Hayling Island Lifeboat Station

Hayling Island Lifeboat Station
Hayling Island Lifeboat Station.
Location of Hayling Island Lifeboat station within Hampshire
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	Hayling Island Lifeboat Station, Bracklesham Road, Hayling Island, PO11 9SJ
Country	England
Coordinates	50°46′53.9″N0°56′12.3″W / 50.781639°N 0.936750°W / 50.781639; -0.936750
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Hayling Island Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution station ^{[1] [2]} located on Hayling Island in the English county of Hampshire, ^[3] on the eastern side of the island at the entrance to Chichester Harbour where it joins the major shipping route of the Solent, and is opposite the village of West Wittering. This major shipping route is busy at all times of the year and there are estimated to be 10,000 ^[1] boats in the Chichester area alone. The Hayling Island station provides cover for the area 24 hours a day, all year, by means of two inshore rigid inflatable lifeboats placed on this station. ^[1]

History

The original boathouse is now unrecognisable as it has been incorporated into a structure now used as a public house and restaurant

1865–1924: original station

The second lifeboat house on Hayling Island, built in 1914 with doors at either end of the building. It closed when the island's lifeboat service was closed in 1924. Today it is used by the Army Cadet Force

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) first opened a lifeboat station on Hayling Island in 1865 after a pair of marine incidents in 1862 and 1865 made it clear that regular lifeboat coverage was required at Hayling. In each incident, local fishermen had been required to step in and rescue the crews of wrecked vessels, despite lacking proper lifesaving equipment and training. ^[4] In February 1865, a location was found for a boathouse and an order placed for a self-righting lifeboat for Hayling. ^[5] The station was officially opened on 13 September 1865 with the naming of the new lifeboat called RNLB Olive Leaf, was blessed by the Bishop of Chichester Ashurst Gilbert.^{[ citation needed ]} The first boathouse was built at a cost of cost of £259 10s 0d and was used until 1913. The original structure is still standing, although not in its original form: it has been incorporated into a structure used as a public house and restaurant. ^[6]

In 1888, Hayling received the Charlie and Adrian (ON 146), a self-righting lifeboat, which remained on station until 1914. ^[7]

In 1914 a new lifeboat, the Rubie-class Proctor (ON 640), was allocated to Hayling. ^[7] As she was larger than the previous two lifeboats, a new boathouse was required. The new boathouse was built two miles to the east of the original, at a cost of £900. ^[7]

The original all-weather lifeboat service at Hayling island operated for a total of 59 years until closure on 15 May 1924. The RNLI decided to close the station as the neighbouring stations at Selsey ^[8] to the south-east, and Bembridge ^[9] to the south west on the Isle of Wight, both operated more modern and faster motor lifeboats which, by the 1920s, were deemed to be more effective given the shipping patterns and the type of vessels now operating in the Solent.^{[ citation needed ]} The 1914 boathouse still stands on the seafront and today is used by the Army cadets. ^[10]

1966–1980: private lifeboat station and re-opening

By the 1950s, increased use of pleasure craft along the Hayling coastline had led to a corresponding increase in marine incidents which required lifeboat services. In 1966, a local man and his two sons started an unofficial rescue service and patrol on the island, using an old RNLI inflatable to patrol the coast and provide faster local response times. The fledgling service was run from a caravan located next to the coastguard station. A Land Rover was used to launch the boat and the lifeboat was powered with a 40 hp Evinrude outboard motor. Their tiny organisation became part of the Shore Boat Rescue Scheme, an RNLI-recognised scheme.

