Rye Harbour Lifeboat Station is located at the end of Harbour Road, on the west bank of the River Rother estuary, in the village of Rye Harbour, in the county of East Sussex.
A lifeboat first operated from Martello Tower No.31 at Dogs Hill, Winchelsea, from 1803. Operations of the station, known at the time as Rye Lifeboat Station, were transferred to the management of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1832, the Institution later becoming the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1854.[1]
The station currently operates a B-class (Atlantic 85) Inshore lifeboat, Hello Herbie II (B-900), on station since 2017.[2]
History
Rye Lifeboat Station dates back to 1803, when a Henry Greathead lifeboat was placed at the coastguard station at Martello Tower No.31, at Dogs Hill, Winchelsea. No further details are available.[3]
In 1832, operations were transferred to the management of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1833. A new 25-foot (6-oared) lifeboat, designed by Palmer, was built by Harton of Limehouse, London, at a cost of £59, was placed at the station.[4]
On 23 January 1834, the brigConrad, on passage from Batavia to Rotterdam, was wrecked near Rye, East Sussex. Four of the crew drowned. The vessel broke up, and washed ashore, but the Master and seven more crew were rescued by the coastguard. Lt. Richard Morgan and Lt. John Somerville were each awarded the RNIPLS Silver Medal.[5]
A new branch of the RNLI was established at Rye in 1856, and a new boathouse costing £93-8s-5d was constructed by local residents, to the west of Rye Harbour, close to Winchelsea Coastguard Station, midway between the River Rother estuary, and Martello Tower 31. A two-year-old 27-foot x 7-foot 6in (8-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was transferred to Rye from Dungeness, having been found too heavy for the previous location.[6]
In 1862, a 30-foot self-righting lifeboat was transferred to Rye from Winterton. Comparing the RNLI Annual Reports, between 1862 and 1863, it was decided to rename Rye Lifeboat Station as Winchelsea Lifeboat Station, and to confuse matters, Camber Lifeboat Station was renamed Rye Lifeboat Station.[8][9]
On 13 February 1864, William C. Buck, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal, for the rescue of just one man, the Master, of the five crew of the fishing boat Thetis, but this was at the cost of coastguard man, George Terry, who was lost during the rescue.[10]
The first lifeboat would be replaced after just five years, in 1867, with a larger 33-foot boat, after a request from the station. The cost of the lifeboat was defrayed, via Mr Frederick Ouvry and Mr W. M. Wilkinson, by the gift of £350 from the Solicitors and Proctors Lifeboat Fund. The new lifeboat and carriage were conveyed to their station free of charge, by the South Eastern Railway Company, who also returned the old boat and carriage to London, again free of charge. As per the wishes of the subscribers, the lifeboat was named Storm Sprite.[11][12]
Soon after 18:45 on 22 December 1877, the Storm Sprite was launched to the aid of the schoonerVier Broders, on passage from Groningen to Portsmouth, when she stranded in low water and later broke up. Four crew were rescued from the rigging.[13][14][15]
1882 Lifeboat House
In 1882, a new lifeboat house was constructed by a local builder, Mr M. Anne, on the shore at Winchelsea, at a cost of £245. Built of pre-cast "no-fines" shingle based concrete, it was funded from RNLI donations.[16]
Both the Rye and Winchelsea lifeboats were launched to the aid of the steamshipMedea on 4 November 1882. 16 crew were taken off the Medea by the Rye lifeboat. The Winchelsea lifeboat was capsized twice during her rescue attempts, and lifeboat man Edward Robus was swept away and drowned.[17][18]
In 1901, Rye Lifeboat Station was closed. Winchelsea lifeboat station was renamed Rye Harbour Lifeboat Station in 1910.[1]
Mary Stanford Lifeboat MemorialMary Stanford Memorial window at Winchelsea Church
Following his death in 1880, the Institution received the sum of £5000, the bequest of the late John Frederick Stanford of Regent's Park, London, to provide a lifeboat to be named as a permanent memorial, in honour of his late mother. At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 7 July 1881, it was decided that the lifeboat be placed at Rye Lifeboat Station. Mary Stanford (ON 236) was on station from 1881–1893.[19]
The funds would provide a second lifeboat in 1916. The 35-foot lifeboat John William Dudley (ON 453), on station since 1900, was replaced with a 38-foot 14-oared non-self-righting Liverpool-class lifeboat, which was named Mary Stanford (ON 661).[20]
At 06:45 on 15 November 1928, Rye Harbour lifeboat Mary Stanford (ON 661) was launched into a south-west gale, to the aid of the Alice of Riga, Latvia, which had collided with another vessel, the Smyrna of Germany. Only five minutes after launching, news was received that the crew of the Alice had been rescued by the Smyrna, and the recall signal was fired three times - but it was never heard. Entering the harbour on its return nearly four hours later at 10:30, the lifeboat capsized. All 17 lifeboatmen were lost.[21]
A memorial stained glass window was placed in Winchelsea Church. It depicts a lifeboat putting out to a ship in distress while figures on the shore watch it as it goes. A memorial tablet made of Manx stone was presented to Rye Harbour, by the people of the Isle of Man.[1]
A lifeboat was never replaced, and Rye Harbour lifeboat station (at Winchelsea) officially closed soon afterwards.[1]
The lifeboat Mary Stanford (ON 661) was withdrawn from service, and broken up in 1929.[20]
1960s onwards
In 1964, in response to an increasing amount of water-based leisure activity, the RNLI placed 25 small fast Inshore lifeboats around the country. These were easily launched with just a few people, ideal to respond quickly to local emergencies.[22]
More stations were opened, and in June 1966, Rye Harbour Lifeboat Station was re-established, with the arrival of a D-class (RFD PB16) Inshore lifeboat, the unnamed (D-105).[23]
In 1996, in preparation for the arrival of a new B-class (Atlantic 75) Inshore lifeboat, a new boathouse to be shared with the National Rivers Authority, was constructed. In addition to housing the Atlantic 85 'Drive-Off - Drive On' (DO-DO) launch carriage, and Talus MB-4H amphibious tractor, new crew facilities were provided, with a kit room, workshop and toilets, and a retail outlet. A new timber slipway and an elevated walkway leading to the boathouse was also constructed. At a double ceremony on 19 October 1996, the boathouse was officially opened, along with the naming of the new B-class (Atlantic 75) lifeboat Commander and Mrs Rodney Wells (B-727).[1][24]
Station honours
The following are awards made at Rye Harbour.[1][25]
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Royal National Lifeboat Institution 
