Shoreham Harbour Lifeboat Station

In 1845 the Shoreham Harbour Commissioners decided to provide funds to open a lifeboat service for the town. This first lifeboat was a self-righting pulling lifeboat and was 30 feet (9.1 m) in length. In 1870 the Harbour Board funded the installation of a slipway.[8]

In 1865 the RNLI took over the lifeboat cover for Shoreham Harbour. They established a station with a boathouse constructed on Kingston beach. This boathouse was used until 1892 when a new timber framed boathouse was built near the coastguard station on Shoreham beach on the western side of the Harbour.[8] The old station building at Kingston beach was demolished.

In 1903 the boathouse was moved further from the shore and was in use until 1924. In October of that year the station had to be closed due to the silting up of the harbour entrance, which had made operations hazardous and then impossible. The station did not re-open until October 1929 after work had been carried out to remove the sandbar across the harbour entrance.[8]

In 1933 the station moved into new facilities at Kingston Beach opposite Shoreham Harbour.[8] This boathouse and slipway was specifically built to accommodate a new lifeboat, the 41 ft Watson-class RNLB Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn (ON 758).[9] This lifeboat was at Shoreham for 30 years and during that period was launched 244 times and saved 143 lives. Over the years since that boathouse was constructed it has undergone several alterations to accommodate different lifeboats serving at the station. Problems with sinkage of the slipway led to the decision to allocate a 13-ton Rother-class lifeboat (primarily designed for carriage launching) to the station in 1981. However, the slipway was strengthened following the decision to place a Tyne-class boat on station and the Rother was replaced in 1986 by the first of two 47ft Watson-class boats that served for four years before being replaced by the new Tyne. In 1967 the station was supplied with a second lifeboat. This was a D-class (EA16) inshore lifeboat and was kept in its own berth constructed beneath the main boathouse.[8]

In 1990 the station was supplied with a new Tyne-class lifeboat. She was the RNLB Hermione Lady Colwyn (ON 1158),[10] and was on station until 2010, during which time she was launched to service 414 times[11] and rescued 458 people. 72 of these were classed as medical emergency, but she is credited with saving the lives of 39 people. After the withdrawal of Hermione Lady Colwyn in April 2010, the station was served by various relief fleet Tynes until the new Tamar-class entered service in December 2010.

In 2008 the Trustees and the RNLI set out to develop the station. A £1 million public appeal was launched to help towards the cost of the re-build to accommodate a new Tamar-class lifeboat. In January 2009 the work began with the demolition of the old station boathouse and slipway. Whilst the work was carried out the station was housed in temporary accommodation on Kingston Beach, with the inshore lifeboat being launched using a tractor, and the Tyne-class lifeboat Lady Hermione Colwyn moored afloat by the locks. Contracted to build the new boathouse and slipways was Dean & Dyball Civil Engineering of Ringwood.[1] The building is timber-framed on three storeys, housing boat halls for the all-weather lifeboat and the inshore lifeboat, each with dedicated slipways to the harbour. The new facility has office and mess accommodation, training facilities, kitchen and showers. A 10,000-litre fuel tank enables the crew to refuel the boat inside the station.

The previous boathouse and station encountered problems with the occasional higher than normal spring tides.[1] On occasion the south easterly storm waves would race across through the open harbour mouth and crash against the slipway, flooding the old station. A design innovation of the new station included a wave pit at the front of the station. The steep gradient of the slipway accentuates the waves hitting it, and the wave pit ensures that the waves break before they hit the boathouse door. The resulting seawater drains away back into the harbour through a channel running parallel to the slipway.[1]

The project cost a total of £4,200,000 and was officially opened by the Duke of Kent on Thursday 16 June 2011. The new £2.7 million Tamar-class lifeboat RNLB Enid Collett (ON 1295) [12] arrived at the station for service on 10 December 2010. This lifeboat was funded by the generous bequests of Miss Enid Marjory Collett together with other gifts and legacies. The Enid Collett was the first Tamar-class lifeboat to go on service at a lifeboat station in the RNLI's south east region. The station's D-class inshore lifeboat is called Joan Woodland (D-784).[13]

On 16 December 1874 an examining officer of H.M. Customs was observing the first RNLI Shoreham lifeboat RNLB Ramonet whilst it was out on an exercise in very rough weather and very heavy seas. The lifeboat was capsized and one of the crew members drowned. William Sheader, unaware that the crewman was already dead, at great risk to himself swam out through the breaking surf and brought his body ashore. For his bravery he was awarded an RNLI silver medal.[15]

During World War II, RNLB Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn took part in the Dunkirk evacuation with naval crews.[14] On 1 June 1940 the lifeboat was towed to Dunkirk by Naval Drifter Kindred Star. During the evacuation the lifeboat made three trips from the beaches back to Dover, but naval crews did not keep detailed logs which are the rule in the RNLI. There is a story that the naval officer in charge protected his men from shrapnel and strafing by constructing a makeshift wheelhouse from steel plate, but this has never been substantiated.

