Troon Lifeboat Station

On 27 February 1834, five men brought a boat overland from Troon harbour to the beach, and rescued the Master and four remaining crew of the brig Ann, which had foundered. Ever since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved. Three of the rescuers were awarded the RNIPLS Silver Medal.^[3]

During the 1800s, a chain of lifeboat stations was gradually being created along the shores of the Firth of Clyde, the primary shipping route to the industrial centre of Glasgow. Stations included Ayr (1803), Ardrossan (1807), Irvine (1834), Campbeltown (1861), Girvan (1865) and Kildonan (1870).^[4]

It was suggested that an additional lifeboat be placed at the port town of Troon, and with local support forthcoming, this was agreed. A boathouse was constructed at a cost of £254-5s, reported to be on a site in the town on Portland Street, granted by the landowner, The Duke of Portland.^[5][6]

A 32-foot (9.8 m) 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, double banked, was constructed by Forrestt of Limehouse, London in 1870. Funded by Mrs Sinclair of Greenock, and named Mary Sinclair in memory of her late daughter, the lifeboat was first dispatched to Greenock in 1871, where it was exhibited for two days in Clyde Square. It was then taken to Troon, and drawn through the town in grand procession, before being publicly launched at the new station. Each leg of the journey from Carlisle to Troon via Greenock was granted free of charge by the Glasgow and South-Western Railway.^[5]

In 1904, after operating two other progressively larger lifeboats, a 38-foot Watson (P&S) non-self-righting lifeboat was sent to the station. With lifeboats already proving a struggle to launch from the town location, and the new boat at least 1 ft (0.30 m) longer and wider than any previous lifeboat at Troon, it was decided that the new boat should remain afloat. The boathouse was sold to the local council in 1905, and the Troon lifeboat has been kept afloat ever since.^[1][6]

Following the sale of the boat shed, Troon lifeboat 'station' was first situated underneath the old sail-loft, beyond the harbour buildings. However, by the 1950s, a station building existed where the current one stands. In 1987, timed to coincide with the arrival of the new Arun-class All-weather lifeboat, 52–38 City of Glasgow III (ON 1134), a new station was constructed to provide a workshop and store, a fuel store, a crewroom and toilet facilities. Remedial dredging around the berth was required to accommodate the lifeboat. Further works were carried out in 1996, with the construction of an extension, to provide a improved workshop, a souvenir shop, and a crew room with galley on the first floor.^[1][6][7]

It was decided to add a D-class (EA16) Inshore lifeboat to the fleet at Troon in January 2004. It was swiftly followed by the arrival on 18 February, of a Trent-class All-weather lifeboat. The new boat, 14-38 Jim Moffat (ON 1275), costing £1.4m, was the last of 38 lifeboats of the class to be built, and was funded by gifts received from the Moffat Charitable Trust, the Miss I F Harvey Charitable Trust, Mr A Boyd Tunnock, MBE, and funds raised through "The Lifeboats of the Clyde Appeal 2004". A boathouse was constructed for the D-class, and the station equipped with a davit for launching in the harbour, all completed in September 2004, at a cost of £51,327.^[1]

Funded by the proceeds of public collections and shopkeepers at Telford shopping centre, the new D-class (IB1) lifeboat placed at Troon on 19 December 2007 was named Telford Shopping Centre (D-684).^[1]

In 2025, the Trent-class lifeboat was withdrawn from service. She was replaced by a brand new £2.7m Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat, 13-55 Roy Barker VI (ON 1362). More than thirty years after the RNLI received the largest ever bequest of £6.5m in 1993, from the late Mr Roy Barker, an agricultural business man, the fund is still providing new lifeboats. Additional funding was provided from the legacy of Mr Alan Lionel Aspinall.^[1][8][9]

Three RNLI Medals have been awarded to members of Troon lifeboat. The first two were for the rescue of seven people from the Belfast steamer Moyallen on 6 December 1940. It was a difficult rescue amid a gale and rain. Coxswain William McAuslane was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal, with Mechanic Albert John Ferguson receiving the RNLI Bronze Medal.^[10] The RNLI silver medal was awarded to coxswain/mechanic Ian Johnson, who took the lifeboat to rescue five people from a dredger on 12 September 1980, which was in danger of breaking its moorings outside the harbour, in a Force 10 storm.^[11]

The 'Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum' was accorded to Acting Coxswain Thomas Devenny, who led a mission to rescue the crew of a small fishing boat during a storm on 18 October 1984. The same award was given to David Seaward and Paul Aspin, who used the All-weather lifeboat's (ALB's) daughter boat to rescue 10 people from the TS Mountbatten which ran aground at Ayr on 14 July 1988. Ian Johnson, the ALB's coxswain on the day, received a 'Framed Letter of Thanks' from the chairman. Coxswain Colin Millar was awarded the 'Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum', after leading the lifeboat in a difficult rescue of a trawler on 14 January 2015.^[1]

On 8 December 1979 Roy Trewern used the lifeboat's inflatable dinghy to help two people cut off by a rising tide, for which he received a 'Framed Letter of Thanks from the Chairman of the Institution'. Coxswain Ian Johnson and the whole crew received a 'Collective Framed Letter of Thanks' for saving a broken down yacht and four people near Holy Isle on 23 May 1992.^[1]

The following are awards made at Troon:^[1][12]

• RNIPLS Silver Medal

  William McDonald, Master Mariner – 1834

  Robert Orr, Master Mariner – 1834

  John Peebles, Master Mariner – 1834

• RNLI Silver Medal

  William McAuslane, Coxswain – 1941

  Ian Johnson, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1980

• RNLI Bronze Medal

  Albert John Ferguson, Mechanic – 1941

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

  Thomas Laurence Devenny, Acting Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic – 1985

  David Seaward, Emergency Mechanic – 1989

  Paul Aspin, crew member – 1989

  Colin (Joe) Millar, Coxswain – 2016

• Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman, The Duke of Atholl

  Roy Trewern, crew member – 1980

  Ian Johnson, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1989

  Trevor Boyes, crew member – 2016

  Allan Craig, crew member – 2016

  Paul Moeledge, crew member – 2016

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

  Ian Johnson, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1993

  William Arnold, Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic – 1993

  Stephen Aspin, Deputy Second Coxswain – 1993

  Charles Davies, crew member – 1993

  William Fergusson, crew member – 1993

  Brian Hannah, crew member – 1993

  Brian Hedges, crew member – 1993

  J. Millar, crew member – 1993

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

  James Manson, Honorary Secretary – 2000QBH^[13]

In memory of those lost whilst serving Troon lifeboat:^[1]

• Died in 1931, from the effects of exposure suffered during the passage of the new lifeboat Sir David Richmond of Glasgow to station in 1929.

  Thomas Warren, Bowman

• Collapsed and died whilst on exercise, 1949

  John McCaull, Second Coxswain

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