A lifeboat was first stationed at Southport by the Southport Lifeboat Society in 1812, but was removed from service by 1817 as it was deemed unsafe. A new boat was provided in 1840.
Following loss of multiple lives along the coast at Southport during the 1980s, there were campaigns for a new lifeboat at Southport in 1987. A new independent lifeboat operated the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust began service in December 1988.
History
Southport Lifeboat Society 1812–1860
In 1812, the Southport Lifeboat Society was established, to provide a lifeboat for Southport, 12 years before the formation of the RNLI. A boat similar to those used by the Liverpool Dock Trustees is thought to have been used, but no specifications of the boat are available. A wooden boathouse was constructed to house the boat. There is only one record of service, on 10 September 1816, when two survivors of 11 crew were rescued from the brigSutton of Dublin, on passage to Liverpool.[2][3]
The boat was crewed by local fishermen, and apparently was not well liked. In 1817, the boat, carriage and boathouse were all sold at public auction, raising £30.[1]
The Rescue 1840-1861
In 1840, Lloyd's agent Lt. H. G. Kellock, RN, recommended that a lifeboat once again be stationed at Southport. With the assistance of local businessman Caesar Lawson, £40 was raised. Further donations from Lloyds, and £50 from the Liverpool Dock Trustees, a boat, of a design by Thomas Costain specifically for the shallow waters of the River Mersey, was ordered from Cato of Liverpool. Lt. Kellock was appointed Honorary Secretary, and the boat, named Rescue, was housed in a wooden boathouse opposite (what is now) Coronation Walk.[1]
The first service of Rescue came on 26 October 1842, to the Liberty of Caernarfon, on passage from Poole to Liverpool. Driven ashore at Birkdale, the five crew were rescued.[4][5]
Rescue would serve for 21 years. Service records are incomplete, but it is thought she was launched at least 25 times, rescuing 175 lives.
RNLI 1860–1925
In 1860, discussions were held between the RNLI and the Southport Lifeboat Society, and it was agreed that the RNLI would take over management of the station. This usually involved some agreement for funds to be raised locally. A new 32-foot Self-righting 'pulling and sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, costing £202, was ordered from Forrestt of Limehouse, and a 40-foot brick boathouse was constructed by William Wright and Sons, costing £150. On 7 September 1861, a grand procession took place, and the lifeboat was hauled through the town to the boathouse. The boat, and all her equipment, had been funded by a gift of Mr J. Knowles of Bolton, and was named Jessie Knowles after his youngest daughter.[1]
On 20 September 1863, Jessie Knowles launched to the aid of the barqueSt. Lawrence, on passage from Liverpool to Cardiff, when she ran aground on Salthouse Bank. In a full westerly gale, the lifeboat took 2½ hours to reach the vessel. The captain, chief officer and two crewmen stayed aboard, but the captains wife and child, and 12 crew, were rescued. The boat was eventually recovered to Lytham, with the help of both Southport and Lytham lifeboat crews.[6][7]
The Jessie Knowles was launched to the aid of the barqueTamworth on 29 October 1863, on passage from Liverpool to Havana, when she ran aground on Trunk Hill Bank. 3 hours hard rowing were needed to reach the vessel, but eventually the lifeboat got alongside, and 17 crew were rescued.[8][9]
On the 9 December 1886, the German barqueMexico was driven ashore at Trunk Hill Brow, Ainsdale. Much has been documented about the Mexico disaster. All 13 crewmen aboard the St Annes lifeboat Laura Janet, and 14 of 16 crew of the Southport lifeboat Eliza Fearnley, were lost, the greatest ever disaster for the RNLI. As it turned out, the Southport and St Annes boats need not have launched at all, as all 12 crew aboard the Mexico had already been rescued by the Lytham lifeboat. No medals or commendations were received from the RNLI at Southport, but the station was awarded a silver medal by the Societe des Sauveteurs, Medailles du Gouvernement de la Gironde, for courage and devotion to duty.[10][11][12][13]
Southport lifeboat disaster memorial Duke Street Cemetery, Southport
The Eliza Fearnley was returned to RNLI HQ, and subsequently broken up. The Southport lifeboat was quickly replaced, arriving on station on 22 December 1886. The new boat, a 34-foot (10-oared) Self-righting lifeboat, was provided from funds from an anonymous gentleman from Lancashire, via the New Brighton branch of the RNLI, and was named Mary Anna (ON 72).
