Plymouth Lifeboat Station is housed in the Old Custom House, a Grade II-listed three-storey tower on Custom House Lane in Plymouth, a Port city on the east bank of the River Tamar estuary, on the south-east coast of the county of Devon, England.
The first lifeboat was stationed in the city in 1803. A station was re-established by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1825, operating until 1840. In 1862, the station was re-established again, by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The station currently operates a All-weather lifeboat, 17-35 Sybil Mullen Glover (ON 1264), on station since 2003, and a Inshore lifeboat, Annabel E Jones (B-908), on station since 2018.
History In 1803, a lifeboat built by Henry Greathead of South Shields was provided to Plymouth, funded by the MP for Plymouth (constituency), and former mayor Philip Langmead, along with a contribution from Lloyd's of London. No record of any service has been found, and by 1825, there was no evidence that it still existed.
A new lifeboat was provided in 1825 by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) (renamed the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1854). The station was established across the Tamar estuary, near the coastguard station at Cawsand, on the Rame peninsula, in Cornwall. Again, no records of service have been found, and in 1840, the lifeboat was transferred to in the Isles of Scilly.
Gallantry Even if no lifeboat was used, there was no shortage of gallantry shown around the local coast. Between 1825 and 1843, no fewer than 14 Silver medals were awarded by the RNIPLS. Established in 1824, one of its objectives was that "medallions or pecuniary awards be given to those who rescue lives in cases of shipwreck".
Three Silver medals were earned at Plymouth in 1825, all as the result of a single storm on 23 November. Coastguard James Craggs saved a woman from the John (although her husband and his crew all drowned), Coastguard John Miller saved seven of the 13 crew of the Harmonie, and Richard Eddy, a local ship's pilot, saved four from the Coromandel. Richard Eddy was subsequently awarded a second and third silver medal, after saving 10 people from the Koningsberg when it ran aground on 13 January 1834.
Coastguard John Woolland Bake was awarded a silver medal, for saving 25 people from the Mary Ann, when it was wrecked in Bovisand Bay on 13 January 1828. Three Royal Navy sailors, Francis Strong, Thomas Huss and Augustus May, received silver medals for saving the 10 crew members of the Erin, which struck Plymouth breakwater during a storm on 20 February 1833, and Lieutenant Adrian Thomas Mann was similarly rewarded for saving six on 26 April 1833 – two from a barge, and four other 'rescuers', who had themselves capsized.
The breakwater was the scene of another rescue on 14 February 1838. Lieutenant Thomas Holman saved the six people on the Thetis and was awarded a silver medal. Revenue Cutters were involved in two silver-medal rescues during the following winter. J. S. W. Grandy, mate of the Harpy, saved five people on 28 November 1838 and Andrew Gillespie, gunner on the Stork, saved four on 23 March 1839. The final silver medal awarded before the lifeboat station was established at Millbay, was to Lieutenant John Cornish, for rescuing two men from the schooner Norman, when it ran aground 22 October 1843.
RNLI from 1862 At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 5 December 1861, the report of the visit to Plymouth by the Inspector of Lifeboats was read and approved. On 21 February 1862, a self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and oars, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, and costing £180, was transported by express goods train to Plymouth, free of charge, by the Great Western, Bristol and Exeter, and South Devon Railway Companies.
The inauguration took place on 24–25 February, during which the boat was drawn through the street in grand procession. It was said that "Nearly the whole of the large population of the adjoining towns of Plymouth, Devonport, and Stonehouse, and of their neighbourhood, being assembled in the streets to welcome and do honour to the first Plymouth life-boat." A boat-house was constructed on the West Wharf of the outer basin of Millbay Docks, at a cost of £159. Monies raised by annual subscription provided future security of the establishment, with the initial cost of the lifeboat provided by the gift of £240 from heiress Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, and in accordance with her wishes, the lifeboat was named Prince Consort.
At a meeting of the committee of management on Thursday 5 February 1880, it was decided that a new boathouse and slipway be constructed at Plymouth. This was brought about due to the extension of the railway along the docks. The boathouse, costing £325, was constructed at the seaward end of the wharf at The Camber, with a launching slip. A contribution of £250 was received from Great Western Railway. Coord:
Further construction work on the boathouse, costing £427-10s, was carried out in 1897/98, coinciding with the arrival of a new self-righting lifeboat, Eliza Avins (ON 412).
Motor power The first motor-powered lifeboats started appearing in the late 1900s, but it was only in 1926 when Plymouth received one. Its arrival brought about a significant change, in that due to the size of the new boat, the lifeboat would need to be moored afloat, and this has been the case for every All-weather lifeboat at Plymouth ever since. The new boat was the Robert and Marcella Beck (ON 696), a 60-foot Barnett-class, built by J. Samuel White of Cowes, with twin 80-hp White DE6 petrol engines, and costing £14,536.
In March 1943, the Robert and Marcella was sent for maintenance, and the reserve boat placed on station was a modified and refurbished 46-foot Watson-class Belgian lifeboat, Ministre Anseele (ON 845), which had been found drifting derelict in the English Channel at the start of World War II. However, before she could return to service, Robert and Marcella was requisitioned by the Admiralty, then seeing service in Wick, the Faroe Islands, and providing life-saving operations from Iceland on the most hazardous of the Arctic convoy routes, the northern route to Arkhangelsk, Russia. She returned to Plymouth in 1947.