This independent service formalised in 1971 as the Hayling Island Sea Rescue and Research Organisation (HISRrO), which launched for rescue services and undertook patrols along the area's coast and inland estuaries. ^[11] It also researched rescue procedures and methods for divers. In 1975 the HISRrO and the RNLI agreed to operate a joint service and in 1975 the partnership began operating from a new boathouse at Sandy Point. The RNLI placed an Atlantic 21 Inshore Life Boat (ILB) on station. The two organisations worked alongside each other until 1978, when they agreed to discontinue their joint association. Sole administration for the station and service was taken over by the RNLI. HISRrO continued to operate independently after the split until closing in August 1992. ^[12]

In 1980, launch facilities at the boathouse were improved with the installation of a launch ramp. In November 1980 the station also received a new Atlantic 21 inshore lifeboat, the first to be designed and built for the Hayling Island station. ^[7]

2004–present: hovercraft and new station

The Hayling island boathouse at Sandy Point, built in 1994/95 to house both the Atlantic 75 ILB and inflatable D-class lifeboat. It was redeveloped in 2007. It replaced the boathouse built in 1974 to house the first ILB's on station

In June 2004 the RNLI sent a hovercraft, Hurley Spirit (H-005), for trials at Hayling island.^{[ citation needed ]}

Hayling Island Lifeboat Station July 2023. The lifeboats are on trailers and launched across the shingle beach by tractor

Work began on an extensive refurbishment of the station in late 2006 to allow the placement of a new lifeboat, its A85 Do-Do launch carriage, and a launch tractor. The operated out of shipping containers temporarily placed on the station's car park during the rebuild. The new station, which incorporated the old structure, was completed in November 2007 and included a new boat hall with an upper storey. The new station was paid for from legacies of £500,000 from the Lusty family and £300,000 provided by Gwendoline Prince and the Hudson family. ^[7]

The Hayling Island inshore lifeboat Derrick Battle (B-829) just after launch during a lifeboat demonstration 3 km from West Wittering, West Sussex. The Lifeboat open day on 1 August 2009

The two current lifeboats are an Atlantic 85-class lifeboat and a D-class (IB1) lifeboat. ^[7] The Atlantic 85 inshore lifeboat is called Derrick Battle (B-829) and arrived on station on 26 February 2009. It is fitted with radar interlaced into the GPS system and VHF direction finding gear. The lifeboat is equipped with two 115 hp Yamaha outboard engines and has the capability of thirty five knots. ^[7] The second lifeboat is a smaller D-class inflatable lifeboat and is called Jacob (D-779). It arrived on station in 2015 and is an IB1 type boat powered by a 50hp outboard engine giving her a top speed of twenty five knots. ^[7]

Hayling Island Lifeboats

All Weather Boats

ON [lower-alpha 1]	Name	In service [13]	Class	Comments
−	Olive Leaf	1865−1888	32-foot Self-Righting (P&S)	[14]
146	Charlie and Adrian	1888−1914	34-foot 1in Self-Righting (P&S)
640	Proctor	1914−1924	35-foot Self-Righting (P&S)	Station closed, 1924

Inshore Lifeboats

B-class Lifeboats

Op.No. [lower-alpha 2]	Name	In service [13]	Class	Comments
B-511	Co-Operative No. 1	1975–1980	B-class (Atlantic 21)
B-548	Aldershot	1980−1994	B-class (Atlantic 21)
B-541	Elizabeth Bestwick	1994−1995	B-class (Atlantic 21)
B-526	Un-named	1995	B-class (Atlantic 21)
B-712	Betty Battle	1995−2009	B-class (Atlantic 75)
B-829	Derrick Battle	2009−	B-class (Atlantic 75)

D-class Lifeboats

Op.No. [lower-alpha 2]	Name	In service [13]	Class	Comments
D-398	Victory Wheelers	1995–1996	D-class (EA16)
D-496	Leonard Stedman	1996−2005	D-class (EA16)
D-642	Amanda James and Ben	2005−2015	D-class (IB1)
D-779	Jacob	2015−	D-class (IB1)

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.

