The James Stevens lifeboats were a series of twenty lifeboats which were purchased by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) using a legacy received in 1894 from the estate of Mr James Stevens, the largest number of RNLI lifeboats funded from a single donation.
The RNLI received a £50,000 legacy in 1894 (equivalent to £6,057,000in 2021) from the estate of Mr James Stevens, a developer, from Edgbaston in Birmingham. [1] [2] This donation provided more lifeboats than any other single donation received by the RNLI. [1]
The 20 lifeboats were built between 1896 and 1901, during which time they accounted for 22% of the 90 lifeboats built: [3]
| Year | James Stevens' legacy | Other new lifeboats |
|---|---|---|
| 1896 | 1 | 12 |
| 1897 | 0 | 10 |
| 1898 | 2 | 9 |
| 1899 | 8 | 7 |
| 1900 | 6 | 11 |
| 1901 | 3 | 21 |
| Total | 20 | 70 |
James Stevens No. 1 entered service in 1896, followed by the other 19 between 1898 and 1901. They were built to several different designs and sizes to suit the needs of their stations. James Stevens No. 4, James Stevens No. 5 and James Stevens No. 13 were all lost in service between 1900 and 1917, the remainder being withdrawn between 1917 and 1933.
As was usual at this time, most were 'pulling and sailing' lifeboats, provided with oars but also fitted with sails for when conditions allowed their use. James Stevens No. 3 and James Stevens No. 4 were both built with steam engines, while James Stevens No. 14 was fitted with a petrol engine in 1906.
Two of the lifeboats, James Stevens No. 10 and James Stevens No. 14 have been restored and are kept in the towns where they were stationed.
| Name | ON [lower-alpha 1] | Class | In service [3] | Station | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| James Stevens No. 1 | 401 | Peake | 1896–1917 | Port St Mary | A ten-oared lifeboat that cost £463, launched on 22 services saving 55 lives. [4] |
| James Stevens No. 2 | 413 | Liverpool | 1898–1912 | Campbeltown | Costing £538. In 1900 it was accidentally dropped 14 ft (4.3 m) into the water. It was badly damaged when it was washed onto a ship that it was trying to rescue on 28 December 1908. [5] |
| 1912–1914 | Reserve fleet | ||||
| 1914–1924 | Hilbre Island | ||||
| James Stevens No. 3 | 420 | Steam | 1898–1903 | Grimsby | Built by J. Samuel White. [6] This was one of the RNLI's six steam lifeboats and the first to have only one propeller. [7] |
| 1903–1908 | Gorleston | ||||
| 1908–1915 | Angle | ||||
| 1915–1919 | Totland Bay | ||||
| 1919–1922 | Dover | ||||
| 1922–1928 | Holyhead | ||||
| James Stevens No. 4 | 421 | Steam | 1899–1900 | Padstow | Built by J Samuel White. [6] Wrecked while on service on 11 April 1900; eight of her crew of eleven were drowned. [7] [8] |
| James Stevens No. 5 | 426 | Peake | 1899–1917 | Newquay | Capsized during a practice launch in March 1908 with the loss of one life. It was launched on 17 December 1917 to help the SS Ostenbut was wrecked although the crew managed to get ashore. [9] [10] The remains were found submerged near the Towan Head slipway in 2004. [3] |
| James Stevens No. 6 | 427 | Peake | 1898–1924 | Eastbourne | Cost £612. Withdrawn from service in 1924 but retained as an exhibition until it was sold in 1936. It was broken up at Eastbourne in 1948. [11] |
| James Stevens No. 7 | 429 | Watson | 1899–1926 | Howth | |
| James Stevens No. 8 | 425 | Liverpool | 1899–1913 | Ardrossan | Into service at Ardrossan in 1899, replacing the Charles Skirrow. [12] |
| 1913–1916 | Wells-next-the-Sea | ||||
| 1916–1920 | Reserve fleet | ||||
| James Stevens No. 9 | 430 | Norfolk and Suffolk | 1899–1923 | Southend-on-Sea | Fifty-two lives saved from eleven craft [13] [14] |
| James Stevens No. 10 | 435 | Peake | 1900–1933 | St Ives | Now used for boat-trips at St Ives but was sunk in the Hayle Estuary on 30 December 2015 before being salvaged and restored. [15] [16] [3] |
| James Stevens No. 11 | 438 | Peake | 1900-1912 | New Romney | |
| 1912–1914 | Reserve fleet | ||||
| 1915–1919 | Angle | ||||
| 1919–1920 | Reserve fleet | ||||
| 1920–1928 | Johnshaven | ||||
| James Stevens No. 12 | 436 | Peake | 1900–1903 | The Mumbles | Capsized with the loss of six crew in 1903. [17] |
| James Stevens No. 13 | 439 | Peake | 1900–1925 | Arbroath | |
| James Stevens No. 14 | 432 | Norfolk and Suffolk | 1900–1928 | Walton and Frinton | Fitted with a petrol engine in 1906. Launched 126 times, rescued 227 people. Sold for further use in 1928, by the late 1970s it had lost its engine and become a houseboat. It was returned to Walton-on-the Naze for preservation in 1998. [18] |
| James Stevens No. 15 | 442 | Watson | 1900–1921 | Wexford | |
| James Stevens No. 16 | 445 | Watson | 1900–1930 | Helvick Head | Sold in 1930, by 1972 it was in use as a yacht. [3] |
| James Stevens No. 17 | 451 | Liverpool | 1900–1922 | Porthoustock | |
| James Stevens No. 18 | 452 | Liverpool | 1901–1931 | Girvan | |
| James Stevens No. 19 | 459 | Rubie | 1901–1926 | Newburgh | 15 November 1923, launched to rescue the Aberdeen trawler Imperial Prince, resulting in the crew being awarded two silver and a bronze RNLI medal for bravery. [19] Sold in 1928, by 1970 it had been converted to a yacht. [3] |
| 1926–1928 | Reserve fleet | ||||
| James Stevens No. 20 | 457 | Watson | 1901–1920 | Queenstown | Sold in 1928, by the 1970s it had been converted to a yacht. [3] |
| 1920–1923 | Reserve fleet | ||||
| 1923–1928 | Fenit |
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