On 16 November 1941[16] the Royal Navy Minesweeper President Briand was struggling along the coast off Shoreham with engine trouble. The strong south wind along with the heavy swell was threatening to push the disabled vessel on to the shore. The Shoreham Watson-class lifeboat RNLB Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn (ON 758)[9][17] was launched to service and stood by the ship until 9.30pm at which time SS Goole, a tug had been called to the minesweeper, at which time the lifeboat returned to her station. The coxswain of the Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn then returned to the minesweeper aboard the Shoreham Pilot Cutter with the intention of piloting the minesweeper. At 9.45pm the lifeboat now under command of second coxswain James Upperton,[16] was recalled up to service as both the tug and the minesweeper were now being driven ashore in the appalling weather. At the scene, the tug was trying to haul the vessel clear of shallow water but the line broke which caused the minesweeper to roll heavily and the sea began to break over her decks. With great skill and courage, avoiding the presence of the naval mines in the vicinity, the lifeboat went alongside six or seven times and removed all 22 men aboard the minesweeper, including their own coxswain. For their part played in this rescue Second Coxswain James Upperton was awarded the RNLI silver medal and Mechanic Henry Philcox was awarded a bronze medal.[16]

From early morning on 8 August 1948[18] a strong gale was blowing with rough seas and a heavy swell. Just off the coast at Shoreham, the yacht Gull had got into difficulties and was being driven along the coast with her sails torn and shredded and she was out of control. The Shoreham Lifeboat Rosa Woodd and Phyllis Lunn was launched to service with coxswain Upperton[18] at the helm. The lifeboat raced after the yacht and to boost her speed hoisted her sail to help her engines. The lifeboat eventually caught the yacht at the entrance to Newhaven Harbour. The yacht by this time in a desperate attempt to enter the harbour, gybed and became waterlogged and caught in broken shallow water. The lifeboat, at great risk, got alongside her on two occasions and took off three men, two women and a boy. They were all landed safely at Newhaven. The lifeboat returned to Shoreham arriving back at their station at 3:30 pm after being out at sea for 7 hours.[18] For this service coxswain James Upperton received an RNLI silver medal.[18]

On 19 October 1971,[19] the drilling rig William Allpress was anchored three-quarters of a mile off the coast near Rustington. The weather was slowly deteriorating and the rig was awaiting a tow into Portsmouth Harbour. After three days the conditions had caused the crew to have no food or sleep and the five men aboard were all suffering from sea sickness and it was necessary for the men to be taken off the rig. The Watson-class lifeboat RNLB Dorothy and Philip Constant (ON 697)[19] was launched at 2.10 pm in south-westerly gale to a very heavy sea, torrential rain and poor visibility. Coxswain John Fox,[19] after circling the rig to assess the situation, piled all his fenders into one large one, brought the life-boat starboard on to the rig enabling the five survivors to be pulled on board across the foredeck. The lifeboat then headed back to Shoreham. The rescue had taken three hours. John Fox was awarded an RNLI Bronze medal for his part in the service.[19]

On 5 August 1975,[20] a south-south-westerly gale was in full force with rough seas. The yacht Albin Ballard was in difficulties. She had broached to windward and under bare poles (No sail) was drifting with the remains of her sails flapping in the water. At 3.15 am the lifeboat Dorothy and Philip Constant was launched to service with coxswain John Fox[20] at the helm. The lifeboat found the yacht due south of Littlehampton and by this time the vessel was being deluged with large breaking waves. Her crew by this time were seasick and exhausted. Coxswain Fox put the lifeboat against the amidships of the yacht at which point two of the lifeboat men scrambled aboard. They then set up, and proceeded to take the yacht into tow. Despite losing the line once they finally towed the yacht into Shoreham arriving at 7.25 am in the morning. John Fox was awarded an RNLI Bronze medal for his part in the service.[20]

The Athina B aground to the east of the Palace Pier in Brighton

The MS Athina B had left the Azores on 11 December 1979 laden with 3,000 tonnes of pumice. Her destination was the port at Shoreham-by-Sea. During the voyage, she had problems with her generator, gyro compass and radar, and put in at La Rochelle in France for repairs. On arrival at Shoreham on 20 January 1980[8] the vessel was caught in a force seven or eight gale and with seas breaking across her decks, she was unable to enter Shoreham harbour. Her engines failed, and a Mayday call was issued. The Dorothy and Philip Constance was launched to service at 8.40 am with coxswain Ken Voice[21] at the helm. The lifeboat in three approaches took off half the crew and the captain's family, with the rest being rescued on the morning of 21 January.[21] A total of four missions were needed to rescue all those on board. The ship drifted eastwards and eventually ran aground to the east of the Palace Pier. The ship broke her back and was declared a write-off.[22][23] For their actions in the service Coxswain Ken Voice[21] was awarded a RNLI Silver Medal; Crew members Ken Everard, Michael Fox, Peter Huxtable, John Landale, Jack Silverson and Geoff Tugwell were awarded the RNLI's Thanks of the Institution on Vellum;[8] Crew members Peter Everard and Derek Silverson received letters of thanks signed by the director of the RNLI for their part in the rescue of the crew of the Athina B.