Mablethorpe Lifeboat Station

Mabelthorpe Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire, England. It operates Atlantic 85-class and D-class (IB1) lifeboats.

Mablethorpe Lifeboat Station
Flag of the RNLI
Mablethorpe Lifeboat Station in 2011
Map of Lincolnshire showing Mablethorpe
General information
Type	Lifeboat station
Location	Mablethorpe
Address	The Promenade, Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, LN12 2AT
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	53.3402°N 0.2655°E / 53.3402; 0.2655
Opened	First station 1883 Current station 1965
Owner	RNLI
Website
rnli.org/find-my-nearest/lifeboat-stations/mablethorpe-lifeboat-station

History

In 1829, the Lincolnshire Coast Shipwreck Association (LCSA) opened Theddlethorpe lifeboat station, located near the village of Theddlethorpe St Helen, about 3 mi (4.8 km) north of Mabelthorpe. The LCSA lifeboats stations were transferred to the RNLI in 1864. However, with launching difficulties encountered at that location, and also with too few crew available, Theddlethorpe was closed in 1882, and a new station at Mabelthorpe was opened in 1883.^[1] The station cost £225 to build and another £50 for a slipway. A new lifeboat station was built on Victoria Road in 1900. This cost £700 but £50 was raised by selling the old one.^[2]

A shortage of volunteers for the crew during the First World War resulted in the lifeboat station being temporarily closed in 1917. The temporary closure became permanent in 1920.^[2] The lifeboat station became used as a community facility and is now home to the Mabelthorpe men's shed.^[3]

The RNLI started to deploy inshore lifeboats (ILBs) in the 1960s to better respond to incidents involving leisure activities around the coast. A D-class ILB was stationed at Mabelthorpe from 1965. A larger Atlantic 21-class ILB was added in 2001.^[2]

Awards

On 12 April 1998 the Lark, a fishing boat, broke down and was being driven towards the shore by a Force 6/7 gale after its anchor broke. The lifeboat was launched and managed to tow the boat to safety despite the rough sea. Helmsman Thomas Freeman was awarded an RNLI Bronze Medal for making the rescue in such extreme weather for a small ILB.^[2]

The crew of the lifeboat who rescued two swimmers in difficulty on 6 August 1975 received the 'Thanks of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution inscribed on vellum'. Framed letters of thanks from the Chairman were given in 1980 to the lifeboat crew and shore helpers who managed to launch through heavy surf to save three people whose boat had engine trouble. Similar framed letters were presented to the lifeboat crew who two injured people and a third crew member from a barge on 12 October 1982.^[2]

Mablethorpe lifeboats

1883 to 1920

At Mablethorpe	ON	Name	Built	Class	Comments
1883–1905	257	Heywood	1882	Self-Righter	[4]
1905–1920	542	John Rowson Lingard	1905	Liverpool	Withdrawn from Blackpool in 1937. Being restored in Migennes, France.[5]

From 1965

At Mablethorpe	Op. No.	Name	Built	Class	Model	Comments
1965	D-61	—	1965	D	RFD PB16	[6]
1965–1966	D-67	—	1965	D	RFD PB16	[6]
1967–1976	D-114	—	1967	D	RFD PB16	[6]
1976–1988	D-247	—	1976	D	Zodiac III	[7]
1988–1996	D-357	Braemar	1988	D	EA16	[7]
1996–2005	D-506	Patrick Rex Moren	1996	D	EA16	[8]
2001–2002	B-754	Pride of Sherwood	1999	B	Atlantic 75	[9]
2002–2015	B-778	Joan Mary	2002	B	Atlantic 75	[9]
2005–2015	D-653	Wiliam Hadley	2005	D	IB1	[10]
2015–	D-790	Stanley Whiteley Chadwick	2015	D	IB1	[10]
2015–	B-887	Jacqueline Saville	2015	B	Atlantic 85	[11]

See also

• List of RNLI stations
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats