St Davids Lifeboat Station

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Coordinates: 51°52′45″N 5°18′32″W / 51.87905°N 5.30897°W / 51.87905; -5.30897
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St Davids Lifeboat Station
Three boathouses shown in 2016 (newest on right)
St Davids Lifeboat Station is located in Wales
St Davids Lifeboat Station
St Davids, Pembrokeshire
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationSt Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales
CountryWales, UK
Coordinates51°52′45″N 5°18′32″W / 51.87905°N 5.30897°W / 51.87905; -5.30897
Owner Royal National Lifeboat Institution

St Davids Lifeboat Station (based in St Justinian, St Davids, Pembrokeshire, Wales) is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station. It was opened in 1869 and to date has been involved in saving over 360 lives at sea in more than 420 launches.[1] The station operates both an all-weather (ALB) and an inshore (ILB) lifeboat.

History[edit]

The station was established by the RNLI in 1869 following appeals from local residents after a number of shipwrecks nearby. The Institution had already awarded a silver medal to local man Thomas M Rees for risking his life in an incident in 1867. The station, consisting of a boathouse and slipway at Porthstinan (St Justinians), was provided with the 32-foot Augusta, donated by the Earl of Dartmouth. Augusta remained in service until 1885, saving 23 lives.[2]

From 1885 to 1910, 16 lives were saved by the crew of the station's new lifeboat, Gem. The lifeboat was wrecked on The Bitches reef during a rescue on 13 October 1910, and three crewmen drowned: Coxswain John Stephens, and lifeboatmen Henry Rowlands and James Price. Papers concerning the loss are held at Pembrokeshire Record Office (Ref:DX/93/11).[3] A temporary lifeboat, Charlotte, was stationed at Porthclais for two years; meanwhile, a new station and slipway were constructed to accommodate the station's first motor-powered lifeboat, General Farrell.[2]

General Farrell remained on station until 1936, her crew saving 17 lives in the intervening years. She was replaced by Swn-y-Mor which saw one of the busiest periods in the station's history, her crews saving 108 lives in her 26 years of service which was marked in 1956 by the loss of lifeboatman Ieuan Bateman. A couple of years earlier the tanker World Concord broke in two in hurricane-force winds; a combined effort by St Davids and Rosslare Harbour lifeboats rescued 42 people from the tanker.[4]

Swn-y-Mor had been donated by the Civil Service Lifeboat Fund, and the same institution donated the next lifeboat, Joseph Soar, in 1963. Already fitted with some innovative equipment, she was converted for self-righting in 1974, and during her tenure the crew saved 45 lives.[2] As of 2015, Swn-y-Mor was still operating as a private yacht, rigged as gaff ketch[5] motor sailer.[6]

Joseph Soar was transferred to Dunbar in 1985, and sold by the RNLI in 1992 when she was given a civic send-off at Poole. As of 2012 she was still operating, as a pleasure craft in Northern Ireland, and undergoing a complete refit in 2013. She had the distinction of having one of the longest services (27 years) in the RNLI's history.[7][8]

St Davids in 2021

From 1985 to 1988 the station's all-weather lifeboat was Ruby & Arthur Reed, formerly on station at Cromer where she had already been involved in saving 58 lives and enabled a further 9 lives to be saved at St Davids. She was replaced by Garside, a new Tyne class lifeboat which, until superseded in 2013 by Tamar class lifeboat Norah Wortley,[9] had been launched more than 160 times.

After the withdrawal of the RAF Rescue Service helicopter from nearby RAF Brawdy, St Davids trialled an inshore lifeboat in 1997, and the following year took possession of a permanent addition to the station of a D-class ILB, Dewi Sant (Saint David). This was replaced in 2008 by Myrtle & Trevor Gurr. The lifeboat station and slipways were modernised extensively in the 1990s.[2] In April 2013 St. David's New Tamar-class lifeboat was placed on station, temporarily moored afloat pending construction of the new boathouse and slipway. In certain weather conditions, the Tamar had to be removed to a safe anchorage and for this reason the Tyne class Garside remained on station in the 1910s boathouse, with St Davids in the unusual situation of operating two ALBs at the same time.[10]

In 2014 construction started on a new larger lifeboat house and slipway capable of accommodating the Tamar-class, with improved access for bringing in equipment and evacuating casualties and more extensive modern facilities; the cost is in the region of £9.5 million. The new facility is a short distance from the existing boathouse which remained in service until the new boathouse was completed.[11] With completion of the new boathouse, Garside was withdrawn from service and launched down the slipway of the old boathouse for the last time on 21 October 2016 on her way back to the RNLI depot at Poole for decommissioning.

The new Tamar, Norah Wortley, was launched from the new station for the first time on 21 October 2016;[12] her naming ceremony took place on 14 March 2017 on the occasion of the official opening of the new station.[13]

Today[edit]

The station employs two full-time members, Coxswain and Mechanic. The remaining crew, who all live within about 3 miles of the station, are volunteers and are contacted by pager when needed.[14] Neighbouring lifeboat stations are Fishguard to the north, Little and Broad Haven to the south and Rosslare Harbour in Ireland to the west.

The lifeboat station is the embarkation point for ferries to Ramsey Island.

