Ramsgate Lifeboat Station

Ramsgate Lifeboat Station is located on Western Crosswall in the Ramsgate Royal Harbour. Ramsgate is a town on the south-east corner of the Isle of Thanet peninsula, in north-east Kent.

A lifeboat was first placed at Ramsgate in 1802 by the Harbour Trustees, operating until 1824. It was re-established by the trustees in 1851. From 1865, the station was jointly managed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the Board of Trade, passing solely to the RNLI in 1922.

The current lifeboat station, on the harbour wall between the inner and outer pools of the main harbour, opened in 1998, and currently operates an All-weather lifeboat, 16-23 Diamond Jubilee (ON 1303), on station since 2023, and a Inshore lifeboat, Claire & David Delves (B-878), on station since 2014.

History A lifeboat station was first established at Ramsgate Harbour in 1802 by the Ramsgate Harbour Trustees, pre-dating the formation of any national lifeboat organisation by more than 20 years, and is one of the oldest to operate in the British Isles. A lifeboat was purchased from Henry Greathead, and operated at Ramsgate until 1824.

In 1851, Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland, of Alnwick Castle, had been appointed president of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), the Institution becoming the RNLI in 1854. He set a competition for the design of a Self-righting lifeboat, with the reward of £100, which was won by James Beeching of Great Yarmouth. The prize-winning lifeboat was purchased for £250 by the Ramsgate harbour trustees, and placed on service at Ramsgate in late 1851. Whilst no formal naming records have been found, the boat was subsequently referred to as Northumberland.

In 1863, management of Ramsgate harbour was transferred to the Board of Trade. With the sanction of the Board, at a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on 3 August 1865, it was agreed that a new lifeboat was to be placed at Ramsgate. Funding was appropriated from the Bradford Lifeboat Fund, a sum of £425 raised by the efforts of Charles Semon, Mayor of Bradford and eleven other gentlemen, to pay for the cost of the lifeboat, transporting carriage and equipment.

A new lifeboat was ordered from Forrestt of Limehouse. At the same time, whilst the new Ramsgate boat was in construction, another new lifeboat was dispatched to Selsey Lifeboat Station, and their old 29-foot lifeboat Friend was transferred to Ramsgate, both boats transported free of charge between London and Chichester by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. In lieu of the new lifeboat not to be exhibited in Bradford, the committee of the Bradford Lifeboat Fund requested via letter from Charles Semon, Mayor, that an exact model be supplied, to be permanently exhibited to the subscribers of Bradford, which was agreed.

A 40-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with both sail and (12) oars, was towed to her station from London by the Ramsgate steam tug Aid in February 1866. The lifeboat was named Bradford, and was the first of four Bradford lifeboats at Ramsgate.

During the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in 1940, Ramsgate lifeboat Prudential (ON 697) was the first little ship to the rescue. The lifeboat left Ramsgate at 14.20 in the afternoon with Coxswain Howard Primrose Knight in command with her own crew of eight men. They had been issued with gas masks, steel helmets and the lifeboat was loaded with four coils of grass warp and cans of fresh water for the troops. She took in tow eight boats, most of them wherries, manned by eighteen naval men, and when she reached Dunkirk her role was to tow the wherries between the beaches and the waiting ships. In total she rescued 2,800 troops from the beaches. For his 'gallantry and determination,' Coxswain Howard Knight was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

The lifeboat Prudential, on service since 1925, and the first motor-powered lifeboat on station at Ramsgate, was one of four lifeboats that took part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet by the Queen at Portsmouth on 15 June 1953

Station honours The following are awards made at Ramsgate.

