Scarborough Lifeboat Station

The first lifeboat in Scarborough was instituted by public donation costing just over £212.^[3] and saw its first launch in November 1801, when it went to the aid of a stricken vessel named Aurora in Scarborough Bay.^[4] The first boat was actually built in Scarborough to a design by Henry Greathead, who had designed and built a boat for Whitby and Redcar lifeboat stations.^[5]

A replacement boat was built and supplied to the rescue crews in the town in 1823.^[6] The first lifeboat station was at the junction of Foreshore Road and Valley Road in the town. In 1821, the station was relocated near to its present site by the West Pier in Scarborough Harbour, however it was on the landward side of Foreshore Road.^[4]

At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 4 April 1861, in reference to a letter from John Woodall of Scarborough, and with copies of resolutions, it was decided to accept the request of the Scarborough Lifeboat Committee, who had unanimously agreed to join the Institution, and that a new lifeboat and carriage were to be provided to Scarborough.^[7]

The station was renovated, and Amelia, a new 32-foot (9.8 m) Peake-class self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with both sails and (10) oars, arrived in Scarborough on 26 September 1861.^[8]

Just 5 weeks later, on 2 November 1861, the Amelia was wrecked, on its first service, after being launched to the aid of the schooner Coupland. (See Notable launches). Within a week, a replacement lifeboat was dispatched to Scarborough. Formerly the Royal Thames Yacht Club at Walmer, the boat had been at the boat-builders to be lengthened. Funded from the gift of Mrs Cockroft of Scarborough, the lifeboat was named Mary on arrival in Scarborough.^[9]

In the early 1870s, two cast-iron pillar collection boxes were erected to aid with fundraising, one at the Old Cliff, next to the gates to the Spa Bridge, near the Grand Hotel, and a second one, outside the Crown Hotel on The Esplanade.^[10]

In 1914, the Scarborough lifeboat Queensbury (ON 111) was launched to assist in the rescue of the SS Rohilla off the coast at Whitby. Like many other lifeboats used in the rescue, she could not get near to the Rohilla because of the swell.^[11]

In 1940, a new lifeboat station was built next to the West Pier; the old lifeboat house was later converted into an amusement arcade on the seafront.^[12] The 1940 lifeboat house had to be adapted for the larger Mersey-class lifeboat Fanny Victoria Wilkinson and Frank Stubbs in 1991, which involved widening and heightening the door.^[13]

A new lifeboat station was opened in 2016, which had been designed by the York architectural firm of Brierley Groom.^[14] Approval for the new £3 million building was granted by the borough council in 2014.^[15]

In 2018, the coxswain of the crew was dismissed; the RNLI released a statement that he had organised an operational training exercise without proper authority. The former coxswain stated that he had "the blessing and clearance of the lifeboat operations manager and several others".^[16] After a groundswell of support for the sacked individual, the RNLI later released a further statement detailing their decision to stand down the coxswain citing the lack of trained professionals on the boat when she was put to sea in rough weather.^[17]

• 17 February 1836 – The crew launched to help a sloop named John as it was trying to enter the harbour area at Scarborough to shelter from the storm. As the lifeboat came close to the sloop, it capsized and ten of her crew were washed out to sea on a strong ebb tide. One crew member managed to get back onto the boat and three others were underneath the boat, having secured themselves to the boat to prevent the same fate that had befallen ten of their comrades. The three used the 'conduiting pipes' (used to drain seawater out of the boat)^[4] set into the boat to allow them to breathe. A human chain was formed of spectators who eventually managed to rescue the four men from the sea.^[18]

• 2 November 1861 – the crew launched their new life boat Amelia, after a storm besieged the east coast. Many ships were trying to make port in Scarborough, and one, the Coupland, missed the harbour entrance and was driven ashore in the South Bay, near the Spa Theatre. In the rough conditions, the lifeboat pitched violently, crashing against the sea-wall, first throwing the Coxswain overboard, followed by several members of the crew. Two lifeboat men died, along with three members of the public, including Lord Charles Beauclerk, who had been spectators on the shore, but had waded into the water to help. The crew of the Coupland, which had been carrying a cargo of granite, had been relatively safe once their vessel washed ashore, and were rescued by the Rocket Brigade. The lifeboat was a complete wreck. It is estimated that 24 lives were lost in the area during the storm.^[19][20][21]