Station Honours[edit]

The following are awards made to the crew of St David's Lifeboat Station[15]

Thomas Mortimer Rees - 1867
David Hicks, Coxswain - 1892
William Narbett, acting Coxswain - 1903
Mr Sidney Mortimer, fisherman - 1910
William Watts Williams, Coxswain - 1955
I M Bateman, crew member - 1956 (posthumous)
Dr Joseph Soar (doctor of music), Honorary Secretary - 1943
Gwilym Davies, crew member - 1943
William Watts Williams, Coxswain - 1943
George G Jordan, Motor Mechanic - 1955
Gwillym Jenkin Davies, Assistant Mechanic - 1955
David John Lewis, Coxswain - 1956
William Thomas Morris, Coxswain - 1978
Frederick George John, Coxswain - 1982
David Chant, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1989
  • Bronze Medal of the French Lifeboat Society
I M Bateman, crew member - 1956 (posthumous)
  • The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
David Lewis, Second Coxswain - 1955
William Rowlands, Acting Bowman - 1955
Howell H Roberts, Emergency Mechanic - 1955
William Morris, crew member - 1955
Richard Chisholm, crew member - 1955
Frederick John, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1985
Frederick John, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1987
Malcolm Gray, Coxswain - 1999
Malcolm Gray MBE, Coxswain - 2005
David John, Coxswain - 2008
  • A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
Neil Thomas, Helmsman - 2005
Clive Hayes, Second Coxswain - 2008
  • A Collective Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
Nicholas Phillips, Helmsman - 2008
Simon Thornton, Helmsman - 2008
Simon Twitchen, crew member - 2008
Gareth Morris, crew member - 2008
Dr Joseph Soar, Mus.D., F.R.C.O., A.R.C.M - 1947[16]
Malcolm Colborne Gray, Former Coxswain - 2005[17]

St David's Lifeboats[edit]

All-weather lifeboats[edit]

ON[a] Op. No.[b] Name In service[18] Class Comments
– – Augusta 1869–1885 32 ft Self-Righter (P&S 10 oars) [19]
59 – Gem 1885–1910 37 ft 2in Self-Righting (P&S) (12 oars)
46 – Reserve No.6 1910–1912 37 ft Self-Righting (P&S) [Note 1]
614 – General Farrell 1912–1936 40 ft Self-Righting (Motor)
784 – Civil Service No.6,
1956–
Swn-y-Mor (Civil Service No.6) 		1936–1963 46ft Watson [20]
971 – Joseph Soar
(Civil Service No.34) 		1963–1985 47ft Watson [21]
990 48-03 Ruby and Arthur Reed 1985–1988 Oakley
1139 47-026 Garside 1988–2013 Tyne
1139 47-026 Garside
(St David's No.2) 		2013–2016 Tyne
1306 16-26 Norah Wortley 2013– Tamar [22]

Inshore lifeboats[edit]

Op. No.[b] Name In service[18] Class Comments
D-543 Dewi Sant 1998–2008 D-class (EA16)
D-704 Myrtle & Trevor Gurr 2008–2019 D-class (IB1) [23]
D-840 Marian and Alan Clayton 2019– D-class (IB1)
  1. ^ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ^ a b Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

Neighbouring Station Locations[edit]

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Previously Charlotte at Porthoustock

References[edit]

  1. ^ "BBC News - St Davids seeks 1910 lifeboat tragedy descendants". Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d "St Davids Lifeboat RNLI: History". Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Exeter Local Maritime Archives Project (ELMAP)". Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  4. ^ "RNLI Rosslare - History". Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  5. ^ https://woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/westcountry-trading-ketch-bessie-ellen/
  6. ^ GL Watson 46 Ft Gaff Ketch Motor Sailer 1936. Sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk (Retrieved 2 Jan 2021)
  7. ^ "National Historic Ships - Joseph Soar". Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  8. ^ "H.L.O.A. - Joseph Soar 50th Birthday refit". Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  9. ^ "BBC News: New £2.7m Norah Wortley for St Davids". 15 April 2013. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  10. ^ "St Davids Lifeboat RNLI: All-weather lifeboat - Tyne". Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  11. ^ "Work starts on city's new lifeboat station". Western Telegraph. 14 June 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
  12. ^ "New £10m St Davids lifeboat station's first launch". BBC News. 21 October 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  13. ^ "St Davids RNLI celebrates new lifeboat and station". BBC News. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
  14. ^ "St Davids Lifeboat Station". Retrieved 2 May 2014.
  15. ^ "St Davids' station history". RNLI. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  16. ^ "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  17. ^ "Ordinary Members of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order of the British Empire". The Gazette. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
  18. ^ a b Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 4–132.
  19. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2021). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2021 (2021 ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 2–18.
  20. ^ "SWN Y MOR". National Historic Ship Register. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  21. ^ "JOSEPH SOAR (CIVIL SERVICE NUMBER 34)". historic-lifeboats. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  22. ^ "RNLI lifeboat: New £2.7m Norah Wortley for St Davids". BBC. Retrieved 15 April 2013.
  23. ^ "New inshore lifeboat named at special service at St David's Cathedral". Western Telegraph. Retrieved 24 November 2008.

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St David's Lifeboat Station.
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