Dunbar Lifeboat Station

Dunbar Lifeboat Station is a lifeboat station located in Dunbar on the South East coast of Scotland, operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. Dunbar Lifeboat Station currently operates a 'Trent' Class All Weather Lifeboat and a 'D' Class Inshore Lifeboat. The current coxswain is Gary Fairbairn.

Dunbar lifeboat station
Dunbar Lifeboat Station
Dunbar
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	Dunbar Lifeboat Station, Victoria Harbour, Dunbar, East Lothian
Country	Scotland
Coordinates	56°00′19″N 2°30′52″W
Opened	1808
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Technical details
Material	Brick

History

Notable services

Yacht Ouhm 20 July 2009 In a force 8 gale and very rough seas, with swells of up to 7m, the skipper of the 8m Swedish yacht Ouhm issued a Pan-Pan call, which was picked up by Forth Coastguard. The request to launch the RNLI Dunbar lifeboat soon followed and the crew put to sea at 5.30pm and headed for a position 37 miles north east of the station.

The yacht was reported to have suffered two knockdowns and the skipper was finding it difficult to cope with the extreme weather conditions. The two people on board were drifting at speeds of up to 5 knots towards the north side of the Firth of Forth.

With the crew in their seats, the lifeboat soon cleared the breakwaters and made best speed towards the yacht.

However, further offshore several breaking seas hit the lifeboat as the swell became larger and the wind increased to a severe gale force 9. At one point, the lifeboat fell 10m from the crest of a wave. Soon afterwards, another huge wave knocked her on her side, but she was able to self right.

The lifeboat reached the yacht at 7.45pm and it was quickly decided that the skipper and his wife should be evacuated to the lifeboat. As there was no liferaft aboard, Coxswain Fairbairn would have the difficult task of getting alongside the small yacht in 10m seas. On the second approach, the lifeboat crew were able to grab the woman and pull her aboard the lifeboat. On the third approach alongside Ouhm the man was pulled from the deck and over the guardrails of the lifeboat. The couple were then taken to the safety of the wheelhouse and then back to dry land, the yacht having been abandoned.

RNLI Divisional Inspector for Scotland, Wave Crookes, says: ‘The RNLI is proud to recognise this service, which was carried out in the finest traditions of the Institution. Ouhm had already suffered two full knockdowns before the lifeboat arrived and I know the crew felt the couple’s lives were in grave danger. The woman said she “felt she was already saved” when she saw the lifeboat arrive alongside and the crew reaching down to pull her on board.

‘The coxswain demonstrated exemplary leadership and the whole crew showed extreme courage throughout the service. The conditions during the passage to the casualty were extreme but at no stage did the crew consider giving up, even when the lifeboat sustained damage and equipment broke loose. Coxswain Fairbairn’s boat handling was exemplary and neither the lifeboat nor the casualty suffered any damage while the casualties were evacuated. Dunbar Coxswain Gary Fairbairn is to be awarded the RNLI’s Bronze Medal for Gallantry for his part in saving a couple from their yacht in a severe gale on 15 May.

Coxswain Fairbairn’s crew on that night – Mechanic Kenny Peters and Crew Members Stuart Pirie, Kevin Keillor, Brian Cleator and John Watt – will each receive Medal Service Certificates.’[1]

Sir Ronald Pechell BT

Sir Ronald Pechell BT was a Trent class all weather lifeboat that operated at Dunbar from 1995 to 2008. During the Easter weekend of 2008 the lifeboat was damaged beyond economic repair after her moorings snapped during severe storms. The Sir Ronald Pechell Bt, valued at £208K in 2008, cost £1.05M to build in 1995 and in her 13 years of service at Dunbar had launched 206 times and rescued 171 people. The lifeboat, John Neville Taylor, from the charity’s relief fleet has been allocated to the town permanently.

Fleet

All-weather lifeboats

Dates in service	Class	ON	Op. No.	Name	Comments
1808–1821					Original Lifeboat[2]
1865–1893	33ft Self-righter P & S	ON 220		Wallace
1893–1901	34ft Self-righter P & S	ON 345		Sarah Pickard
1901–1931	35ft Liverpool P & S	ON 443		William Arthur Millward
1931–1959	45ft 6in Watson-class	ON 749		George and Sarah Strachan	First motor lifeboat at station
1959–1986	47ft Watson-class	ON 947		Margaret
1986–1988	47ft Watson-class	ON 971		Joseph Soar (Civil Service No.34)
1988–1993	Solent-class	ON 1020	48-015	Hugh William, Viscount Gough
1993–1995	Waveney-class	ON 1034	44-013	Thomas James King
1995–2008	Trent-class	ON 1207	14-09	Sir Ronald Pechell, Bt
2008–present	Trent-class	ON 1266	14-35	John Neville Taylor

Inshore lifeboats

Dates in service	Class	Op. No.	Name
1968–1983	D-class (RFD PB16)	D-169	unnamed
1983–1989	D-class (Zodiac III)	D-292	Castle House
1989–1999	D-class (EA16)	D-397	Banks' Staff III
1999–2009	D-class (EA16)	D-544	The Hastings
2009–present	D-class (IB1)	D-708	Jimmy Miff

Station honours

At Dunbar lifeboat station the following awards have been made:

• Framed Letters of Thanks 5
• Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 2
• Bronze Medal 1
• Silver Medal 4

Flanking stations

See also

• Royal National Lifeboat Institution

References

1. http://www.rnli.org.uk/wcm/system/pages/downloadfile.aspx?filename=/assets/media/images/Rcrowther_Media/2009/8f675816-bb1f-405d-b47a-2666fe2e0a6b.doc RNLI official report on service
2. Leach, Nicholas (1999). For Those in Peril: The Lifeboat Service of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, Station by Station. Kettering: Silver Link. p. 204. ISBN 1-85794-129-2.

External links

• The Official website of Dunbar Lifeboat Station
• RNLI Station Guide - Dunbar