Poole Lifeboat Station

RNLI Lifeboat Station in Poole, England

Poole Lifeboat Station

Poole

General information
Type| RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location| The Quay, Poole, BH15 1HZ
Country| England
Coordinates| 50°42′46″N 1°59′32″W﻿ / ﻿50.712765°N 1.992162°W﻿ / 50.712765; -1.992162
Opened| 1865 at Sandbanks
1882 at Fisherman's Dock
1974 at Lilliput Marina
1989 at Poole Bridge
Owner|  Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Poole Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Poole, Dorset in England. The first lifeboat was stationed at Poole Harbour in 1865 and the present station was opened in 1988.

Since November 2016 it has operated two inshore lifeboats, an Atlantic 85 and a D class.

## History

[edit]

The first boathouse was built in 1865 at Sandbanks by the narrow entrance to the large, natural Poole Harbour.[1][2][3] This was remote from the house in Poole which meant that the crew had to be collected by horse-drawn coach from the Antelope Hotel in the High Street and taken to Sandbanks.[4]

In 1882 a new boathouse was built on land leased from Poole Corporation on the Fisherman's Dock at the east end of Poole Quay. A dedicated slipway was built in front of the boathouse in 1897 as the public slipway was often blocked by other boats. In 1887 a flagstaff had been erected so that messages could be exchanged with Sandbanks. At this time the crew was summoned to launches by a signal rocket. In 1892 this was changed to a signal mortar but this reverted to rockets in 1914 as the mortar being discharged could be mistaken for an explosion at the nearby gas works.[4]

In 1939 a Surf motor lifeboat was placed on station and the last 'pulling and sailing' lifeboat at Poole was withdrawn. This was the Thomas Kirk Wright, which on 30 May 1940 sailed to Dunkirk as one of boats summoned to Operation Dynamo, indeed it was the first of 19 lifeboats to arrive there. It was crewed by the Royal Navy but was damaged by enemy fire. After repairs a second trip across the channel was made on 2 June 1940 before eventually returning to more normal duties at Poole.[4]

Thomas Kirk Wright (ON 811)

An inflatable Inshore Rescue Boat was added to the station in 1964 but withdrawn in 1970, although by this time a Dell Quay Dory was also in use. This was withdrawn in 1985 but ten years later a B-class (Atlantic 21) ILB was placed on station.[4]

The boathouse at Fisherman's Dock was closed in 1974 and a new station opened with the Poole Harbour Yacht Club at Lilliput Marina. Another move came in 1989 when the lifeboat was moved back to Poole Quay, but this time at the west end beneath Poole Bridge. The following year new crew facilities and storerooms were constructed by adding a two-storey extension to the police office on Poole Quay.

In 1994 a floating boathouse was placed next to the lifeboat mooring for the new ILB that took up service at Poole the following year.[4]

In November 2016, with the advent of 25 knot boats at flanking stations, the RNLI decided to withdraw the all-weather lifeboat from Poole and stationed a D-class inflatable to work alongside the existing Atlantic 85.[5]

## Poole Old Lifeboat Museum

[edit]

The Lifeboat Museum

A year after the boathouse at Fisherman's Dock was closed in 1974, the old boathouse became an RNLI museum. It was handed back to the council in 1991.[4]

The centrepiece of the museum is the Surf-class lifeboat Thomas Kirk Wright, on loan from the National Maritime Museum.[6] This had been operated from Poole when the station was in the same building on Fisherman's Dock. It was the station's first motor lifeboat, built in 1939 and withdrawn in 1962.[7] In 1940 it had been one of the lifeboats involved in the Dunkirk evacuation.[6]

## Description

[edit]

The crew facilities and storeroom occupies one part of a larger brick-built building facing the water on Poole Quay. The upper floor is set into the roof with a large window overlooking the lifeboat's pontoon. The boathouse for the ILB is moored alongside this pontoon adjacent to the Lifting Bridge.

## Poole lifeboats

[edit]

'ON' is the official number used in RNLI records from 1884.
'Op. No.' is the operational number displayed on the boat.

### Pulling and sailing lifeboats

[edit]

At Poole | ON  | Name  | Built  | Class  | Comments

|
|
|
|
|

1865–1880  | –  | Manley Wood | 1864  | Peake | 34 ft (10 m) boat. Renamed Joseph and Mary in 1879.[2][3][8]
1880–1897 | 188  | Joseph and Mary,
Boy's Own No. 2 | 1880  | Self-Righter | 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) boat.[9]
1897–1910  | 316  | City Masonic Club | 1892  | Watson | 38 ft 1 in (11.61 m) boat.[10]
1910–1939  | 608  | Harmar | 1910  | Self-Righter | 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) boat.[11]

### Motor lifeboats

[edit]

At Poole | ON  | Op. No. | Name  | Built  | Class  | Comments

|
|
|
|
|
|

1939–1962  | 811  | –  | Thomas Kirk Wright | 1939  | Surf | Sold 1964. Now on display in the Old Lifeboat House at Poole.[12][7]
1962–1969  | 891  | –  | Bassett-Green | 1951  | Liverpool | Sold in 1969. Reported in May 2018 to be in private ownership at Campbeltown.[13]
1969–1971  | 873  | –  | George Elmy | 1950  | Liverpool | Capsized on service at Seaham 17 November 1962 with nine lives lost.