Station Honours

The following are awards made at Hayling Island ^{[15] [16]}

• RNLI Silver Medal

William Goldring - 1862

James Spraggs - 1862

David Farmer - 1862

Major Francis W Festing, Royal Marine Artillery - 1865

Roderick James, crew member - 1982

Roderick James, Helmsman - 1993 (Second Service Award)

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1993

• RNLI Bronze Medal

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1981

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1982 (Second Service Award)

Graham Raines, crew member - 1989

• The Ralph Glister Award 1980
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1981

Trevor Pearce, - 1981

Graham Wickham - 1981

• The Ralph Glister Award 1981
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

Roderick James, crew member - 1982

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1982

• The Ralph Glister Award 1988
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1989

Graham Raines, crew member - 1989

Roderick James, crew member - 1989

• The Ralph Glister Award 1992
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

Roderick James, Helmsman - 1993

Warren Hayles, crew member - 1993

Christ Reed, crew member - 1993

• The Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award 1988
  (for the outstanding inshore lifeboat rescue of the year)

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1989

Graham Raines, crew member - 1989

Roderick James, crew member - 1989

• The Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award 1992
  (for the outstanding inshore lifeboat rescue of the year)

Roderick James, Helmsman - 1993

Warren Hayles, crew member - 1993

Christ Reed, crew member - 1993

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Trevor Pearce, - 1981

Graham Wickham - 1981

Graham Raines, crew member - 1982

Trevor Pearce, shore helper - 1982

Nigel Roper, shore helper - 1982

David B Sigournay, crew member - 1987

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1989

Roderick James, crew member - 1989

Christopher Reed, crew member - 1993

Warren Hayles, crew member - 1993

Evan Lampard, crew member - 1993

Damien Taylor, crew member - 1993

• A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution

Patrick Lamperd, Helmsman - 1978

Dr Richard Newman, Honorary Medical Adviser - 1978

Frank Dunster, crew member - 1978

Brian Quinton, crew member - 1978

Roderick James, Helmsman - 1988

Frank Dunster, Helmsman - 1988

Richard Mumford, crew member - 1993

Graham Raines, Helmsman - 2001

Evan Lamperd, crew member - 2001

Peter Hanscombe, Helmsman - 2010

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Graham Raines, Helmsman - 2004 ^[17]

• Chichester Harbour Conservancy grant the Freedom of the Harbour

Hayling Island Lifeboat Station - 2006

See also

• List of RNLI stations
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats

References

1. "Hayling Island Lifeboat Station". Hayling Lifeboats.org. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
2. "Hayling Island Lifeboat Station". RNLI. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
3. OS Explorer Map 120 – "Chichester, South Harting and Selsey". Southampton: Ordnance Survey. April 2009. ISBN   978-0-319-24079-3.
4. Leach, Nicholas (1999). "Hayling Island". Part 2, South Coast of England – Eastbourne to Weston-super-Mare. For Those In Peril – The Lifeboat Service of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Station by Station. Kettering: Silver Link Publishing Ltd. pp. 76–77. ISBN   1-85794-129-2.
5. "Forrestt's Life-Boat Building Yard, Limehouse". Royal Museums Greenwich . 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
6. "Inn on the Beach". innonthebeach.co.uk. 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
7. Leach, Nicholas (2010). Hayling Island Lifeboats. Foxglove Media. ISBN   978-0-95136-569-4.
8. "Selsey Lifeboat Station". RNLI. 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
9. "Bembridge Lifeboat Station". RNLI. 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
10. "Hampshire and Isle of Wight ACF". Army Cadet Force. 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2014.
11. "Hayling Island lifeboat station launches a book". The Hayling Site. OKO Digital. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2014.
12. "Hayling Island Sea Rescue and Research Organisation – Removed charity". Charity Commission . Retrieved 17 February 2014.
13. Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society. pp. 4–132.
14. Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2021). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2021 (2021 ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 2–18.
15. "Hayling Island's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
16. Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN   0 907605 89 3.
17. "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 11 February 2024.