Whitby Lifeboat Station

Whitby Lifeboat Station
Whitby Lifeboat Station
Whitby, North Yorkshire
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	The Fish Pier
Address	Church Street
Town or city	Whitby, North Yorkshire, YO22 4AE
Country	England
Coordinates	54°29′17″N 0°36′47″W / 54.4881°N 0.6130°W / 54.4881; -0.6130
Opened	2007[note 1]
Cost	£1 million
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Whitby Lifeboat Station

Whitby Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. It is one of nine situated along the Yorkshire coast.^[1]

Whitby has had a lifeboat station since 1802, with the RNLI responsible since 1861. In its 200 plus year history, Whitby has had five different lifeboat stations (although not all operated at the same time). A sixth lifeboat and station was located at Upgang, just up the coast from Whitby, and whilst it was considered separate from Whitby, it was crewed by men from the Whitby lifeboat.

The present day station covers a huge swathe of the northern coast from the Humber to Hartlepool, and is regularly listed as the busiest in the north of England. The station has two lifeboats; a 13-metre (43 ft) Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat (ALB) 13-49 Lois Ivan (ON 1356), and the D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat (ILB) Warter Priory (D-810).^[2]

The first lifeboat to be stationed at Whitby was in 1802 on the west side of the river.^[3] This had been paid for by a combination of local finance and an offer from Lloyd's of London who contributed £50 of the £160 needed for a lifeboat.^[4] A 30-foot 10-oared lifeboat was constructed by Henry Greathead of South Shields, at a cost of £160, arriving in Whitby on 15 September 1802. The boat was kept on a carriage, in a boathouse near the West Pier.^[5]

By 1817, the Greathead lifeboat was reported as being unserviceable. No more details are available, until 1822, when two new lifeboats were placed at Whitby. A 26-foot 6in long 10-oared boat was constructed by Wake of Sunderland to replace the Greathead boat. It was kept in the same boathouse, and called "West Side Lifeboat". A No.2 station was created with the second boat, a 26-foot 10-oared lifeboat, constructed by local boatbuilder Christopher Gale, and launched from davits on Tate Hill Pier, where a boathouse was built out for protection. The boat was known as the "East Side Lifeboat".^[5]

By 1859, the "West Side Lifeboat" was found to be rotten, and a new 30-foot boat was ordered from local boatbuilder Francis Falkingbridge, costing £130, and delivered in September 1860. This boat would be involved in the 1861 Disaster as documented later. ^[5]

By the end of the 1865, Whitby had three lifeboats under the command of the harbour master.^[6] One of these was the Upgang Lifeboat, which was housed at a newly created station on a stretch of beach at Upgang, 1 mile (2 km) along the coast west towards Sandsend.^[7] The station had been created as in certain conditions, launching the Whitby harbour boats had proven extremely difficult.^[5] The RNLI always regarded Upgang as being a different lifeboat station, despite its proximity to Whitby,^[8] and the fact it was crewed by men from the Whitby station.^[9]

The lifeboat stations in Whitby are detailed as follows;^[10]

Name	Dates	Location	Notes
Whitby No.1	1802–1847	Whitby West Pier, West side of the river	Closed when the Khyber Pass was cut in the town,[note 2][11] so the lifeboat house was moved further inland.[12]
Whitby No.1	1847–1957	Whitby Landward Pier, on the west side of the river, opposite the Old East Pier	Now the Whitby Lifeboat Museum (rebuilt 1895)
Whitby No.2	1822–1963	Whitby East Pier, East side of the river (by the old East Pier)
Upgang	1865–1919	Upgang was located a little to the west of Whitby	After closure, the boat at Upgang was transferred to Whitby
Whitby (Motor)	1919–2006	East bank of the river in Whitby Harbour	Closed and demolished in 2006; new lifeboat station built on the same site
Whitby	2007–	Built on the site of the former 1919 Motor boat lifeboat station

The lifeboat stations have always been in different locations in Whitby on the mouth of the River Esk; between 1822 and 1863, it was located on the original East Pier on the east bank of the river.^[13] The present day lifeboat station is also on the east side of the river (further upstream) and was opened in 1919,^[14] although another building housed a second lifeboat on the west side of the river between 1895 and 1957.^[15] A new station building was built on the site in 1895, and this building has since been re-opened as the Whitby Lifeboat Museum.^[16]

The lifeboat disaster of 1861, where twelve of the lifeboatmen died, prompted a local fund-raising effort for their widows and children. This eventually raised over £8,000, but the trustees of the fund thought that supplying the money to the widows and orphans might give them ideas above their station, so a memorial was paid for instead, to be installed in the parish Church of St Mary in the town.^[17] Soon after the tragedy, the local lifeboat committee agreed to the RNLI taking over responsibility for the Whitby lifeboats.