• 9 December 1951 – the Dutch vessel Westkust ran into trouble some 26 nautical miles (48 km; 30 mi) off the coast of Scarborough. The ECJR was launched at 11:30, but due to the heavy seas, she took over seven hours to reach the Westkust. As the lifeboat came alongside the sinking ship, two of the lifeboatmen jumped onto the Westkust to assess the situation, whilst the crew of the Westkust got into the lifeboat. As the two craft were side by side, they were being buffeted together and apart by the strong swell of the sea. One lifeboat man managed to jump back into the lifeboat, but a freak wave wrenched the two ships apart, leaving Bowman Frank Dalton clinging to the rails of the Westkust. The swell then pushed the two boats together again, and crushed the lifeboatman between them. He fell into the lifeboat with a crushed pelvis and died of his injuries before they reached the port of Bridlington.^[22]
• 8 December 1954 – whilst escorting ships into harbour during a storm, the lifeboat overturned in the South Bay at Scarborough. Three crew members died.^[23]

The following are awards made at Scarborough^[24][25]

• RNIPLS Silver Medal

  James Fowler, Master Mariner – 1824

  Smith Tindall, Master Mariner – 1824

  Thomas Claybourn, Coxswain – 1828

• RNLI Silver Medal

  Henry Wyrill, Boatman – 1857

  Lord Charles Beauclerk – 1861 (post.)

  William Tindall – 1861 (post.)

  John Iles – 1861 (post.)

  Michael Hick, Ship Owner – 1861

  Joseph Rutter, Eng. Superintendent, Scarborough Railway Station – 1861

  Oliver Sarony, Photographic Artist – 1861

  (all members of the public)

  John Owston, Coxswain – 1880

  William Sheader, Coxswain – 1970

• RNLI Bronze Medal

  John Nicholas Sheader, Coxswain – 1952

  Thomas Jenkinson Mainprize, Assistant Motor Mechanic – 1952

  Frank Dalton, Bowman – 1952 (post.)

  Thomas Rowley, Acting Coxswain – 1973

  Rudi Barman, Helm – 2015^[26]

• The Maud Smith Award 1969
  (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
  awarded jointly to:

  William Sheader, Coxswain of Scarborough Lifeboat – 1970

  (and Eric Offer, Coxswain of Dun Laoghaire Lifeboat – 1970)

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

  Samuel Rawling – 1861

  Matthew Byfield – 1861

  William Bland – 1861

  The Scarborough Lifeboat Crew – 1970

  Richard Constantine, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1994

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

  Each member of the Scarborough Lifeboat crew – 1966

  C. J. Bean, – 1968

  R. Swalwell – 1968

  Paul Stonehouse, Helm – 1995

  Craig Burnett, crew member – 2015

  Adam Beston, crew member – 2015

• Letters of thanks from the operations director

  Dr Peter Billingsley – 2015

  Jason Hedges – 2015

• Two silver mounted pipes presented by The Prince of Wales

  John Owston, Coxswain – 1902

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

  Stuart Edwin Ogden, Coxswain – 1994QBH^[27]

  Richard Francis Constantine, Former Coxswain/Mechanic – 2003QBH^[28]

• British Empire Medal

  Donna Loveland – 2020QBH^[29][30]

  John Percy Porter, Visits Officer, Water Safety Advisor and Fundraiser – 2024KBH^[31]

In memory of those lost at Scarborough.^[32][33][34]

• Lost when the lifeboat capsized, on service to the sloop John and Agnes of Aberdeen, 17 February 1836.

• Lifeboat Amelia, on service to the schooner Coupland, 2 November 1861

  Lord Charles Beauclerk

  Thomas Brewster

  John Burton

  William Tindall

  John Iles

• Crushed between the lifeboat E. C. J. R. (ON 879) and the vessel Westkust, 9 December 1951

  Frank Dalton, Bowman (57)

• Lost when lifeboat E. C. J. R. (ON 879) capsized whilst searching for fishing boats, 8 December 1954.

  John 'Jack' Nicholas Sheader, Coxswain (63)

  John. H. Cammish, Second Coxswain (55)

  Francis Bayes, Signalman (29)

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