Rhyl Lifeboat Station

Rhyl Lifeboat Station
The Boathouse of Rhyl Lifeboat Station
Rhyl, Denbighshire
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	Marine Parade, Rhyl, UK
Country	Wales, UK
Coordinates	53°19′30.3″N3°29′20.0″W / 53.325083°N 3.488889°W / 53.325083; -3.488889
Opened	1852
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Rhyl Lifeboat Station

Rhyl Lifeboat Station is operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in the North Wales town of Rhyl. For over 150 years, the Lifeboat Crew in Rhyl have been saving lives at sea. The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1852 and the present station was opened in December 2001. The station operates a Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat (ALB), and an D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat (ILB).

History

In 1852, the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariner’s Society placed a lifeboat at Rhyl. Shortly after, in 1853, the lifeboat Gwylan-y-Mor capsized with the loss of six of her crew. ^[1]

In 1963, Rhyl Lifeboat Anthony Robert Marshall (ON 869) was launched on service to the first lifeboat rescue of a hovercraft. ^[2] For this service, the RNLI silver medal for gallantry was awarded to Coxswain Harold Campini.

In 1967, the first D-class ILB Lifeboat (D-141) was put on service in Rhyl to accompany the All-Weather Lifeboat for inshore rescues.

In 1973, the RNLI Bronze medal for gallantry was awarded to Helmsman Don Archer-Jones for the courage and seamanship he displayed when the ILB rescued 2 boys cut off by the tide, and clinging to a perch marking the sewer outfall between Rhyl and Prestatyn, in a gale force westerly wind and a rough sea on 7 August. Crew member Paul Frost was awarded a medal service certificate.

In 2002, The Duke of Kent, presented the lifeboat station with an anniversary Vellum to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Rhyl lifeboat.

Description

The lifeboat station is built on the promenade in Rhyl. The building contains the All-weather lifeboat (ALB) with Shannon Launch and Recovery System (SLARS), Inshore lifeboat (ILB), launched with a marinised County Tractor, and a Land-Rover Defender, used for Search and Rescue operations off the coast of Rhyl. The station also has a short concrete slipway that leads down to the beach. Each boat is kept on a carriage attached to a tractor which propels it down to the water and brings it back after use. A fundraising shop is situated on the west side of the boathouse.

Area of operation

The Shannon-class All-Weather lifeboat at Rhyl has a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h). The lifeboat can cover an area from Colwyn Bay (west) to Mostyn (east). North of the station the All-Weather lifeboat covers the Oil and Gas platforms of the Douglas and Hamilton fields, and also the windfarms of North Hoyle; Rhyl Flats; and the Gwynt-Y-Mor fields. Rhyl Lifeboat is a part of the contingency plan for any evacuation of the rigs. The area also covers the outer approaches to Liverpool. Adjacent ALBs are at Llandudno Lifeboat Station to the west, and Hoylake to the east. There is an ILB station at both Flint and West Kirby to the east.

Notable rescues

• 1962 - ALB, First service ever made by a lifeboat to a hovercraft ^[3]
• 1973 - ILB, Rescue to children stuck on sewer outfall ^[4]
• 1990 - Towyn and Pensarn floods ^[5]
• 2011 - ALB, Rescue kayaker with hypothermia ^[6]
• 2011 - ILB, Rescue to mother and son with hypothermia ^[7]
• 2012 - ALB, Rescue to cargo ship in Llanddulas ^[8]

Station honours

The following are awards made at Rhyl ^{[9] [10]}

• RNLI Silver Medal

Harold Louis Campini, Coxswain - 1962

• RNLI Bronze Medal

Don Archer-Jones, Helmsman - 1973

• Medal Service Certificate

Paul Frost, crew member - 1973

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

the crew of the lifeboat -1962

Donald Jones, Helmsman - 1974

Richard Perrin, crew member - 1974

James Quinn, crew member - 1974

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

Shore Crew - 1962

Martin Jones, Mechanic - 2001

• British Empire Medal

Bruce Arnold Herbert, Coxswain - 1991 ^[11]

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Jean Olive Frost, Manageress of the Rhyl Lifeboat Souvenir Shop - 2008 ^[12]

Paul Frost, crew member - 2011 ^[13]

Martin Peter Jones, Coxswain - 2017 ^[14]

