Port St Mary Lifeboat Station

The report of the Deputy Chief Inspector of Lifeboats was read at the meeting of the RNLI committee of management on 11 April 1895, following his visit to the Isle of Man. At a subsequent meeting on 13 June 1895, it was decided to close the Port Erin lifeboat station, and relocate to Port St Mary.^[4]

However, the intended closure of Port Erin lifeboat station never materialised, but a new station was established at Port St Mary in 1896. It was one of six lifeboat stations to operate on the Island, although Castletown Lifeboat Station closed in 1922, leaving the five stations that exist on the Isle of Man today.^[5]

In 1894, the RNLI was bequeathed the enormous sum of £50,000 (equivalent to £5,377,000 in 2023), from the estate of Mr James Stevens, a developer, from Edgbaston in Birmingham. This donation provided more lifeboats (20), than any other single donation received by the RNLI.^[6]

Port St Mary would receive the first one, a new 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with both (10) oars, and sails, named James Stevens No.1 (ON 401), and costing £463. James Stevens No.1 was in service for 21 years, launching 22 times, and saving 55 lives.^[2]

Also in 1896, work commenced on the construction of a boat house on Lime Street costing £375, which was completed over the next two years, and which is still in use to this day.^[7]

The station received their first motor-powered lifeboat, Sir Heath Harrison (ON 785) in 1936. This was over 100 years after the founder of the RNLI, Sir William Hillary, had advocated the use of powered lifeboats.^[8]

Keen seafarers and philanthropists James and Ann Ritchie, of the Isle of Man brewing company Heron and Brearley, decided to fund a lifeboat for Ramsey, which turned out to be shortly before James' death in 1970. James' widow Ann Ritchie, née Gough, decided to fund a second lifeboat, and in 1976, Port St Mary received a new Arun-class lifeboat, 54-06 The Gough Ritchie (ON 1051).^[9]

After Ann Ritchie's death in 1990, the residue of her estate became the Gough Ritchie Charitable Trust. One third of its income is distributed to the RNLI, for use on the Isle of Man, and in 1998, this funded a second boat for Port St Mary, Trent-class 14-26 Gough Ritchie II.^[10]

In the early hours of 6 November 2021, Port St Mary Lifeboat was alerted to a yacht requiring assistance, with tangled propellers, and dangerously close to the shore. Both the All-weather and Inshore lifeboats were launched in challenging condition, with the Gough Ritchie II providing some weather protection to the Inshore boat.

Unable to get in close with the ALB, or tow the yacht away from danger, Helm Richard Leigh and his crew of the Inshore boat were able to reach the yacht, and recovered the three crew to the All-weather boat. For this service, Richard Leigh was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal, the first medal for gallantry awarded to Port St Mary lifeboat station.^[11]

In spring 2025, relief Trent-class lifeboat 14-15 Henry Heys Duckworth (ON 1213) was placed on station, replacing 14-26 Gough Ritchie II (ON 1234).

The following are awards made at Port St Mary^[2][12]

• RNLI Bronze Medal

Richard Leigh, Helm – 2022^[11]

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Norman Quillin, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1981

Eric Quillin, crew member – 1981

William Halsall, crew member – 1981

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

Michael Kneale, Second Coxswain – 2004

• Framed Letters of Appreciation signed by the Chief Executive

Chris Hill, crew member – 2022

Daniel Grace, crew member – 2022

Mike Keggen, Coxswain – 2022

Sarah Keggen, Lifeboat Operations Manager – 2022

• Framed Letters of Appreciation Signed by the Operations Director

Gareth Watt, Mechanic – 2022

Brian Kelly, crew member – 2022

Mark Pendlebury, crew member – 2022

Laura Cordner, crew member – 2022

Robert Marshall, crew member – 2022

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

James Michael Keggen, Coxswain – 2024NYH^[13]