In 1881, a ship foundered during a heavy snowstorm in Robin Hood's Bay. The lifeboat stationed in that village was deemed to be unseaworthy and so a telegraph was sent to launch the Whitby lifeboat, the Robert Whitworth. Due to the heavy seas, this had to be taken over land through blizzards and snowdrifts. A similar situation occurred in April 1834, when the lifeboat from Whitby was carried overland to Robin Hood's bay to rescue two women in difficulty.^[18]

The sinking of the Rohilla in 1914 was attended by six lifeboats in all, but the motorised lifeboat from Tynemouth was the only one that could get near to the Rohilla due to the swell and the pull of the waves on the other lifeboats which were using oars. After this, most RNLI crews were persuaded about the efficacy of using motorised boats over ones with oars; previously, many crews were suspicious of motorised lifeboats.^[19] The first motorboat delivered to Whitby was the Margaret Harker-Smith in 1919. She only had a single engine and so was fitted sails and additionally had the capacity for men to row her with oars.^[20]

Despite this, Whitby retained a rowing lifeboat until 1957, the Robert and Ellen Robson (ON667), which was the last rowing boat to be officially operated by the RNLI.^[21] This boat is now on display in the RNLI museum in Whitby.^[22]

In 1966, the first Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) was launched at Whitby. The ILB is useful for rescues where the all-weather lifeboat has difficulty getting to.^[23]

On 7 September 2007, the Duchess of Kent formally unveiled a new £1 million lifeboat station in Whitby.^[24] The new station was built on the site of the old motor lifeboat station (built in 1918 and in use since 1919), which had become life-expired but was known to the crews as the Tin Shed. Whilst the new lifeboat station was being constructed, the old No 1 lifeboat station, now the museum, was resurrected as the lifeboat house for one year from 2006 to 2007.^[25]

Between 1802 (when the first lifeboat was launched at Whitby) and 2009, 24 lifeboat crew members were lost from Whitby. Their names are commemorated in the RNLI memorial at Poole in Dorset. A news report in 2022 stated that in its more than 200-year history, the Whitby lifeboat had been launched over 2,900 times, and saved over 1,230 people.^[26]

On 6 October 1841, the east-side lifeboat was on her way to the rescue of two yawls foundering in Whitby Bay. The lifeboat capsized and four lifeboatmen lost their lives.^[12][14]

On 9 February 1861, a severe storm struck the east coast of England which resulted in 200 ships being wrecked. The crew had already been out and responded to five ships in distress, when responding to the sixth, a huge wave capsized their vessel.^[27] The only survivor of the incident was Henry Freeman, the only member of the crew wearing a cork lifejacket; the other twelve crew, all of who drowned, were wearing their traditional ballast filled lifebelts.^{[note 3]}

The schooner Agenoria which was transporting coal from Hartlepool to Whitby ran aground just outside Whitby harbour on 10 January 1877. The Whitby lifeboat Harriott Forteath launched to try and effect a rescue.^[28] During the swell, she capsized and all but one of her 12 crew were thrown into the water. One swam ashore, seven got back into the vessel, but three members of the RNLI crew drowned, with their bodies washing up on the beaches around Whitby in the following days.^[29][30]

The brig Visitor foundered in the bay of Robin Hood's Bay in November 1881, and after the hold was flooded with 5 feet (1.5 m) of water, the crew abandoned ship into their lifeboat.^[31] The Robin Hood's Bay RNLI lifeboat station had been closed in 1855, and the unofficial lifeboat in the village was deemed "unseaworthy"^{[note 4]} and so a telegraph was sent to launch the Whitby Lifeboat. The seas were too rough to launch from Whitby and row around the coastline, so a decision was made to haul Robert Whitworth the 6 miles (9.7 km) overland to Robin Hood's Bay through blizzards and snow drifts, some as deep as 7 feet (2.1 m). This took two hours to achieve using the combined strength of 18 horses and 200 men.^[32] When the lifeboat and crew arrived, they launched the boat and spent 90 minutes in effecting a rescue of the people still stranded at sea. All survived and a commemorative plaque now memorialises the rescue in the village of Robin Hood's Bay.