1960s onwards In 1964, in response to an increasing amount of water-based leisure activity, the RNLI placed 25 small fast Inshore lifeboats around the country. These were easily launched with just a few people, ideal to respond quickly to local emergencies. The Inshore lifeboat (D-130) was additionally placed at Plymouth in 1967. At the time, the RNLI were investigating a larger class of Inshore boat, that would bridge the gap between the smaller D-class, and the standard All-weather lifeboats. These boats would have a rigid hull, capable of being moored afloat, and offering the option of being a boarding boat, but still be fast, and easy to launch. In 1968, the station received one of just two Inshore lifeboats, (18-01).
A succession of fast rigid-hull Inshore lifeboats followed, but in 1983, the Inshore lifeboat capability at Plymouth was withdrawn. Since 1967, the boats had been launched 177 times, saving 73 lives.
A new station was built on the Princess Royal Pier in 1979 and a new mooring was provided alongside. From 1988 until 1992 the lifeboat was moored in Sutton Harbour while the area around the Princess Royal Pier was redeveloped as a marina, but it then returned to Millbay.
Since 1992 the All-weather lifeboat has been moored afloat on the eastern side of the Millbay basin. It was decided to re-establish the Inshore lifeboat capability with a Inshore lifeboat in 2004. The current ILB is kept alongside the ALB on a floating 'aquadock'.
Crew facilities and storage are in the old Customs House on the quay close to the moorings. This is a Grade II Listed building, erected in 1850 to the design of George Wightwick. It is built from granite, octagonal in plan and three storeys high. This once gave H.M. Customs officers all-round views of the harbour, a view now afforded to the lifeboat crews. The building was refurbished partly from a grant from Plymouth council, and partly from a specific bequest from Mrs Eugenie Boucher, a native of Penza in south-east Russia, who left £3.5 million for the provision of boathouses. The eight new or refurbished boathouses are known as "Penza" boathouses within the RNLI.
Area of operation The RNLI aims to reach any casualty up to from its stations, and within two hours in good weather. To do this the Severn class lifeboat at Plymouth has an operating range of and a top speed of . The can go out in Force 7 winds (Force 6 at night) and can operate at up to for 3 hours. Adjacent All-weather lifeboats are stationed at to the east, and to the west. There are two Inshore lifeboats stationed at , and two more at .
Station awards On 13 January 1942, during the Second World War, the RNLB Robert and Marcella Beck was called out to a Sunderland flying boat of the Royal Australian Air Force, which had been blown onto rocks in a storm. The lifeboat crew managed to get a rope across to the aircraft and towed it and the crew to safety. Coxswain Walter Crowther was awarded a bronze medal for leading the rescue.
A bronze medal was awarded to Coxswain John Dare "for his courage, determination and excellent seamanship" on 16 January 1974. A Danish coaster, the Merc Enterprise had capsized south of Rame Head. The RNLB Thomas Forehead and Mary Rowse (ON 890) fought through hurricane-force winds to reach the casualty. A helicopter managed to winch seven people out of the water while the lifeboat searched unsuccessfully for other survivors. Another bronze medal rescue involving its successor Thomas Forehead and Mary Rowse II (ON 1028) took place on 15 February 1978. The Elly Gerda ran aground near Looe in a Force 8 storm. The lifeboat managed to rescue two of the trawler's crew but the heavy seas then washed the trawler off the rocks. The lifeboat escorted it back into harbour and then returned to Plymouth, where it had left its berth nearly 14 hours earlier. The RNLI awarded medals to both the Coxswain, Patrick Marshall, and the Mechanic, Cyril Alcock, "for their courage, determination and seamanship".
The lifeboat crew saved a yacht in a Force 9 gale and rain storm in 2002. Second Coxswain Sean Marshall was awarded a bronze medal for his bravery and the 'Thanks of the Institute Inscribed on Vellum' was given to Coxswain David Milford.
The five crew of a French trawler abandoned ship on 25 February 1985 but were rescued from their life-raft by the Plymouth lifeboat. Coxswain John Dare was given the 'Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum' for leading the rescue. Patrick Marshall received the same recognition for saving a fishing boat with its crew of five, which was dragging its anchor in a storm on 6 September 1995.
The following are awards made at Plymouth:
RNIPLS Silver Medal James Craggs, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard, Yealm – 1825 John Miller, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard, Cawsand – 1825 Richard Eddy, Pilot – 1825 Lt. John Woolland Bake, RN, H.M. Coastguard, Bovisand – 1828 Francis M. Strong, Second Master, H.M.S. Spartiate – 1833 Thomas Huss, Master's Assistant, RN, H.M.S. Rover – 1833 Augustus Charles May, Mate, RN, H.M.S. Rover – 1833 Lt. Adrian Thomas Mann, RN, H.M. Coastguard, Devonport – 1833 Richard Eddy, Pilot – 1834 (Second-Service Silver Medal) Richard Eddy, Pilot – 1834 (Third-Service Silver Boat) Lt. Thomas Holloway Holman, RN, H.M. Coastguard, Bovisand – 1838 James Samuel William Grandy, Mate, Revenue Cutter Harpy – 1839 Andrew Gillespie, Gunner, Revenue Cutter Stork – 1839 Lt. John Cornish, RN, H.M. Coastguard, Bovisand – 1843
RNLI Silver Medal William Teel, Coxswain – 1884
RNLI Bronze Medal