Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station is located in Norfolk
Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationGreat Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station, Riverside Road, Gorleston, Norfolk, UK
CountryEngland
Coordinates52°34′31.51″N 1°43′55.34″E / 52.5754194°N 1.7320389°E / 52.5754194; 1.7320389
Owner Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station (not to be confused with Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight) is a RNLI base in Norfolk, England. There were originally two separate stations at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston – two coastal towns either side of the River Yare. These were merged in 1926.

History

Great Yarmouth

Great Yarmouth received its first lifeboat in 1802. It was never called out. In 1825 the Norfolk Association for Saving the Lives of Shipwrecked Mariners stationed its first lifeboat at Great Yarmouth. The station was taken over by the RNLI in 1857 and in 1859 a new lifeboat house was built at a cost of £375 (equivalent to £40,000 in 2021). The station closed in 1919.[1]

Gorleston

The Gorleston lifeboat station was established by the RNLI in 1866. In 1881 a new boathouse was built at Gorleston for £329 (equivalent to £35,300 in 2021) and in 1883 a second boathouse (Gorleston No.2) was built alongside. This closed in 1926 when Gorleston No.1 station was renamed Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.[1]

During 1897 the station received its first steam lifeboat City of Glasgow and during 1921 its first motor lifeboat.[1]

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston

In 1963 an inshore lifeboat station was established with a D class lifeboat that remained in service until 1978.[1]

In 1975 a B class Atlantic 21 lifeboat was sent to the station.[1]

During 1993 crew facilities were upgraded, a gift-shop built and a display area created for the former Gorleston lifeboat John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood. The boathouse was further extended in 2002.[1]

In 1996 Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy officially named the station's new Trent class lifeboat Samarbeta, Swedish for ‘working together’.[1]

The current lifeboats on station are the Trent class (14-10) Samarbeta and the B class (B925) John Rowntree.[2]

Notable rescues

In October 1922 the Gorleston pulling and sailing lifeboat and the Lowestoft motor lifeboat, after a struggle lasting 32 hours, brought to safety the whole crew of 24 and a black kitten from the steamship Hopelyn wrecked on Scroby Sands.[1]

In 1927 lifeboats from Great Yarmouth & Gorleston, Cromer, Southwold and Lowestoft took part in the rescue of the Dutch oil tanker Georgia. This service is considered to be one of the greatest in the history of the RNLI.[1]

The lifeboat Louise Stephens was one of 19 lifeboats involved in the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940.[1]

Lifeboat disasters

Date Lifeboat station Lifeboat crew lost Memorial Brief details and references
1824Great Yarmouth
5
On 23 November 1824 a boat was launched by eight Great Yarmouth beachmen in an attempt to rescue the crew of the stricken vessel Jessie. Whilst attempting to board the Jessie a heavy sea fell on board their boat which immediately sunk her and resulted in the loss of five of the crew.[3]
1845Great Yarmouth
7
The yawl Phoenix was wrecked whilst going to the assistance of the collier brig Ann with the loss of seven of the fifteen people on board. Survivors were rescued by the Caister Lifeboat.[4]
1866Gorleston
13
On 13 January 1866 the private lifeboat, Rescuer, capsized in a storm with the loss of 12 of her crew.[5] A 13th fatality occurred when rescued crew member Robert Warner succumbed just days later as a direct result of the disaster.[6]
1867Gorleston
6
While returning to harbour after a rescue a fishing lugger collided with the private lifeboat, Rescuer. She capsized and 6 of her crew and 19 other people drowned.[5]
1881Great Yarmouth
6
The lifeboat Abraham Thomas capsized on 18 January whilst attempting to rescue the mate of the schooner Guiding Star. The Abraham Thomas was struck by a heavy sea and lost six out of a crew of ten. The mate from the Guiding Star was also lost out of the lifeboat.[7]
1888Gorleston
4
The Refuge was a private lifeboat belonging to the Gorleston boatmen. After going to the assistance of the steamer Akaba the Refuge was being towed back to port when the tow-rope parted and she was driven onshore where she capsized with the loss of four of her seven crew.[8] Henry Smith, chief boatman of the coastguard, was on the beach and, without thought for his own life, managed to save two crew members, Bonney and Woods, whilst a boatman of the coastguard named Henry Norton saved George Jacobs, who was found clinging to the stern post. The Yarmouth Independent newspaper report of the death of Jacob Philip Jacobs, dated 18 January 1913, states that he was one of the lifeboat crew who were saved. It is likely that Jacob Philip Jacobs and George Jacobs were the same person as the description of the rescue by the boatman are very similar.

