Lowestoft Lifeboat Station

Lowestoft Lifeboat Station
Lowestoft Lifeboat Station
	Lowestoft Lifeboat Station.
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	Lowestoft, Suffolk
Country	England
Coordinates	52°28′18″N 1°45′11″E / 52.47167°N 1.75306°E
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Lowestoft Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) operated lifeboat station in the town of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. The station is located at the mouth of Lowestoft's outer harbour on the South pier. It is one of the oldest lifeboat stations in the United Kingdom, having been established in 1801.

History

The station was established in 1801, when a lifeboat built by Henry Greathead began operating from the town. In 1807 the station became the first to operate a sailing lifeboat, the Frances Anne, which operated until 1850 and saved over 300 lives. The RNLI took control of the station in 1855.^[1]

A second station operated in the town between 1870 and 1912, whilst the South Broads Lifeboat Station, an inshore station, operated at Oulton Broad between 2001 and 2011.^[2]

Station honours

Crews from Lowestoft have received 45 awards for gallantry, including 39 medals. The RNLI Gold Medal has been awarded twice. The first award was to Lieutenant R B Matthews RN in October 1827. Coxswain John Swan was the second recipient, for his actions during the rescue of the crew of the merchant ship SS Hopelyn, wrecked on North Scroby Sands in October 1922.^[1] The lifeboat Michael Stephens took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.^[1]

The following are awards made at Lowestoft^[3]^[4]

Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry (EGM)

John Thompson Swan - 1924^[5]

RNLI Gold Medal

Lieut Robert Bates Matthews, RN - 1827

John Thompson Swan, Coxswain - 1922

RNLI Silver Medal

Lieut John Crouchley Evison, RN - 1834

Lieut Richard Joachim, RN - 1836

Mr Francis Stannard, Master of the schooner Glenmoriston - 1853

Lieut Richard Joachim, RN - 1855 (Second-Service clasp)

Captain Richard Joachim, RN - 1857 (Third-Service clasp)

Robert Hook, Coxswain - 1859

Nathaniel Colby, crew member - 1859

Francis Smith, crew member - 1859

James Butcher, crew member - 1859

William Rose, crew member - 1859

Alfred Mewse, crew member - 1859

Thomas Liffen, crew member - 1859

Richard Butcher crew member - 1859

Captain Richard Joachim, RN - 1861 (Fourth-Service clasp)

Robert Hook, Coxswain - 1873 (Second-Service clasp)

Mr George Edward Hall, master of the fishing boat Trial - 1882

John Thompson Swan, Coxswain - 1914

John Thompson Swan, Coxswain - 1918 (Second-Service clasp)

Ralph A W Scott, Motor Mechanic - 1922

Albert Spurgeon, Coxswain - 1927

RNLI Bronze Medal

George Ayers, Second Coxswain - 1918

George William Ayers, crew member 1922 (Second-Service clasp)

John Rose, crew member 1922

H Allerton, crew member 1922

J Ayers, crew member 1922

W Butcher, crew member 1922

C Mewse, crew member 1922

Albert Spurgeon, crew member 1922

F Swan, crew member 1922

Albert Spurgeon, Coxswain - 1943 (Second-Service clasp)

Thomas Victor Knott, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1974

Peter Gibbons, Second Coxswain - 1974

Thomas Victor Knott, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1976 (Second-Service clasp)

John Catchpole, Coxswain - 1988

Shane Gordon Coleman, Coxswain and sole crew member of the Lowestoft Pilot boat,
(also Second Coxswain/Mechanic of the Lowestoft lifeboat) - 1990

John Catchpole, Coxswain - 1996 (Second-Service clasp)

The Maud Smith Award 1988
(for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)

John Catchpole, Coxswain - 1988

The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Shane Coleman, Second Coxswain/Mechanic - 1996

John Fox, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2010

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

Michael Knott 1976

John W Catchpole, Second Coxswain - 1981

Coxswain J Catchpole - 1989

Shane G Coleman, Second Coxswain/Mechanic - 1990

Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution

S Coleman, Second Coxswain/Mechanic - 1989

Silver Medals from the Austrian Government

Crew of 1866 Lowestoft Lifeboat - 1893

Lowestoft lifeboats

Pulling and sailing lifeboats

On station	ON	Name	Class	Length	Comments
1801–1802	–		Greathead
1807–1850	–	Frances Ann	Norfolk and Suffolk	39 ft 0 in (11.89 m)	Designed by Lionel Lukin, the forerunner of the Norfolk and Suffolk type.^[6]^[7]
1850–1876	–	Victoria	Norfolk and Suffolk	42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)	Number 1 lifeboat. Renamed Laetitia by 1874.^[8]
1870–1886	–	George	Norfolk and Suffolk	32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)	Number 2 lifeboat.^[9]^[8]
1875–1905	22	Samuel Plimsoll	Norfolk and Suffolk	44 ft 4 in (13.51 m)	Number 1 lifeboat.^[10]
1886–1890	23	The Two Sisters	Norfolk and Suffolk	46 ft 3 in (14.10 m)	Number 2 lifeboat. Originally in service at Pakefield with the name Sisters.^[10]
1890–1892	288	Stock Exchange	Norfolk and Suffolk	46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)	Number 2 lifeboat.^[11]^[12]
1893–1912	356	Stock Exchange	Norfolk and Suffolk	46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)	Number 2 lifeboat.^[13]
1905–1921	543	Kentwell	Norfolk and Suffolk	46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)	Number 1 lifeboat.^[14]

Motor lifeboats

On station	ON	Op. No.	Name	Class	Comments
1921–1939	663	–	Agnes Cross	Norfolk and Suffolk	Previously John and Mary Meiklam Of Gladswood at Gorleston.^[15]
1939–1963	838	–	Michael Stephens	Watson	Later stationed at Exmouth. Sold in 1976 and now used as a pleasure boat on the River Yealm.^[16]^[17]
1963–1986	970	–	Frederick Edward Crick	Watson	^[18]
1986–1987	924	–	Archibald and Alexander M. Paterson	Barnett	^[19]
1987–2014	1132	47-020	Spirit of Lowestoft	Tyne	On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard since June 2019.^[20]
2014–	1312	13-05	Patsy Knight	Shannon	^[21]^[22]