Sold September 1972. Restored to original condition and on display at Seaham Harbour from July 2013.[14][13]

1971–1974  | 872  | –  | J B Couper of Glasgow | 1949  | Liverpool | Sold February 1976 and renamed Etoile Du Nord (GU5045). It is on display at the Peninsular Hotel, Vale, Guernsey.[13]
1974–1983  | 1029  | 44-011  | Augustine Courtauld | 1974  | Waveney | Sold 1999 as a lifeboat with the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol in Australia where it was named P&O Nedlloyd Strathaird. Later resold and regained the name Augustine Courtauld as a work boat for Melbourne Charter Services, Melbourne.[15][16]
1983–2001  | 1089  | 33-07  | Inner Wheel | 1983  | Brede | Sold 2002 as a lifeboat for South Africa and still in service in December 2023 at Hout Bay as Nadine Gordimer (Rescue 8).[17]
2001–2016 | 1131  | 47-023  | City of Sheffield | 1988  | Tyne | Now preserved at the Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield.[18]

### Inshore lifeboats

[edit]

At Poole | Op. No. | Name  | Class  | Model  | Comments

|
|
|
|
|

1965–1967  | D-69  | Unnamed | D  | RFD PB16 | [19]
1967–1970  | D-46  | Unnamed | D  | RFD PB16 | [19]
1967–1969  | A-2  | Unnamed | A  | Hatch | Previously ALB No. 18-03[20]
1969–1972  | A-502  | Unnamed | A  | Hatch | Previously ALB No. 17-003[20]
1971  | A-503  | Unnamed | A  | McLachlan | Previously ALB No. 18-02[20]
1972–1973  | A-500  | Unnamed | A  | Hatch | Previously ALB No. 17-001[20]
1974–1975  | A-501  | Bob Abbot | A  | Hatch | Previously ALB No. 17-002[20]
1975  | B-8  | Unnamed | B  | Trial boat  | [21]
1975–1985  | A-502  | Unnamed | A  | Hatch | Previously ALB No. 17-003.[20]
1977  | B-8  | Unnamed | B  | Trial boat  | [21]
1985–1995  | A-513  | Sam and Iris Coles | A  | Boston Whaler | [21]
1995–2008  | B-710  | Friendly Forrester II | B  | Atlantic 75 | [22]
2008  | B-736  | Toshiba Wave Warrior | B  | Atlantic 75 | [22]
2008–  | B-826  | Sgt Bob Martin
(Civil Service No.50) | B  | Atlantic 85 | [23]
2016–2017 | D-798  | John Wickens | D  | IB1 | [24]
2017–  | D-804 | Gladys Maud Burton | D  | IB1 | [25]

* 47-023 City of Sheffield

* D-804 Gladys Maud Burton

* B-826 Sgt Bob Martin (Civil Service No.50)

## Station honours

[edit]

The following are awards made at Poole[4][26]

* RNLI Gold Medal

Captain Charles Howe Fremantle, RN - 1824

* RNLI Silver Medal

George Barnes - 1824
Stephen Curtis - 1824

Lt. Joseph Elwin, RN -1825

Lt. Thomas Parsons, RN - 1853

The Right Hon The Viscount Bury, MP - 1868
Mr Charles Pride - 1868

Richard Stokes, Coxswain - 1882

* The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Richard Wills, Coxswain - 1906
Thomas Wills - 1906
John Wills - 1906
Richard Cartridge - 1906
Henry Russell - 1906

David Coles, crew member - 1986
Steven Vince, crew member - 1986
Raymond Collin, crew member - 1986

* A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution

Steve Vince, Coxswain - 1995
Robert Doak, crew member - 1995
Geoffrey Langley, crew member - 1995

Gavin McGuiness, Helmsman - 2001
Anne Millman, crew member - 2001
Paul Savage, crew member - 2001

## See also

[edit]

* List of RNLI stations

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society. p. 105.
2. ^ a b "Additional Stations and New Life-Boats". Life-Boat. Vol. 5, no. 58\. 1865. p. 728.
3. ^ a b "The Life-Boat Stations of the United Kingdom - Poole". Life-Boat. Vol. 11, no. 119\. 1881. pp. 221–222.
4. ^ a b c d e f g "Poole's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
5. ^ "Poole's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
6. ^ a b "Poole Old Lifeboat Museum". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
7. ^ a b Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 36–37.
8. ^ Softley, Michael (2000). The brancaster Lifeboats 1874–1935 (1st ed.). Norfolk & Suffolk Research Group. p. 12\. ISBN 0952279940.
9. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 10.
10. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 14–15.
11. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 26–27.
12. ^ "Thomas Kirk Wright". The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
13. ^ a b c Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 38–39.
14. ^ "National Register of Historic Vessels - George Elmy". National Historic Ships UK. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
15. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 46–47.
16. ^ Leach, Nicholas (2001). The Waveney Lifeboats. Bernard McCall. pp. 60–61. ISBN 1-902953-01-0.
17. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 48–49.
18. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, pp. 50–51.
19. ^ a b Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 73.
20. ^ a b c d e f Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 87.
21. ^ a b c Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 88.
22. ^ a b Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 68.
23. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 70.
24. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 84.
25. ^ Leonard & Denton 2024, p. 85.
26. ^ Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 0 907605 89 3.

## External links

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