Distinguished Service Medal Howard Primrose Cooper Knight, Coxswain - 1940

RNLI Gold Medal Charles Edward Fish, Coxswain – 1881 Charles Edward Fish, Coxswain – 1891 (Second-Service clasp)

RNIPLS Silver Medal William Miller, Boatman – 1826 Capt. Edward Gimar, of the French Brig Le Norman – 1829

RNLI Silver Medal James Hogbin, Coxswain – 1857 Isaac Jarman, Coxswain – 1864 Isaac Jarman, Coxswain – 1870 (Second-Service clasp) Charles Edward Fish, Bowman – 1870 Daniel Reading, Master of Ramsgate Harbour Steam Tug Vulcan – 1872 James Simpson, Mate of the Ramsgate Harbour Tug Aid – 1874 William Wharrier, Engineer of the Ramsgate Harbour Tug Aid – 1874 Richard Goldsmith, Second Coxswain – 1881 Henry Belsey, crew member – 1881 David Berry, crew member – 1881 Thomas Cooper Snr. crew member – 1881 Thomas Cooper Jnr. crew member – 1881 Thomas Friend, crew member – 1881 John Goldmith, crew member – 1881 Stephen Goldsmith, crew member – 1881 Henry Meader, crew member – 1881 Robert Penney, crew member – 1881 Charles Verion, crew member – 1881 Master and crew of the Ramsgate tug Vulcan Alfred Page, Master – 1881 William Wharrier, Engineer – 1881 (Second-Service clasp) William Austen, crew member – 1881 Charles Knight, crew member – 1881 Edward Revell, crew member – 1881 George Woodward, Stoker – 1881 Richard Yare, Stoker – 1881 William Wharrier, Engineer of Ramsgate Harbour Tugs – 1890 (Third-Service clasp) Alfred Page, Tug Master – 1892 (Second-Service clasp) The crew of the smack Britain's Pride of Ramsgate Thomas James Watson – 1892 William Burton – 1892 Edwin Hurle – 1892 Arthur E. Fisher – 1892 Alfred Page, Tug Master – 1898 (Third-Service clasp) John Hawkins, Harbour Boatman – 1906 William Cooper, Coxswain – 1916 Thomas William Read, Second Coxswain – 1917 Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1986 Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 2000 (Second-Service clasp)

Silver Medal, awarded by The King of Denmark Coxswain William Cooper – 1911 The Master of the Ramsgate Tug Aid – 1911

RNLI Bronze Medal Douglas Stephen Kirkaldie, Coxswain – 1952

Royal Harbour Ramsgate (Indian Chief) Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry Charles Fish, Coxswain – 1881 Richard Goldsmith, crew member – 1881 Henry Belsey, crew member – 1881 David Berry, crew member – 1881 Thomas Cooper Snr. crew member – 1881 Thomas Cooper Jnr. crew member – 1881 Thomas Friend, crew member – 1881 John Goldmith, crew member – 1881 Stephen Goldsmith, crew member – 1881 Henry Meader, crew member – 1881 Robert Penney, crew member – 1881 Charles Vernon, crew member – 1881 Master and crew of the tug Vulcan Alfred Page, Master – 1881 William Wharrier, crew member – 1881 William Austen, crew member – 1881 Charles Knight, crew member – 1881 Edward Revell, crew member – 1881 George Woodward, crew member – 1881 Richard Yare, crew member – 1881

The Maud Smith Award Douglas Stephen Kirkaldie. Coxswain – 1952 Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1985 Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1999

Lady Swaythling Trophy Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 2000

James Michael Bower Endowment Fund Award Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 2000

The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum Thomas J. H. Cooper, Coxswain – 1968 Michael Petts, crew member – 1975 Timothy Hurst, crew member – 1975 Coxswain and Launch Seaman of the Trinity House Pilot Vessel Versatile Malcolm H. R. Llewellyn – 1980 Bryan L. E. Morgan – 1980 Timothy E. Hurst, Helm – 1985 Timothy Hurst, Emergency Mechanic – 2000 Lance Oran, crew member – 2000