The events of The Visitor prompted the RNLI to re-open the lifeboat station at Robin Hoods Bay (until 1931).^[33]

Rohilla was launched in 1906 for the British India Steam Navigation Company. She was pressed into war service in 1914 as HMHS Rohilla (His Majesties Hospital Ship). Whilst sailing from the Firth of Forth to Dunkirk to evacuate wounded soldiers, she ran aground on Saltwick Nab reef, which is just south of Whitby Harbour. Despite being only a short distance from the shore, high seas and gale force winds created atrocious conditions for any prospect of a rescue from the shore. One of Whitby's RNLI lifeboats Robert and Mary Ellis (ON 588) attempted to close on the wreck but was forced back by the high waves. Another of Whitby's lifeboats the John Fielden (ON 379) was dragged across the rocky scar to a point adjacent to the wrecked ship and made two successful rescues bringing 35 people to the safety of the shore, however the damage to her hull prevented and further attempts.

An audacious plan to haul the Upgang lifeboat William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington (ON 594) overland to opposite the Rohilla and then lower it by hand down the 200-foot (61 m) cliff was successful however the mountainous sea conditions prevented her launch.^[34][35]

A lifeboat from Scarborough was towed to the scene of the tragedy but they too were thwarted by the storm conditions, they did however stay on the scene throughout the night set to make another attempt at first light which was still pushed back and the lifeboat was towed back to Scarborough.

In all, six lifeboats were launched to try and rescue the 234 people on board over the course of three days. During the grounding of the vessel, she broke her back and several attempts were made to safely remove those onboard. In all, 89 people died in the sinking. Of the six lifeboats launched, only two were motorboats, and because of the perilous waves, only one of the motorboats, the Henry Vernon (ON 613) which had travelled down the coast from Tynemouth was able to get close to what remained of the ship rescuing the last 50 souls. This tragedy was one of the pivotal points that was to see the RNLI introduce motor lifeboats spelling the end for the traditional rowing boat.^[19][36]

The Whitby Lifeboat was again taken overland to the village of Ruswarp (further upstream of Whitby on the River Esk) in September 1931 due to extreme flooding. The flooding had washed away several bridges and the lifeboat was needed to rescue people from their houses.^[37] Despite the narrowness of the walls on the roads and the extreme current, the lifeboat crew (in No. 2 Lifeboat) managed to rescue five people.^[38][39]

On 30 September 1976, the trawler, Admiral Von Tromp, ran aground on Saltwick Bay rocks, much as the Rohilla had done 62 years earlier. The trawler had set sail from Scarborough the day before and was going fishing in an area some 45 nautical miles (83 km; 52 mi) north-east of Scarborough. Why the boat ran aground some 90 degrees off of her pre-planned course has never been fully explained as the man at the helm of the ship drowned that night. The Whitby Lifeboat was launched and made several attempts to get the men off the stricken boat, but to no avail, even though at one point, the two boats were touching. Eventually, the flooding of the ship led the men to taking to open water from which three were washed ashore, with the skipper of the boat being rescued by the inshore lifeboat from the sea. Two of the trawler men died. At a resultant inquiry, a nautical surveyor stated that even if the boat had been left to its own devices, she would not have been taken upon the rocks by the tide. Two of the RNLI crewmen were awarded RNLI medals, one silver and one bronze, for the mission.^[40][41]

The following are awards made at Whitby^[42][43]

• Silver Medal for gallantry in saving life at sea, awarded by HM The King

John Harland, crew member - 1946

• RNLI Gold Medal

Lt. John Lingard, RN – 1829

Lt. Richard Jones, Coastguard Officer - 1830

Lt. Richard Jones, Coastguard Officer - 1831 (Second-Service Award)

Lt. George Sherras Brittain, RN - 1838

Thomas Langlands, Coxswain - 1914

• RNLI Silver Medal

Lt. George Sherras Brittain, RN - 1837

John Storr, fisherman of Whitby - 1853

Henry Freeman - 1861

Thomas Robinson - 1861

William T. Quigley, Chief Officer of Coastguard - 1868

Henry Freeman, Coxswain - 1880 (Second-Service Award)

Thomas Langlands, Coxswain - 1906

Richard Eglon, Second Coxswain - 1914

George Peart - 1914

John W. Storry - 1924

James Murfield, Coxswain - 1939

James Philpot, Motor Mechanic - 1940

John Harland, crew member - 1946

Robert Allen, Coxswain - 1977

• RNLI Bronze Medal

John Dryden, Acting Second Coxswain - 1939

James Philpot, Mechanic - 1939

James Murfield, Coxswain - 1940

John Dryden, Acting Second Coxswain - 1940 (post.)

