Bembridge Lifeboat Station
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Bembridge Lifeboat Station is an
RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
station located in the village of
Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by some residents that Bembridge ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
in the United Kingdom.OS Explorer Map OL29 – Isle of Wight, Folded Map. Publisher:Ordnance Survey; B2 edition (17 March 2008).


Location

The station is located on the eastern approaches to the Solent Estuary, south of the area known as
Spithead Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds except those from the southeast. It receives its name from the Spit, a sandbank stretching south from the Hampshire ...
. The station is on one of the busiest shipping lanes in United Kingdom waters. The main boathouse stands away from the shore on a piled platform with slipway, and is linked to the shore by means of a gangway. The station operates two lifeboats. The All weather lifeboat is a and is called and has been at the station since 2010. The second is an Inshore lifeboat (ILB) and is a called . The ILB is kept in a boathouse on the shore next to the pier head of the main boathouse gangway.


History


1867–1922: original service and rescues

The first lifeboat service began at Bembridge in 1867.For Those in Peril – The Lifeboat Service of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Station by Station. Author: Leach, Nicholas. Publisher: Silver Link Publishing Ltd, First Issue 1999. Work:Part 2, South Coast of England – Eastbourne to Weston-super-Mare, Page 78, Bembridge. A boathouse was built at Lane End at a cost of £165, and the first lifeboat was launched from here by means of a carriage. The first lifeboat on station was a self-righting pulling lifeboat and was and in beam. She was paid for by the subscriptions of the citizens of
Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...
and was named . A rowing boat, , also operated from Bembridge from 1887 to 1902. She was replaced that year by a second lifeboat, also named the ''Queen Victoria''. The first boathouse was enlarged between 1902 and 1903.On 3 February 1916 the SS ''Empress Queen'' became stranded in thick fog and foul weather on the Ring Rocks, off the Foreland at the eastern extremity of the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...
. There were 1,300 troops and a large quantity of ammunition on board. A
destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...
was used to take off the troops while the crew remained on board. Efforts to pull the ''Empress Queen'' off the rocks failed, and within a few hours a gale had blown up. The ''Queen Victoria II'' launched to assist but was unable to anchor nearby, instead retrieving a line from the ''Empress Queen''. Over four trips, the ''Queen Victoria II'' rescued 110 crewmen, and the ship's cat and dog.Lifeboat Gallantry – RNLI Medals and how they were won. Author: Cox, Barry. Published by: Spink & Son Ltd. Work: Page 236 – HOLBROOK John, Coxswain, Bembridge Lifeboat. On the morning of 28 August 1919, there was heavy rain in a strong gale, and American ship called the had been driven onto a shoal at
West Wittering West Wittering is a village and civil parish situated on the Manhood Peninsula in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It lies near the mouth of Chichester Harbour on the B2179 road southwest of Chichester close to the border with Ha ...
. The ''Queen Victoria II'' got alongside her and rescued 13 of her crew, then returned to stand by while a government tug towed her in. The lifeboat coxswain was awarded an RNLI Silver Medal.Lifeboat Gallantry – RNLI Medals and how they were won. Author: Cox, Barry. Published by: Spink & Son Ltd. Work: Page 245/246 – HOLBROOK John, Coxswain, Bembridge Lifeboat.


