Poole Lifeboat Station

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Poole Lifeboat Station
Flag of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.svg
Flag of the RNLI
Poole Lifeboat Station (2024).JPG
The boathouse and crew building in 2024
Dorset UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Map of Poole showing Poole
General information
TypeLifeboat station
LocationThe Quay, Poole, BH15 1HZ
CountryEngland
Coordinates 50°42′46″N1°59′32″W / 50.7127°N 1.9921°W / 50.7127; -1.9921
Opened1865 at Sandbanks
1882 at Fisherman's Dock
1974 at Lilliput Marina
1989 at Poole Bridge
Owner RNLI
Website
RNLI: Poole lifeboat station

Poole Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Poole, Dorset in England. The first lifeboat was stationed at Poole Harbour in 1865 and the present station was opened in 1988.

Contents

Since November 2016 it has operated two inshore lifeboats, an Atlantic 85 and a D class.

History

The first boathouse was built in 1865 at Sandbanks by the narrow entrance to the large, natural Poole Harbour. [1] [2] [3] This was remote from the house in Poole which meant that the crew had to be collected by horse-drawn coach from the Antelope Hotel in the High Street and taken to Sandbanks. [4]

In 1882 a new boathouse was built on land leased from Poole Corporation on the Fisherman's Dock at the east end of Poole Quay. A dedicated slipway was built in front of the boathouse in 1897 as the public slipway was often blocked by other boats. In 1887 a flagstaff had been erected so that messages could be exchanged with Sandbanks. At this time the crew was summoned to launches by a signal rocket. In 1892 this was changed to a signal mortar but this reverted to rockets in 1914 as the mortar being discharged could be mistaken for an explosion at the nearby gas works. [4]

Thomas Kirk Wright (ON 811) RNLB Thomas Kirk Wright in Poole Lifeboat Museum (8937).jpg
Thomas Kirk Wright (ON 811)

The last 'pulling and sailing' lifeboat at Poole, Harmar (ON 608), was withdrawn in 1939. It was replaced by a Surf motor lifeboat, Thomas Kirk Wright (ON 811). On 30 May 1940, Thomas Kirk Wright sailed to Dunkirk as one of boats summoned for Operation Dynamo, and was the first of 19 lifeboats to arrive there. It was crewed by the Royal Navy but was damaged by enemy fire. After repairs, a second trip across the channel was made on 2 June 1940, before eventually returning to normal duties at Poole. [4]

An inflatable Inshore Rescue Boat was placed on station in 1964 but withdrawn in 1970, although by this time a 'Dell Quay Dory' was also in use. After a succession of 'rigid' lifeboats, the last one, a Boston Whaler Outrage, Sam and Iris Coles (A-513), was withdrawn from service in 1994, replaced initially by a B-class (Atlantic 21) Rigid inflatable boat, and a new B-class (Atlantic 75) Inshore lifeboat in 1995. [4]

The boathouse at Fisherman's Dock was closed in 1974 and a new station opened with the Poole Harbour Yacht Club at Lilliput Marina. Another move came in 1989 when the lifeboat was moved back to Poole Quay, but this time at the west end beneath Poole Bridge. The following year new crew facilities and storerooms were constructed by adding a two-storey extension to the police office on Poole Quay.

In 1994 a floating boathouse was placed next to the lifeboat mooring for the new ILB that took up service at Poole the following year. [4]

In November 2016, with the advent of 25 knot boats at flanking stations, the RNLI decided to withdraw the all-weather lifeboat from Poole and stationed a D-class inflatable to work alongside the existing Atlantic 85. [5]

Poole Old Lifeboat Museum

The Lifeboat Museum Poole lifeboat museum.jpg
The Lifeboat Museum

A year after the boathouse at Fisherman's Dock was closed in 1974, the old boathouse became an RNLI museum. It was handed back to the council in 1991. [4]

The centrepiece of the museum is the Surf-class lifeboat Thomas Kirk Wright, on loan from the National Maritime Museum. [6] This had been operated from Poole when the station was in the same building on Fisherman's Dock. It was the station's first motor lifeboat, built in 1939 and withdrawn in 1962. [7] In 1940 it had been one of the lifeboats involved in the Dunkirk evacuation. [6]

Description

The crew facilities and storeroom occupies one part of a larger brick-built building facing the water on Poole Quay. The upper floor is set into the roof with a large window overlooking the lifeboat's pontoon. The floating boathouse for the ILBs is moored alongside this pontoon adjacent to the Lifting Bridge.

