] Services included:
On the morning of 7 February 1895, a telegram reported a vessel ashore at Port St Mary. It took some while clearing a 6-foot snowdrift, before access could be gained to the lifeboat house. Castletown lifeboat Hope (ON 82) was launched at 09:15, and found the steamshipVigilant of Liverpool, which had been on passage from Burry Port to Belfast with a cargo of coal, aground on a reef. Six men had made shore in a local boat, but the remaining six, clinging to the rigging, were rescued by the lifeboat, and landed at Port St Mary.[16]
The last lifeboat to be stationed at Castletown, was the 35-foot self-righting (P&S) lifeboat Thomas Black (ON 388), funded from the bequest of £1000 from the late Mrs Isabella Black of Eastbourne. A new boathouse with slipway was constructed at the head of the outer harbour, at a cost of £1100-4s-6d, replacing the former boathouse which had been located at the inner harbour, in the shadow of Castle Rushen.[17][18]
On Feb 6 1912, the brigantineAlbion of Portsmouth, on passage from Poole to Ellesmere Port, struck the rocks on the east side of the Langness Peninsula. The Thomas Black was launched at 18:38, and with great difficulty in the strong South-East wind, seven men were rescued and landed at Derbyhaven.[19]
With just one rescue after 1912, and an increasing number of motor-powered vessels less likely to be driven ashore, Castletown Lifeboat Station was closed in 1922. The boathouse was sold the following year, and the lifeboat on station at the time of closure was sold to a private owner in Port St Mary.[20][21]
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