1922–1939: improvements

By 1922 the RNLI had determined that Bembridge's location made it a prime candidate for a new motor lifeboat, requiring the construction of a new boathouse with a concrete pier and a steel launching slipway. A single-screw self-righting motor lifeboat, the , was funded by a legacy and was named and launched by a member of the donor's family. The 1922 improvements made Bembridge the most state of the art station in the country and gave the crew the capability to be at sea in just 14 minutes. The new motor lifeboat extended the range of the station, allowing Bembridge to cover
Brook A brook is a small river or natural stream of fresh water. It may also refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming ...
and
Brighstone Brighstone is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Wight, 6 miles southwest of Newport on the B3399 road. Brighstone was previously known as "Brixton". The name derives from the Saxon name " Ecgbert's Tun". Brighstone is the largest vi ...
, whose stations were closed. In 1939, the boathouse was enlarged to accommodate a new Watson-class twin screw motor lifeboat, the . She was funded by a legacy and christened by the
Bishop of Salisbury The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat ...
,
Neville Lovett Ernest Neville Lovett, (16 February 1869 – 8 September 1951) served as the Bishop of Portsmouth in the Church of England from 1927 to 1936 and as the Bishop of Salisbury from 1936 to 1946. Life Lovett was born in Torquay on 16 February 1 ...
, on 21 July 1939. ''Jesse Lumbs service at Bembridge ended in 1970. On 29 January 1940 there was a blizzard with heavy seas in the
English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. The ''Jesse Lumb'' put out to sea at 5:20 pm in response to a distress call. She searched Man's Fort just off
Selsey Selsey is a seaside town and civil parish, about eight miles (12 km) south of Chichester in West Sussex, England. Selsey lies at the southernmost point of the Manhood Peninsula, almost cut off from mainland Sussex by the sea. It is bounde ...
, then was redirected to search between
Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came af ...
and Seaview on the Isle of Wight. Finding no vessels in distress, she was redirected to Chichester Bar outside Chichester Harbour, where she finally located HMT ''Kingston Cairngorm'', which was flooding quickly. After several approaches, the ''Jesse Lumb'' retrieved all 21 of her crew safely. The lifeboat coxswain was awarded an RNLI Bronze Medal.Lifeboat Gallantry – RNLI Medals and how they were won. Author: Cox, Barry. Published by: Spink & Son Ltd. Work: Page 281 – GAWN harry James, Coxswain, Bembridge Lifeboat. The station's lifeboats continued to serve during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. On 8 August 1941, ''Jesse Lumb'' was launched to search for an aircraft reported to be down 10 miles south of Bembridge station. After a fruitless search for the aircraft, the lifeboat came across
Royal Air Force Marine Branch The Marine Branch (1918-1986) was a branch of the Royal Air Force (RAF) which operated watercraft in support of RAF operations. Just days after the creation of the RAF itself, the Marine Craft Section (MCS) was created with the transfer of Roya ...
high speed launch ''HSL 116'' disabled and flying a distress signal. She had been attacked by German aircraft while on patrol. One crewman had been killed, another severely wounded, and the launch's propeller was fouled. The ''Jesse Lumb'' took the vessel under tow and brought her safely in to
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.


1964–1994: boathouse enlargements

In 1964 the RNLI established an inshore lifeboat service at Bembridge, utilising the 1867 boathouse to house the ''D''-class ILB. In 1970, the boathouse was enlarged to accommodate a new lifeboat, the which served on station from 1970 until 1978. In 1987 the station was allocated a new lifeboat, , and the boathouse was again altered to accommodate the bigger boat. She was on the station from 1987 until 2010. In 1989 work was done on the slipway to extend the toe, and in 1994 major repairs were made to the slipway.


2009: major re-development

In 2009 a new
Tamar-class lifeboat Tamar-class lifeboats are all-weather lifeboats (ALBs) operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) around the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland. They have replaced the majority of the older Tyne ALBs. The prototype was built in ...
lifeboat was allocated to the station, again requiring a major redevelopment of the offshore boathouse, projected to cost £10 million. A public appeal to raise £1 million for the project was launched. Demolition of the old station began in May 2009. The old Tyne-class ''Max Aitken III'' was retired to the RNLI relief fleet and the station was allocated the to cover whilst the new station was built. The facility was designed to allow the lifeboat to reach 95% of casualties within 50 miles of the station, within 30 minutes of launch. The portion of the structure dating back to the original 19th century boathouse were kept. The new boathouse, station and gangway was completed by October 2010 and cost £7,650,000. On 27 September 2010 the new lifeboat, the , was deployed to the station.


Fleet


All Weather lifeboats


Inshore lifeboats


Gallery


Neighbouring Station Locations


References

{{reflist, 2 Lifeboat stations on the Isle of Wight Organisations based on the Isle of Wight Buildings and structures on the Isle of Wight Bembridge