Fleetwood Lifeboat Station

Fleetwood Lifeboat Station
Fleetwood Lifeboat Station
Fleetwood, Lancashire
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Address	The Esplanade
Town or city	Fleetwood, Lancashire, FY7 6DN
Country	England
Coordinates	53°55′39.9″N 3°00′23.3″W
Opened	1859
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Fleetwood RNLI Lifeboat Station

Fleetwood Lifeboat Station is located on The Esplanade at the port of Fleetwood, a Lancashire town at the north end of The Fylde, situated at the mouth of the River Wyre.

A lifeboat was first stationed in Fleetwood by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1859.

The station currently operates a Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat, and a D-class (IB1) inshore lifeboat.

History

In November 1858, in response to a letter from Capt. Edward Frodsham Noel K. Wasey, RN, H.M. Coastguard, the RNLI agreed to place a lifeboat at Fleetwood. A new boathouse was constructed opposite the North Euston Hotel at a cost of £174-18s-6d, and a Peake-class 30-foot 6-oared rowing lifeboat was constructed by Forrestt of Limehouse, London costing £140. The boat arrived on station on 20 March 1859. John Fox was appointed Coxswain, and Capt. Wasey appointed Honorary Secretary.

The request for a lifeboat by Capt. Wasey could not have come a moment too soon, as in 1860, the boat was involved in no less than three medal rescues. On 22 January 1860, the Fleetwood lifeboat was towed over four miles by a steam-tug to the Ann Mitchell, where after 7 attempts, the sole survivor was rescued. Coxswain Fox and Capt. Wasey both received RNLI Silver Medals. In a further two services, on 19 February 1860, rescuing 4 men, and on 20 October 1860, rescuing 15 men and the Pilot, Capt. Wasey was awarded second and third service clasps to his silver medal, a remarkable achievement in one year.

In 1862, following a gift of £340 from Miss Mary Wasey, a new lifeboat was provided for Fleetwood, a 32-foot 10-oared self-righting boat, built by Forrestt. She arrived in November 1862, transported free of charge from London to Fleetwood by the London and North Western Railway Company, and was named Edward Wasey.

Fleetwood boathouses

The 1858 lifeboat house was nearly washed away in a storm of 1863, and so a new brick-built boathouse, costing £161-17s-10d, was constructed at Pharos Place, next to the Pharos Lighthouse. Today it is a private residence.

Following a gift of £900 from Col. William Blackburn, a new lifeboat was provided for Fleetwood in 1879, Child of Hale, and the residue of the money funded the construction of a third boathouse and slipway, now thought to have been close to the site of the current lifeboat station. A larger 46-foot boat arrived in Fleetwood in 1887, Edith (ON 76) to become the No.2 boat, and was moored afloat.

Fleetwood had for a long time been a key Railway Hub and Steamer terminus, with vessels arriving and departing from and to the Isle of Man, Belfast, Barrow and Ardrossan, tying up right alongside the railway station. In 1840, the fastest way to Glasgow from London was via a steamer from Fleetwood to Ardrossan.

In 1893, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, and the London and North Western Railway, needed to extend their harbour moorings, right over the site of the lifeboat station slipway. Funded by the railway companies, a fourth boathouse and slipway was constructed in 1894, which was large enough to accommodate the 46-foot lifeboat; by now the single remaining boat in Fleetwood, the Child of Hale (II) (ON 75) having been retired in 1892.

However, the slipway location meant it suffered from a regular build up of sand and shingle, to the point where the boat was having to be kept moored afloat, so in 1901, a fifth site was acquired 80 yards east of the Beach Lighthouse, or Low Light as more commonly known, and a new slipway constructed. Having been the cause of the previous relocation, the railway companies moved the 1894 boathouse, and re-constructed it over the new slipway. This boathouse remained in use for the next 75 years, although the station was closed between 1930 and 1933 for alterations, and the construction of another new slipway, ready for the arrival of a new motor-powered lifeboat, the Sir Fitzroy Clayton (ON 628).