Fleet

Great Yarmouth Fleet

1825-1919

ON Name In service Class Comments
Phoenix 1845 Yawl
19 Abraham Thomas
(Gt. Yarmouth No.2)		 1859–1892 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S)
20 Brave Robert Sheddon 1861–1883 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Moved to Gorleston No.1 in 1883, renamed Mark Lane.
329 John Burch 1892–1912 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S)
629 Hugh Taylor 1912–1919 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Station closed in 1919 [1]

Gorleston Fleet

No. 1 Station

Gorleston Lifeboat Station established by the RNLI in 1866 [1]

ON[lower-alpha 1] Name In service [9] Class Comments
The Rescuer 1866–1889
20 Mark Lane 1883–1889 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Was Brave Robert Sheddon at Gt. Yarmouth
21 Leicester 1870–1883 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Transferred to No.2 station in 1883
233 Mark Lane 1889–1892 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S)
288 Mark Lane 1892–1921 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Was Stock Exchange in Lowestoft(1890–1892), renamed Mark Lane in 1892
663 John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood 1921 Norfolk and Suffolk (Motor) Renamed Agnes Cross when transferred to Lowestoft
543 Reserve No.1 1922–1924 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Formerly Kentwell at Lowestoft
670 John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood 1924–1926 Norfolk and Suffolk (Motor) Formerly H.F. Bailey
1926, Station becomes Great Yarmouth & Gorleston [1]

No. 2 Station

Gorleston No.2 Boathouse built and opened in 1883.[1]

ON Name In service [9] Class Comments
21 Leicester 1883–1894 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S)
371 Leicester 1894–1923 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S)
541 Reserve No.7A 1923–1924 Watson (P&S) Formerly James Finlayson at Lossiemouth
Station closed in 1924 [1]

No. 3 Station

Gorleston No.3 Boathouse constructed in 1891.[1]

ON Name In service [9] Class Comments
326 Thora Zelma 1892–1904 Norfolk and Suffolk (P&S) Station closed 1903-1907 [1]

No. 4 Station

Gorleston No.4 Station opened in 1897 [1]

ON Name In service [9] Class Comments
362 City of Glasgow 1897–1903 Steam-class
420 James Stevens No. 3 1903–1908 Steam-class Station closed in 1908

Gorleston Rangers

Name In service [9] Class Comments
Elizabeth Simpson 1889–1939 Presented to Gorleston by Miss Elizabeth Simpson Stone of Norwich and manned by a company of boatmen known as the Gorleston Rangers. She was administered by a local committee, was launched on service 119 times, and rescued 441 lives.[1]

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Fleet

Gorleston Lifeboat Station became Great Yarmouth and Gorleston in 1926. [1]

The Trent-class lifeboat Samarbeta (ON 1208) is the current ALB at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.

All Weather Boats

ON Op. No.[lower-alpha 2] Name In service Class Comments
670 John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood [10] 1926–1939 Norfolk and Suffolk (Motor) Formerly H.F. Bailey
820 Louise Stephens 1939–1967 Watson-class
1002 44-003 Khami 1967–1980 Waveney-class
1065 44-021 Barham 1980–1996 Waveney-class
1208 14-10 Samarbeta 1996– Trent-class
1351 13-44 George and Frances Phelon Shannon-class

Inshore Lifeboats

D-class
Op. No. Name In service Class Comments
D-9 unnamed 1963–1964 D-class
D-32 unnamed 1964 D-class
D-1 unnamed 1965 D-class
D-73 unnamed 1965–1967 D-class
D-26 unnamed 1967–1968 D-class
D-113 unnamed 1968–1969 D-class
D-179 unnamed 1970–1977 D-class later named Blue Peter IV
B-class
Op. No. Name In service Class Comments
B-531 Foresters 1975–1988 Atlantic 21-class
B-574 Joseph B Press 1988–2002 Atlantic 21-class
B-786 Seahorse IV 2002–2021 Atlantic 75-class
B-925 John Rowntree 2021– Atlantic 85-class
  1. ↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ↑ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

Honours

The station has been awarded 1 gold medal, 21 silver medals, 24 bronze medals, 5 vellum inscriptions and 9 framed letters of thanks.[1]

Over 100 lifeboat crew were given the Freedom of the Borough of Great Yarmouth in 1983.[1]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "History". RNLI. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  2. ↑ Archived 26 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ see: The Norfolk Chronicle. 27 November 1824. p.3.
  4. ↑ "Dreadful Shipwreck". The Times. No. 18834. London. 30 January 1845. col F, p. 3.
  5. 1 2 Higgins, David (1987). The Beachmen. Terence Dalton Limited. p. 49-51. ISBN 0-86138-047-9.
  6. ↑ see: "The Late Life-boat Accident: The Norfolk News" 27 January 1866
  7. ↑ "Station history | RNLI".
  8. ↑ see: "Lifeboat Disaster at Yarmouth: The Eastern Daily Press" 12 November 1888
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.
  10. ↑ "JOHN AND MARY MEIKLAM OF GLADSWOOD". National Historic Ship Register. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
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