Stornoway Severn-class ALB 17-18 Tom Sanderson (ON 1238)
The station currently operates a Severn-class All-weather lifeboat, 17-18 Tom Sanderson (ON 1238), on station since 1999.[2]
History
After reviewing the report by the Chief Inspector of Lifeboats, following his visit to the Isle of Lewis, at a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 4 November 1886, it was decided to establish a lifeboat station at Stornoway.[3]
"Although the nature of the Coast generally is quite unsuited for Life-boat work, it being rocky, with cliffs averaging from 60 to 100 feet high, it is different at Stornoway, which is a port of considerable trade, besides being frequented as a harbour of shelter in bad weather. In addition a large number of fishing-boats prosecute the herring fishery there during the season. It has therefore been considered prudent to guard against future casualties by establishing a Life-boat at the port."[4]
There were no issues finding sufficient local support and crew members. A lifeboat house was built on Shell Street, at the bottom of Lifeboat Road (now Ferry Road), on land provided by Lady Matheson, and a 140-foot-long concrete slipway was constructed to the waters edge. The total cost of construction was £1000. The site of the lifeboat house is now occupied by an electrical wholesaler.[1][4][5]
The first lifeboat was a 34-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars. A gift of £1000 from Mrs Duguid of Kensington Gore was appropriated to the station, and in accordance with the donor's wishes, the lifeboat was named Isabella (ON 120). Isabella would be the first of four P&S boats stationed at Stornoway until 1929.[4]
In 1929, Stornoway would receive their first motor-powered lifeboat. The boat was a 51-foot Barnett-class lifeboat, with twin 60hp engines delivering nine knots. It was also the first RNLI lifeboat equipped with a radio-telephone. The 100W unit had a range of approximately 50 miles (80km). Provided from the legacy of Mrs Harriot Richardson of Greenwich, at a ceremony on 9 September 1929, the lifeboat was named William and Harriot (ON 718).[6]
William and Harriot was launched to the aid of the Swedish motor-vessel Hervor Bratt of Gothenburg om 29 January 1949, which had run aground on Trodday Island, Skye. 20 men were brought ashore. The Hervor Bratt would later receive assistance from the Campbeltown lifeboat City of Glasgow (ON 720) after her tow line broke during recovery. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was later awarded the Plaque of Merit and a Diploma, by the Swedish Lifeboat Society.[1][7]
A new lifeboat arrived in Stornoway in 1955. The James and Margaret Boyd (ON 913), a 52-foot Barnett-class lifeboat, costing £36,500, was named at a ceremony on 5 July 1955, by H.R.H. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, president of the Institution. It was reported that the helicopter transporting her belongings was the first to visit the Isles of Lewis.[1][8]
On 30 January 1962, the James and Margaret Boyd was called out to the motor fishing vessel Maime, which had broken down in gale-force conditions leaving Stornoway harbour, and drifted on to the rocks at Battery Point. Arriving on scene at 20:35, the Bowman was injured by a flare, and he was returned immediately to the harbour, the lifeboat getting back to the Maime at 21:00. In rain and sleet showers, a line was finally passed to the vessel, with instructions to climb over the rocks, attached to the line. One man made the attempt, but not fastened to the line, he was washed away and drowned. Not wanting to suffer the same fate, the two remaining survivors refused to leave that way. A rubber dinghy was then borrowed from the nearby HMS Malcolm, and with both the Coxswain and John MacDonald veering down, the two survivors were pulled from the Maime. The rescue had taken over seven hours. Mechanic John MacLeod and Assistant Mechanic John MacDonald were each awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal. Coxswain Malcolm MacDonald was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.[9]
In the early hours of 29 September 1980, the Stornoway Solent-class lifeboat, 48-015 Hugh William Viscount Gough (ON 1020), was launched into a southerly gale to the aid of the fishing boat Junella, aground on rocks north of Skye. The lifeboat arrived after 3 hours, and skillfully avoiding the surrounding rocks, the lifeboat was held alongside the vessel for 40 minutes, allowing all 29 men to leave the Junella. Coxswain Malcolm MacDonald, as his uncle before, was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.[9][10]
Stornoway Arun-class ALB 52-28 Sir Max Aitken II (ON 1098)
Princess Alexandra was invited to name the new Stornoway lifeboat in 1984, as had her mother some 30 years previously. However, she didn't have quite so far to travel this time, as the boat was named at The Prospect, West Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. This was the home of Sir William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, chairman of the Beaverbrook Foundation, which had funded a second lifeboat. On the 23 February 1984, the new 52-foot Arun-class lifeboat was named 52-28 Max Aitken II (ON 1098).[11]
In 1999, the Max Aitken II was withdrawn to the Relief fleet, later serving at Longhope, before being sold to China in 2005 as an operational lifeboat, named Hua Ying 385.
On 3 February 1999, Stornoway would receive a Severn-class lifeboat 17-18 Tom Sanderson (ON 1238). Stornoway's lifeboat is notable as the only Severn-class boat that doesn't have a crane.[12]
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Royal National Lifeboat Institution 