Station honours

The following are awards made at Poole [4] [8]

Capt. Charles Howe Fremantle, RN, Commander of H.M. Coastguard, Lymington – 1824
George Barnes – 1824
Stephen Curtis – 1824
Lt. Joseph Elwin, RN - 1825
Lt. Thomas Parsons, RN – 1853
The Right Hon. The Viscount Bury, MP – 1868
Charles Pride – 1868
Richard Stokes, Coxswain – 1882
Richard Wills, Coxswain – 1906
Thomas Wills – 1906
John Wills – 1906
Richard Cartridge – 1906
Henry Russell – 1906
David Coles, crew member – 1986
Steven Vince, crew member – 1986
Raymond Collin, crew member – 1986
Steve Vince, Coxswain – 1995
Robert Doak, crew member – 1995
Geoffrey Langley, crew member – 1995
Gavin McGuiness, Helmsman – 2001
Anne Millman, crew member – 2001
Paul Savage, crew member – 2001

Poole lifeboats

Pulling and sailing lifeboats

At PooleONNameBuiltClassComments
1865–1880—Manley Wood1864 Peake 34 ft (10 m) boat. Renamed Joseph and Mary in 1879. [2] [3] [9]
1880–1897188Joseph and Mary,
Boy's Own No. 2		1880 Self-Righter 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) boat. [10]
1897–1910316City Masonic Club1892 Watson 38 ft 1 in (11.61 m) boat. [11]
1910–1939608Harmar1910Self-Righter37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) boat. [12]

Motor lifeboats

At PooleONOp. No.NameBuiltClassComments
1939–1962811—Thomas Kirk Wright1939 Surf Sold 1964. Now on display in the Old Lifeboat House at Poole. [13] [7]
1962–1969891—Bassett-Green1951 Liverpool Sold in 1969. Reported in May 2018 to be in private ownership at Campbeltown. [14]
1969–1971873—George Elmy1950 Liverpool Capsized on service at Seaham 17 November 1962 with nine lives lost.

Sold September 1972. Restored to original condition and on display at Seaham Harbour from July 2013. [15] [14]

1971–1974872—J B Couper of Glasgow1949 Liverpool Sold February 1976 and renamed Etoile Du Nord (GU5045). It is on display at the Peninsular Hotel, Vale, Guernsey. [14]
1974–1983102944-011Augustine Courtauld1974 Waveney Sold 1999 as a lifeboat with the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol in Australia where it was named P&O Nedlloyd Strathaird. Later resold and regained the name Augustine Courtauld as a work boat for Melbourne Charter Services, Melbourne. [16] [17]
1983–2001108933-07Inner Wheel1983 Brede Sold 2002 as a lifeboat for South Africa and still in service in December 2023 at Hout Bay as Nadine Gordimer (Rescue 8). [18]
2001–2016113147-023City of Sheffield1988 Tyne Now preserved at the Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield. [19]

Inshore lifeboats

A-class

On StationOp. No.NameClassModelComments
1967–1969A-2—A Hatch Previously ALB No. 18-03 [20]
1969–1972A-502—A Hatch Previously ALB No. 17-003 [20]
1971A-503—A McLachlan Previously ALB No. 18-02 [20]
1972–1973A-500—A Hatch Previously ALB No. 17-001 [20]
1974–1975A-501Bob AbbotA Hatch Previously ALB No. 17-002 [20]
1975–1985A-502—A Hatch Previously ALB No. 17-003. [20]
1985–1994A-513Sam and Iris ColesA Boston Whaler [21]

D-class

On StationOp. No.NameClassModelComments
1965–1967D-69—D RFD PB16 [22]
1967–1970D-46—D RFD PB16 [22]
D-class withdrawn 1970–2016
2016–2017D-798John WickensD IB1 [23]
2017–D-804Gladys Maud BurtonD IB1 [24]

B-class

On StationOp. No.NameClassModelComments
1975B-8—BTrial boat [21]
1977B-8—BTrial boat [21]
1994–1995B-548AldershotB Atlantic 21 [25]
1995–2008B-710Friendly Forrester IIB Atlantic 75 [26]
2008B-736Toshiba Wave WarriorB Atlantic 75 [26]
2008–B-826 Sgt Bob Martin
(Civil Service No.50) 		B Atlantic 85 [27]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society. p. 105.
  2. 1 2 "Additional Stations and New Life-Boats". Life-Boat. Vol. 5, no. 58. 1865. p. 728.
  3. 1 2 "The Life-Boat Stations of the United Kingdom – Poole". Life-Boat. Vol. 11, no. 119. 1881. pp. 221–222.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Poole's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  5. ↑ "Poole's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Poole Old Lifeboat Museum". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  7. 1 2 Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 36–37.
  8. ↑ Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN   0907605893.
  9. ↑ Softley, Michael (2000). The brancaster Lifeboats 1874–1935 (1st ed.). Norfolk & Suffolk Research Group. p. 12. ISBN   0952279940.
  10. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 10.
  11. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 14–15.
  12. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 26–27.
  13. ↑ "Thomas Kirk Wright". The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  14. 1 2 3 Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 38–39.
  15. ↑ "National Register of Historic Vessels – George Elmy". National Historic Ships UK. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  16. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 46–47.
  17. ↑ Leach, Nicholas (2001). The Waveney Lifeboats. Bernard McCall. pp. 60–61. ISBN   1-902953-01-0.
  18. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 48–49.
  19. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 50–51.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 87.
  21. 1 2 3 Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 88.
  22. 1 2 Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 73.
  23. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 84.
  24. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 85.
  25. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 67.
  26. 1 2 Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 68.
  27. ↑ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 70.
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