Rhyl lifeboats

All-weather lifeboats

No.1 Station

ON [a]	Op. No. [b]	Name	In service [15]	Class	Comments
Pre-244	–	Gwylan-y-Mor	1852–1856	26-foot Self-righting (P&S)
70	–	Unnamed, Morgan	1856–1868	32-foot Tubular (P&S)
Pre-490	–	Henry Nixson No.2	1868–1869	33-foot Self-righting (P&S)	Relief boat whilst ON 70 repaired
70	–	Unnamed, Morgan	1869–1893	32-foot Tubular (P&S)
287	–	Caroline Richardson	1893–1897	35-foot 7in Tubular (P&S)
398	–	Caroline Richardson	1897–1939	34-foot Tubular (P&S)
835	–	The Gordon Warren	1939–1949	Surf
869	–	Anthony Robert Marshall	1949–1968	Liverpool
993	37-22	Har Lil	1968–1990	Oakley
1000	37-29	Mary Gabriel	1990–1992	Rother
1183	12-24	Lil Cunningham	1992–2019	Mersey
1341	13-34	Anthony Kenneth Heard	2019–	Shannon	[16]

No.2 Station

ON [a]	Name	In service [15]	Class	Comments
Pre-457	Jane Dalton	1878–1888	33-foot Self-righting (P&S)
166	Jane Martin	1888–1899	34-foot 2in Self-righting (P&S)

Inshore lifeboats

Op. No. [b]	Name	In service [17]	Class	Comments
D-141	Unnamed	1967–1975	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-243	Unnamed	1976–1987	D-class (Zodiac III)
D-348	Banks' Staff I	1987–1995	D-class (EA16)
D-485	Stafford with Rugeley	1995–2004	D-class (EA16)
D-632	Godfrey and Desmond Nall	2004–2014	D-class (IB1)
D-770	Mary Maxwell	2014–	D-class (IB1)

Launch and recovery tractors (ALB)

Op. No. [b]	Reg. No.	Type	In service [17]	Comments
T6	DM 3318	Clayton	1921–1938
T12	LLY 75	Clayton	1938–1940
T37	GGF 497	Case L	1940–1954
T53	KXT 421	Case LA	1954–1955
T63	PXF 163	Fowler Challenger III	1955–1963
T60	OXO 323	Fowler Challenger III	1963–1972
T67	YLD 792	Fowler Challenger III	1972–1974
T58	OJJ 312	Fowler Challenger III	1974–1975
T68	YUV 742	Fowler Challenger III	1975–1978
T60	OXO 323	Fowler Challenger III	1978–1983
T67	YLD 792	Fowler Challenger III	1983–1984
T92	A462 AUX	Talus MB-H Crawler	1984–1997
T91	UAW 558Y	Talus MB-H Crawler	1997–2007
T93	A496 CUX	Talus MB-H Crawler	2007–2019
SC-T20	HF19 EHH	SLARS (Clayton)	2019–	Violet Rose Saw

Launch and recovery tractors (ILB)

Op. No. [b]	Reg. No.	Type	In service [17]	Comments
TA09	KLG 681Y	Ford 4000	1993–1995
TA25	PHS 545V	County 1184	1995–1998
TA35	Q678 BRM	County 1184	1998–2003
TW33	M562 OUX	Talus MB-764 County	2002–2006
TW31	L526 JUJ	Talus MB-764 County	2006–2008
TW44	S193 RUJ	Talus MB-764 County	2008–2010
ST02	WA54 HRP	Softrak Loglogic	2010–2012
TW05	UJT 151S	Talus MB-764 County	2012–

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.

Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

See also

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

References

1. A Melancholy Catastrophe 1853
2. The World's first rescue by Lifeboat of a hovercraft
3. Rhyl History
4. 1973 - Rhyl - Don Archer-Jones
5. Towyn floods remembered: 20 years on
6. Kayaker rescued five hours after paddling out to windfarm
7. Rhyl RNLI volunteers rescue mother and son with hypothermia
8. Oil leaks from Carrier off Llanddulas after crew saved
9. "Rhyl's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
10. Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN   0 907605 89 3.
11. "British Empire Medal (Civil Division)". The Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
12. "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
13. "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
14. "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
15. Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2021). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2021. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 2–120.
16. Rush, Danielle (7 October 2019). "Historic day planned at Rhyl RNLI to welcome home new £2.5M Shannon". RNLI. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
17. Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 4–132.

External links

• Official RNLI Rhyl Lifeboat Station