She would later be housed in a new boathouse constructed in 1886, located at the southern end of the promenade. The boathouse survives to this day. In the following 18 years on station, she would be launched only twice.[1]
Southport lifeboat monument Southport promenade
After the Mexico disaster, the crew requested a bigger sailing lifeboat, and a second station was established, with a 42-foot 6in long non-self-righting Watson-class (P&S) lifeboat, moored at the end of the pier. Built by the Barrow Naval Company, the boat was sailed down to Southport in June 1888. Funded from a gift of £750 from two local philanthropists, the Misses MacRae, at a ceremony on the 28 June, the boat was named Edith and Annie (ON 208). Later that same day, ceremonies would be held to unveil the memorials constructed to remember the Mexico Disaster.[1][14]
Edith and Annie was the much preferred boat, and would launch 9 times in 14 years, and save 12 lives. In July 1902, she was immediately withdrawn, when found to be unfit for service. It would be 2 years before she was replaced, by the John Harling (ON 518), another Watson-class lifeboat, which arrived on 18 June 1904. Six months later, the Mary Anna was withdrawn after 18-years service, and the No.1 station closed. A reserve lifeboat, The Three Brothers (ON 241), built in 1889 and formerly at Whitelink Bay, would be placed at the promenade boathouse, to be used for demonstration purposes.[1]
The last effective service of Southport lifeboat John Harling, was to the aid of the steamshipChrysopolis of Genoa on 21 February 1918. The vessel had run aground on Horse Bank some days earlier, but all attempts to refloat the vessel failed. When the weather deteriorated, the vessel broke her back, and the lifeboat rescued the 42 people aboard.[15]
By 1925, silting of the coast was so serious, that the lifeboat could only be launched in a 2-hour window every high tide. As a result, it was decided to close the station. Southport Lifeboat closed on 30 April 1925.[1][16]
John Harling (ON 518) was sold locally for use as a pleasure boat. In 1927, the demonstration boat The Three Brothers was relocated to Cork, and the boathouse on the promenade was returned to the landowner.[17]
After over 60 years as a council store, the boathouse would serve many years as the home of the Southport Offshore Rescue Trust, from 1988 until 2022.[1]
Southport Offshore Rescue Trust 1988–present
Southport Lifeboat was reformed following accidents off the coast where local men lost their lives. After the accidents in 1987, bereaved relatives started a campaign to bring a lifeboat back to Southport. In December 1988 the first boat since 1925 came on station at Southport.
She was a 6 m (20 ft) Carson rigid inflatable (RIB), originally powered by twin 40 hp (30 kW) Mariner outboards, but refitted in 1995 with a single 85 hp (63 kW) Suzuki and a 10 hp (7.5 kW) auxiliary engine. She had self-righting capability, integral fuel tanks and a top speed of around 30 knots. She was named the Geoff Clements after one of the young men who perished in the 1987 accidents.
In 1995 a new Lifeboat was brought into service. The Bessie Worthington was a 6.6 m (22 ft) RIB manufactured by Delta Power Services in Stockport for the Southport Lifeboat’s requirements, meeting all the necessary specifications including SOLAS (The international organisation for Safety of Life at Sea). The boat was originally powered by twin 90HP Suzuki outboard engines. These were changed to 90HP Mariners in 1998. The Bessie Worthington had full self-righting capability activated by the crew after the unlikely event of capsize by pulling handles on the outside of the transom. Delta were responsible for supplying all the electrics and navigation systems (GPS Radio, echo sounder, EPIRB).
During the years following the millennium two quad bikes and a former RNLI D-class Inshore lifeboat, were added to the equipment. The bikes are invaluable for fast response and for searching large areas of beach quickly. The D-class allows a good platform for crew training as well as for searching the shallow waters north of Southport Pier and providing invaluable backup to the main boat.
In early 2005, a campaign was launched to replace the Bessie Worthington. An ambitious target of £120,000 was set to purchase a VT Halmatic Arctic 24. By September 2006, enough money had been raised to commission VT Halmatic to start building the boat. Unfortunately whilst the remainder of the funds were being raised, the price had gone up, and by the time delivery was made, the boat had cost around £140,000. The Heather White came into service in May 2007.
With the opening of a charity shop in Birkdale in 2005, the Southport Lifeboat have been able to continually update the kit available for the crew.
The engines on the Heather White were upgraded from twin 135 hp (101 kW) to twin 150 hp (110 kW) outboards, and are now continually replaced after three years of service.
In 2016, the Trust bought a new D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat from the RNLI, which was then named Christopher Taylor, after a Southport man who drowned in the River Avon at Bath.
The Honda ATV quad bikes used are also replaced every three years before signs of corrosion from the harsh environment cause problems. In 2018, the trust switched to Can-Am ATVs, adding a third quad to the team in January 2021.
In January 2022, the new Southport Lifeboat Station opened on Marine Drive. The building was dedicated to founder of the charity, Kath Wilson, in respect of her fundraising efforts at the lifeboat Shop, which paid for the majority of the building.
Station honours
The following are awards made at Southport.[1][18]
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