The 1901 boathouse finally became redundant in 1976, and was demolished in 1977, when the new Waveney-class lifeboat Lady of Lancashire (ON 1036) arrived. This boat was designed to be moored afloat, and required the construction of a mooring pen.

A small boathouse, constructed in the late 1960s to house a D-class Inshore lifeboat, was washed away in a storm of November 1977, and completely destroyed. The launch tractor was found buried in deep sand, and the Inshore lifeboat (D-187) was found on Pilling Sands, returning to service after repairs.

Finally, a new RNLI and Coastguard building was constructed in 2006, complete with crew facilities, a retail outlet, and secure storage for the D-class lifeboat, which is launched with the aid of a davit.

Station honours

The following are awards made at Fleetwood

• RNLI Silver Medal

Capt. Edward F. N. K. Wasey, RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1860

John Fox, Coxswain - 1860

Capt. Edward F. N. K. Wasey, RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1860 (Second-Service Clasp)

Capt. Edward F. N. K. Wasey, RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1860 (Third-Service Clasp)

William Swarbrick, Master of the Steam Tug Wyre - 1863

Robert Gerrard, Pilot - 1863

Robert Wright, Coxswain - 1890

James Fogg, Master of the fishing smack Osprey - 1890

George Wilkinson, Crew member, Osprey - 1890

Robert Wright, Coxswain - 1895 (Second-Service Clasp)

Jeffrey Wright, Coxswain - 1941

Sydney Norman Hill, Mechanic - 1941

• RNLI Bronze Medal

James Leadbetter, Coxswain - 1949

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

James Leadbetter, Second Coxswain - 1941

Richard Wright, Assistant Mechanic - 1941

William Houston, crew member - 1941

David Wright, crew member - 1941

Stephen James Musgrave, Second Coxswain - 1984

William Fairclough, Coxswain - 1987

• Vellum Service Certificate

Barrie Farmer, crew member - 1984

David Owen, crew member - 1984

• The Ralph Glister Award 1984
  (for the most meritorious service of the year performed by a rescue boat crew)

Stephen James Musgrave, Helmsman - 1985

Barrie Farmer, crew member - 1985

David Owen, crew member - 1985

• Bronze Medal awarded by the RSPCA

Steve Carroll, Mechanic - 2005

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Christopher Hurst, Coxswain - 2009QBH

Fleetwood lifeboats

All-weather lifeboats

ON	Op.No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
Pre-340	−	Unnamed	1859−1862	30-foot Peake
Pre-396	−	Edward Wasey	1862−1879	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)
Pre-643	−	Child of Hale	1879−1887	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)
76	−	Edith (Fleetwood No.2)	1887−1894	46-foot Self-righting (P&S)
75	−	Child of Hale (Fleetwood No.1)	1887−1892	37-foot Self-righting (P&S)
359	−	Maude Pickup	1894−1930	46-foot Watson (P&S)
Station Closed for reconstruction, 1930–1933
628	−	Sir Fitzroy Clayton	1933−1935	38-foot Self-righting (motor)
657	−	Frederick H. Pilley	1935−1939	38-foot Self-righting (motor)
813	−	Ann Letitia Russell	1939−1976	41ft Watson
1036	44-015	Lady of Lancashire	1976−1989	Waveney
1156	47-038	William Street	1989−2016	Tyne
1321	13-14	Kenneth James Pierpoint	2016−	Shannon

Inshore lifeboats

Op.No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
D-91	Unnamed	1966−1970	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-187	Unnamed	1970−1984	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-298	Unnamed	1984−1992	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-424	City of Chester	1992−2000	D-class (EA16)
D-556	Saddleworth	2000−2009	D-class (EA16)
D-719	Mary Elizabeth Barnes	2009−2021	D-class (IB1)
D-853	Harbet	2021−	D-class (IB1)

Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

See also

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

External links

• Fleetwood RNLI station information