A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution R. Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1983 D. Pegden, Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic – 1983 D. Cooper, Emergency Mechanic – 1983 W. Blay, crew member – 1983 T. Brown, crew member – 1983 T. Hurst, crew member – 1983 Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1984 D. Pegden, 2nd Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic – 1984 T. Hurst, crew member – 1984 M. Mett, crew member – 1984 N. Stephens, crew member – 1984 R. Noble, crew member – 1984 Timothy Hurst, crew member – 1984 Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic – 2000 Christopher Andrews, Helm – 2008 Harvey Cole, crew member – 2008 John Rabbatts, crew member – 2008

Inscribed Silver Plaques Coxswain and Crew – 1940

Awarded by Thomas Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States of America Gold watch to the Coxswain – 1919 Binoculars to the Second Coxswain – 1919 Gold Medals to the Lifeboat Crew – 1919

Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE) Ronald Nicholas Cannon, Retired Coxswain/Mechanic – 2017QBH

Roll of honour In memory of those lost whilst serving Ramsgate lifeboat.

Lost when washed overboard, whilst on service to the barge Sarpsborg of Norway, 2 February 1873 William White, crew member

All-weather lifeboat gallery

Ramsgate lifeboats Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments – 1802 1802–1824 Greathead-class lifeboat, of unknown dimensions, built by Henry Greathead of South Shields. – 1851 1851–1865 36-foot Beeching Self-Righting 36-foot x 9-foot 6in (12-oared) Beeching-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, built by James Beeching of Great Yarmouth, costing £250. Friend 1854 1865–1866 35-foot Peake Self-righting (P&S) 35-foot x 8-foot 2in (12-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Mr C. K Corker of Ramsgate, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £143 when new. Previously 29-foot 1in x 7-foot 9in (10-oared). Lengthened in 1860Previously at and . Broken up in 1867. Pre-478 Bradford 1866 1866–1877 40-foot x 10-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of the City of Bradford LB fund, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £400.Specially designed for towing. Damaged 6 November 1877. Sold in 1877 Pre-619 Bowman 1877 1877 35-foot Self-righting (P&S) 35-foot x 9-foot (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, anonymous gift of 'A.B.S', via Mrs Sharp of South Kensington, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £433.Temporary cover at Ramsgate, before assignment to . Pre-623 Bradford 1877 1877–1887 44-foot Self-Righting (P&S) 44-foot x 11-foot 1in (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of the City of Bradford LB fund, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £575.Broken up in 1887. 117 Bradford 1887 1887–1893 40-foot Self-Righting (P&S) 40-foot x 10-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of the City of Bradford LB fund, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £843.Transferred to the relief fleet. Sold and broken up in 1898. 350 Bradford 1893 1893–1905 42-foot Self-Righting (P&S) 42-foot x 11-foot (12-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of the City of Bradford LB fund, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, London, costing £896.Transferred to the relief fleet. Received a motor conversion. Later at . 537 Charles and Susanna Stephens 1904 1905–1925 43-foot Self-Righting (P&S) 43-foot x 12-foot (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Mrs C. Stephens of Reading, built by Thames Ironworks of Blackwall, London, costing £1,835.Transferred to the Relief fleet. Sold in 1931

Motor lifeboats ON Op. No. Name Built Class Comments 697 – Prudential 1925 1925–1953 Sold in 1953. Renamed Trimilia. Last reported at Ipswich Haven Marine, October 2023. 901 – 1953 1953–1976 Transferred to the Relief fleet. Ralph and Joy Swann 1976 1976–1990 Transferred to . 1154 47-036 Kenneth Thelwall II 1989 1990–1994 Transferred to 1197 14-02 Esme Anderson 1994 1994–2023 Transferred to 1303 16-23 Diamond Jubilee 2012 2023–

Inshore lifeboats A-class Op. No. Name Class Comments 1969–1971 A-502 1972–1975 Previously 17-003 A-510 1975–1984

B-class Op. No. Name Class Comments B-558 Ramsgate Enterprise 1984–2000 B-765 Bob Turnbull 2000–2014 B-878 2014–

See also

List of RNLI stations