The Saint Peter Port Lifeboat Station was established in Guernsey in 1803. Originally based at Saint Sampson, it relocated to Saint Peter Port in 1881.

History

Established in 1803 and based in

Saint Sampson, Guernsey St Sampson (Guernésiais: ) is a parish of Guernsey, an island in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, directly north of St Peter Port. It is on the north-west and north-east coasts of the island and is split into two sections, intersected by Vale. The p ...

, a tidal harbour. 6 Silver medals awarded before the RNLI took over the station, the first in 1851 to John Mitchell for the rescue of 3 from the Cutter ''Adele''. Five were awarded for the 1857 rescue of 6 crew from the barque ''Boadicea''. In 1861 the station was taken over by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and a shed was built at St Sampson's.

Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...

presented the Harbour Master Capt. Abraham Martin, as a ‘mark of esteem’ with his own design of lifejacket and belt in 1870. 1875 a new lifeboat arrived, the ''John Lockett''. in 1878 the lifeboat was moved to Les Landes but problems in finding sufficient crew in the area resulted in the boat returned to St Sampson’s. In 1881 the station relocated to

Saint Peter Port Harbour Saint Peter Port Harbour is located in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey. It was a natural anchorage used by the Romans which has been changed into an artificial harbour that is now the island's main port for passengers. Loose cargo, liquids and gas ar ...

castle emplacement with the Castle slipway being amended to suit lifeboat launches. 1896 saw the introduction of

maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

to summon the crew. In June 1940 the relief lifeboat ''Alfred and Clara Heath'' ON 672 was strafed by German aircraft and Harold Hobbs, son of the Coxswain Fred Hobbs, was killed. This lifeboat stayed in Guernsey during the

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

and was used by the ''Kriegsmarine'' (Nazi German navy). Lifeboat house built on St Julians Emplacement in 1946. In 1952 the ''Flying Christine'', an ex seaplane tender was brought into service by

St John Ambulance St John Ambulance is the name of a number of affiliated organisations in different countries which teach and provide first aid and emergency medical services, and are primarily staffed by volunteers. The associations are overseen by the internat ...

as an ambulance boat, to work closely with the RNLI. RNLI Gold Medal and Norwegian Lifeboat Service Gold Medal awarded to Hubert Petit for rescue crew of 9 from ''Johann Collett'' in 1963. In 1977 maroons were replaced by ‘bleepers’, which were followed in 1983 with pagers. In 1978 Coxswain John Petit was awarded a silver medal and the ‘Maud Smith’ award for the bravest act of lifesaving that year following the rescue from the oil rig ''Orion''. RNLI Gold Medal awarded to Coxwain Michael Scales for the rescue of 29 from ''Bonita'' in December 1981 as well as the ‘Maude Smith’ Award for the bravest act of lifesaving that year. In 1992 Coxswain Peter Bisson received a silver medal for the rescue from the yacht ''Sena Siorra'' and the ‘Maude Smith’ Award for the bravest act of lifesaving that year. From 2015, the Guernsey ''Joint Emergency Services Control Centre'' handles all 999 emergency calls including radio Mayday, Pan-pan and Sécurité messages. 2020 saw the RNLI's 1,500th call out from Guernsey, during which time 600 lives have been saved and 2,000 people taken to safety.

Operations

Search and rescue operations are conducted and co-ordinated using the Joint Emergency Services Control Centre (JESCC) with some or all of: *Lifeboat stations in Alderney, Jersey and France *

Jersey Coastguard Jersey Coastguard is responsible for the safety of life at sea along with the security and protection of the maritime environment for Jersey’s territorial waters. The service is provided by the Ports of Jersey from the Maritime Operations Centre ...

*Channel Islands Air Search spotter plane *

Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service The Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service which deals with a broad range of incidents on Guernsey, including fires, road traffic accidents, assisting property owner after storm damage or flooding and incidents ...

Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service Guernsey Ambulance and Rescue Service is the ambulance and rescue service of Guernsey, the second largest of the Channel Islands, and also provides these services to other islands within the Bailiwick of Guernsey, both those directly governed, an ...

*UK Maritime and

Her Majesty's Coastguard His Majesty's Coastguard (HMCG) is a section of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency responsible, through the Secretary of State for Transport to Parliament, for the initiation and co-ordination of all maritime search and rescue (SAR) within the ...

*French Maritime Authorities and

Maritime Gendarmerie The Maritime Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie maritime) is a component of the French National Gendarmerie under operational control of the chief of staff of the French Navy. It employs 1,157 personnel and operates around thirty patrol boats and h ...

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

Records and awards

* RNLI Medals awarded: ** Med 1

2 Gold medals ** Med 2

14 Silver medals ** Med 3

15 Bronze medals *Foreign bravery awards and commendations received from: **France, Norway, Greece, Liberia and Marshall Islands *Over 1,500 launches *Over 600 lives saved

Permanent Station Lifeboats

Alderney

In 1865 Gunner James Moore of the Royal Artillery in Alderney was awarded a silver medal for rescuing 17 people from the ''Carioca'' following which in 1869 a lifeboat station was established in Alderney, the first boat being the ‘Mary and Victoria’. The station closed in 1885 due to a shortage of crew. In 1986 the Alderney station was re-opened with the 44 ft

Waveney-class lifeboat The Waveney-class lifeboat was the first class of lifeboats operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) capable of operating at speeds in excess of . Based on an American design, 22 saw operational service between 1964 and 1999 ...

ON 1045 ''Louis Marchesi of Round Table'' (44-019) based there from 1987. The current boat is the 46 ft

Trent-class lifeboat The Trent-class lifeboat is an all-weather lifeboat operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) from 30 stations around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland to provide coverage up to out to sea. Introduced to service in 1994, ...

ON 1199 ''Roy Barker I'' (14-04). Between 1885 and 1986 the Saint Peter Port Lifeboat Station provided cover around Alderney.

Charity Status

The Saint Peter Port Lifeboat Station is a Guernsey registered charity. CH135.

Media

Pictures of four Guernsey lifeboats appeared on a set of

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

issued by

Guernsey Post Guernsey Post is the postal service for the island of Guernsey, Channel Islands. It includes a Philatelic bureau, and regularly issues both Definitive stamp, definitive and Commemorative stamp, commemorative stamps. It also provides postal ser ...

to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the RNLI in 1974 and a further six lifeboats appeared on a further set of stamps to commemorate the 175th anniversary of the RNLI in 1999. The lifeboat has also appeared on phonecards issued by Cable & Wireless.

References

Bibliography

* Blampied, Guy (1984), "Mayday! Mayday!: History of the Guernsey Lifeboat Station", Guernsey Press Co Ltd, {{ISBN, 978-0902550100 Lifeboat stations in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1803