Christopher Wale, Acting Bowman - 1940 (post.)

William Dryden, Assistant Mechanic - 1940

Matthew Winspear, crew member - 1940

John Walker, crew member - 1940

Harry Murfield, Coxswain - 1946

Eric Taylor, Coxswain - 1954

William Harland, Coxswain - 1970

Michael Coates, Helmsman - 1975

Brian Hodgson, Helmsman - 1975

Richard M. K. Robinson, Helmsman - 1977

Peter N. Thomson, Coxswain Mechanic - 1988

Nicholas Botham, Helmsman - 1988

John Pearson, Helmsman - 1993

• Medal Service Certificate

David Wharton, crew member - 1975

Barry Mason, crew member - 1975

Michael R. Coates, crew member - 1977

Brian W. Hodgson, crew member - 1977

• The Maud Smith Award 1946
  (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)

John Harland, crew member - 1946

• The Ralph Glister Award 1975
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

The Helmsman and crew - 1975

• The Ralph Glister Award 1977
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

Richard M. K. Robinson, Helmsman - 1977

David A. Wharton, crew member - 1977

Tony Easton, crew member - 1977

• Carnegie Hero Fund Trust

John Harland, crew member - 1946

• Royal Humane Society's Testimonial

W. Dryden, Mechanic - 1958

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

W. Harland, Coxswain - 1966

John Anderson - 1968

Peter Neville Thomas - 1968

David Frampton - 1970

Robert Allen - 1970

D Wharton, crew member - 1975

Peter N. Thomson, Second Coxswain/Motor Mechanic - 1977

Dennis D. Carrick, Assistant Mechanic - 1977

Howard Bedford, crew member - 1977

Raymond Dent, crew member - 1977

Thomas Hansel, crew member - 1977

David A. Wharton, crew member - 1977

Tony Easton, crew member - 1977

M. Coates, Helmsman - 1977

B. Hodgson, crew member - 1977

J. Easton, crew member - 1977

Peter Thomson, Coxswain Mechanic - 1982

Nick Bentley - 1993

Glenn Goodberry (Ronald Rundle Goodberry) - 1993

Keith Elliott, Second Coxswain - 2000

• A Collective Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution

Peter N. Thomson, Coxswain Mechanic - 1993

Keith Stuart, Second Coxswain Assistant Mechanic - 1993

Michael Russell, crew member - 1993

Nicholas Botham, crew member - 1993

Adrian Blackburn, crew member - 1993

Howard Fields, crew member - 1993

Daniel Wordsworth, lifeguard - 2011

Calum Norman - 2011

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

Keith Stuart, Coxswain - 2000

John Pearson, Helmsman - 2003

Whitby Lifeboat Station - 2008

• Letter of appreciation

Hugh Ramsden, Helmsman - 2011

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Peter Neville Thomson - 1993^[44]

• British Empire Medal

Neil Andrew Williamson, Curator, RNLI Whitby Lifeboat Museum and Launching Authority - 2024KBH^[45]

ON[a]	Name	In service[46]	Class	Comments
–	Unnamed	1802–1817	Greathead	[note 5]
–	"West Side Lifeboat"	1822–1859	26-foot 6in non-self-righting	[note 6]
–	Unnamed	1860–1861	30-foot non-self-righting	[note 7]
–	Lucy	1861–1870	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)	[47]
–	Lucy (1870–1871), Robert Whitworth (1871–1881)	1870–1881	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)	First named Lucy, later named Robert Whitworth. Original boat named Robert Whitworth served at Bridlington and was wrecked in the Great Gale of 1871.[48][47][b][49]
180	Robert and Mary Ellis	1881–1908	34-foot 1in Self-righting (P&S)	[50]
588	Robert and Mary Ellis	1908–1934	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)	[47]

ON[a]	Name	In service [46]	Class	Comments
–	"East Side Lifeboat", Petrel, Gertrude	1822–1872	26-foot North Country (P&S)	[note 8]
–	Harriott Forteath	1872–1880	30-foot Self-righting (P&S)
–	Harriott Forteath	1880–1881	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)	[47]
–	Harriott Forteath	1881–1887	32ft Self-righting (P&S)	Formerly Robert Whitworth at Whitby No.1
114	Christopher	1887–1895	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)	[47]
379	John Fielden	1895–1914	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)	Damaged beyond repair during the SS Rohilla rescue effort. Despite rescuing several people, the John Fielden broke in two on the rocks of Saltwick Nab.[51]
455	Forester	1914–1919	34-foot Self-righting (Rubie)
594	William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington	1919–1931	34-foot Self-righting (Rubie)	A self-righting boat, William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington was at Upgang, but after only two rescues, was allocated to Whitby. After retirement from the RNLI, the boat saw many uses, with rumours of involvement in the Dunkirk evacuation.
580	Jacob and Rachel Vallentine	1931–1938	34-foot Self-righting (Rubie)	[47]
522	Jacob and Rachel Vallentine	1938–1947	34-foot Self-righting (Rubie)	Formerly Richard at Donna Nook[47]
669	Robert and Ellen Robson	1947–1957	34-foot Rubie designed Dungeness self righter.	Built in 1918,the Robert and Ellen Robson served at Tramore and Aberdeen, spending ten years at Whitby before being retired from active service.[21] [52]

For lifeboats stationed at Upgang, please see Upgang Lifeboat Station

ON[a]	Op. No.[c]	Name	In service[53]	Class	Comments
667	–	Margaret Harker-Smith	1919–1938	40-foot Self-righting (motor)	Paid for by public donation but named after the lady who bequeathed a large sum of money for her. The boat was the first motorboat launched at Whitby as a direct response to the Rohilla disaster.[54][55]
808	–	Mary Ann Hepworth	1938–1974	41ft Watson	After withdrawal from RNLI service, the Mary Ann Hepworth was used as a pleasure cruiser up and down the River Esk and also out to sea from Whitby Harbour.[54]
1033	44-012	The White Rose of Yorkshire	1974–1988	Waveney	Transferred to Invergordon in 1988.[56]
1131	47-023	City of Sheffield	1988–1996	Tyne
1212	14-14	George and Mary Webb	1996–2023	Trent	To be replaced in 2023 by a Shannon-class lifeboat.[26]
1356	13-49	Lois Ivan	2023–	Shannon	Arrived on station 11 June 2023 to replace George and Mary Webb.[57][58]

Op. No.[c]	Name	In service [53]	Class	Comments
D-84	Unnamed	1966–1970	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-193	Unnamed	1971–1977	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-260	Gwynaeth	1977–1987	D-class (Zodiac III)
D-369	Unnamed	1988–1997	D-class (EA16)	[59]
D-521	OEM Stone II	1997–2007	D-class (EA16)
D-503	Criddy and Tom	2005–2007	D-class (EA16)
D-512	Jane Ann II	2007	D-class (EA16)
D-674	OEM Stone III	2007–2017	D-class (IB1)	An Inshore Lifeboat (ILB), she was unveiled and named by the Duchess of Kent at the re-opening of Whitby's new lifeboat station in 2007.
D-810	Warter Priory	2017–	D-class (IB1)	[60]

• List of RNLI stations
• List of former RNLI stations
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats

• Chrystal, Paul (2012). Lifeboat Stations of North East England; From Sunderland to The Humber, Through Time. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-1376-5.
• Cook, Robin (2013). Whitby Through Time. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 9781848682184.
• Dibdin, James; Ayling, John (1894). The book of the lifeboat: with a complete history of the Lifeboat Saturday movement. Edinburgh: O. Anderson & Ferrier. OCLC 4271825.
• Leach, Nicholas (2018). The Lifeboat Service in England; the North East Coast, Station by Station. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-6832-1.
• White, Andrew (1993). A History of Whitby. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-842-5.

• Whitby Lifeboat Museum webpage
• Short film from 1910 showing the Whitby Lifeboat on a rescue
• Footage of the wreck of the Rohilla and people being rescued from the sea (hosted on British Pathé)