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Poole Lifeboat Station
Poole floating boathouse.jpg
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 Flag of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.svg 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

The first boathouse was built in 1865 at Sandbanks by the narrow entrance to the large, natural Poole Harbour. 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.

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.

In 1939 a Surf motor lifeboat was placed on station and the last 'pulling and sailing' lifeboat at Poole was withdrawn.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 manned 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.

An inflatable Inshore Rescue Boat was added to the station in 1964 but withdrawn in 1970, although by this time a Dell Quay Dory was also in use. This was withdrawn in 1985 but ten years later a B-class (Atlantic 21) ILB was placed on station.

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.

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.

Poole Old Lifeboat Museum

Poole lifeboat museum
The Lifeboat Musuem

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.

The centrepiece of the museum is the Surf-class lifeboat Thomas Kirk Wright, on loan from the National Maritime Museum. This had been operated from Poole when the station was in the same building on Fisherman's Dock. It was built in 1932 and withdrawn in 1962. In 1940 it had been one of the lifeboats involved in the Dunkirk evacuation.

Description

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 and is constructed of corrugated metal.

Poole lifeboats

Lifeboat.47-023.docked.arp
Former lifeboat City of Sheffield

'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

At Poole ON Name Built Class Comments
1865–1880 Manley Wood 1864 Peake 32 ft (9.8 m) boat. Later renamed Joseph & Mary
1880–1897 188 Boy's Own No. 2 1880 Self-Righter 34 ft (10 m) boat.
1897–1910 316 City Masonic Club 1892 Watson 37 ft (11 m) boat.
1910–1939 608 Harmar 1910 Self-Righter 37 ft 6 in (11.43 m) boat.

Motor lifeboats

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.
1962–1969 891 Bassett-Green 1951 Liverpool Sold in 1969. Reported in May 2018 to be in private ownership at Campbeltown.
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.

1971 869 Anthony Robert Marshall 1949 Liverpool Sold in 1980. Reported in December 2022 to be under restoration at Stiffkey.
1972 918 The Elliott Gill 1953 Liverpool Sold August 1974. Reported in September 2022 to be fully restored at Watchet Harbour Marina.
1971–1974 872 J B Couper of Glasgow 1949 Liverpool Sold February 1976 and renamed Etoile Du Nord (GU5045). By December 2022 it was on display at the Peninsular Hotel, Vale, Guernsey.
1974–1983 1029 44-011 Augustine Courtauld 1974 Waveney Sold 1999 as a lifeboat with RVCP Australia. Resold in 2011 and renamed Augustine Courtauld as a work boat for Melbourne Charter Services, Melbourne. Restored to RNLI Livery.
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).
2001–2016 1131 47-023 City of Sheffield 1988 Tyne Now preserved at the Emergency Services Museum, Sheffield.

Inshore lifeboats

At Poole Op. No. Name Class Model Comments
1965–1967 D-69 (no name) D RFD PB16
1967–1970 D-46 (no name) D RFD PB16
1967–1969 18-03 (no name) A Hatch Later renumbered A-2
1969–1972 17-003 (no name) A Hatch Later renumbered A-502
1971 18-02 (no name) A McLachlan Later renumbered A-503
1972–1973 17-001 (no name) A Hatch Later renumbered A-500
1974–1975 A-501 Bob Abbot A Hatch Was unnamed when first built and numbered 17-002.
1975 B-8 (no name) B Trial boat
1975–1985 A-502 (no name) A Hatch Previously Op. No. 17-003.
1977 B-8 (no name) B Trial boat
1985–1995 A-513 Sam & Iris Coles A Boston Whaler
1995–2008 B-710 Friendly Forrester II B Atlantic 75
2008 B-736 Toshiba Wave Warrior B Atlantic 75
2008– B-826 Sgt Bob Martin
(Civil Service No.50)
B Atlantic 85
2016–2017 D-798 John Wickens D IB1
2017– D-804 Gladys Maud Burton D IB1

Station honours

The following are awards made at Poole

  • 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

  • List of RNLI stations
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