Flamborough Lifeboat Station

Flamborough Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station located at Flamborough in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. There used to be two lifeboat stations at Flamborough; one on the north side of Flamborough Head, and on one the south side. Since 1993, the village has just one lifeboat station on the southern side of Flamborough Head. The station operates an ILB (Inshore Lifeboat).

Flamborough Lifeboat Station
Flamborough South Landing Lifeboat Station
Location within the East Riding of Yorkshire
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationFlamborough, East Riding of Yorkshire
CountryEngland
Coordinates54.1046°N 0.118968°W / 54.1046; -0.118968
Opened1993
OwnerRoyal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Official webpage

History

A north station at Flamborough was built in 1871 as No. 1 station, Flamborough.[1] No. 2 site was built in the same year, but closed in 1938. Both sites were opened after the Great Gale of 1871 when many ships were wrecked along the east coast of England.[2] As the coastline at Flamborough Head juts out for 6 miles (9.7 km) into the North Sea, having two sites on either side of the Head would mean that from wherever the wind was blowing in bad weather, at least one of the lifeboats could be launched.[3] A slipway was added to the No. 1 site in 1890, but ultimately, the two Flamborough sites were amalgamated into one on the northern site in the 1930s.[4] Both sites used skids and poles to aid the launching of the lifeboats into the water, and in 1934, when the No. 1 lifeboathouse was enlarged for the Elizabeth and Albina Whitley, a turntable was also added at the top to aid recovery of the vessel.[5]

In 1992, the south site was demolished and rebuilt to accommodate lifeboats in one location.[6] A rebuild was also necessary as the old No. 2 site was not big enough to accommodate the newer lifeboats and had been in use as a fishing store.[7] The move to the old No. 2 site involved a withdrawal of the All-Weather Lifeboat (ALB) and an Inshore Lifeboat (ILB) being installed in its place. The crew at Flamborough were reluctant to take on an ILB instead of an ALB, which they put down to the tides and waters around Flamborough being particularly tricky.[8] The new site was opened in 1993.[9]

In 2018, the Flamborough lifeboat Elizabeth Jane Palmer featured in an episode of the BBC2 documentary Saving Lives at Sea.[10]

Notable incidents

Carol Sandra and North Wind (1984)
Memorial to lost fishermen in St. Oswald's churchyard

On the morning of 7 May 1984, the fishing coble, Carol Sandra left port at Bridlington to take her lobster and crab pots further out to sea. A storm was coming in and when she left harbour, the weather was deteriorating, so by the time she was out of the harbour, the waves were rolling at a height of 15 feet (4.6 m).[11] At some point in the morning, the Carol Sandra sank without any signs, warnings, mayday calls or distress signals sent out. Just before noon, someone noticed the bow of a ship sticking up vertically out of the water and called the coastguard. A search was conducted by an RAF Search and Rescue helicopter, as well as the Flamborough Lifeboat and staff from the coastguard searching from the clifftops. A pleasure boat on a fishing trip, the North Wind III also helped with the search. As the North Wind III approached something that her crew had seen in the water, she was capsized by the rough sea, which catapulted all seven aboard into the water.[12]

En route to the search area, the Flamborough Lifeboat's engine developed problems, so the Bridlington Lifeboat was launched so that the Flamborough Lifeboat could return for repairs. Unfortunately the Bridlington Lifeboat struck one of the pieces of wreckage from the Carol Sandra which jammed between her propeller and her hull. This meant deploying the Filey Lifeboat to the scene whilst the others went back to port.[13] The RAF winchman in the helicopter was transferring one casualty from the water into the lifeboat when he bumped awkwardly into the wheelhouse and broke his pelvis. The casualty went into the water on one side of the boat, and then popped up on the other side where a lifeboatman rescued him.[14] The winchman was taken to hospital, whilst another man managed to be rescued from the water on the winch without the winchman being present. The captain of the North Wind III and one other crew member (his son) found an air pocket underneath the upturned boat and were dragged ashore. Three of the fishermen drowned.[11]

In all seven men drowned with only three of the bodies being found. The ashes of those who died were scattered in the North Sea.[12] There is a memorial to the seven men lost in the village and another in the churchyard of St Oswald's in Flamborough.[15]

Fleet

No. 1 Station (North Landing) 1871-1993
Dates in service Class ON[lower-alpha 1] Op. No.[lower-alpha 2] Name Comments
1871–1887 Gertrude [16]
1887–1904 151 Mary Frederick [16]
1904–1905 370 Lily Bird Temporary lifeboat.[16]
1905–1934 549 Forester [16]
1934–1948 Liverpool-class 772 Elizabeth and Albina Whitley [16]
1948–1953 Liverpool-class 797 Howard D Was under German command whilst at St Helier during the Second World War.[17]
1953–1983 Liverpool-class 915 Friendly Forester Sold in 1984, but has since returned to Flamborough and is on display at Haven's Thornwick Bay Holiday Village, close to the site of its old North Landing Station base.[18]
1983–1993 Oakley-class 972 37-05 Will and Fanny Kirby [19]
A map showing the locations of both RNLI and independent lifeboat stations in Yorkshire

No. 2 Station (South Landing) 1871–1938
Dates in service Class ON Op. No. Name Comments
1871–1901 235 St Michael's Paddington [16][lower-alpha 3]
1901–1933 474 Matthew Middlewood [16]
1933–1938 611 Jane Hannah MacDonald [16]

Flamborough Lifeboat Station (South Landing) 1993–
Dates in service Class ON Op. No. Name Comments
1993–1994 Atlantic 21-class B-515 Vee Webber [20]
1994–2007 Atlantic 75-class B-703 Jason Logg [21]
2007– Atlantic 85-class B-820 Elizabeth Jane Palmer [22]
October 2016–January 2017 Atlantic 85-class B-815 Peterborough Beer Festival III Relief boat whilst Elizabeth Jane Palmer was under repair.[23]
April 2018–August 2018 Atlantic 85-class B-883 Roy Snewin Relief boat whilst Elizabeth Jane Palmer was under repair.[10]

References
  1. Historic England. "Monument No. 1525225". PastScape. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  2. "Yorkshireman becomes one of the youngest lifeboat helmsmen in the country". The Scarborough News. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  3. Chrystal 2012, p. 64.
  4. "Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey; Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Bempton to Donna Nook" (PDF). historicengland.co.uk. English Heritage. p. 6. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  5. Leach 2018, p. 130.
  6. "Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey; Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, Bempton to Donna Nook" (PDF). historicengland.co.uk. English Heritage. p. 19. Retrieved 13 February 2019.
  7. Chrystal 2012, p. 65.
  8. Llewellyn-Smith, Julia (29 December 1992). "New craft divides lifeboat volunteers". The Times. ProQuest 317876202.
  9. Leach 2018, p. 131.
  10. Kellet, Abigail (30 August 2018). "Flamborough RNLI lifeboat returns home". Bridlington Free Press. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  11. Newton, Grace (7 May 2018). "The May Day tragedy which claimed seven lives off the Yorkshire coast 34 years ago". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  12. Burke, Darren (7 May 2016). "ON THIS DAY: 1984: Three Doncaster men among seven dead in North Sea tragedy". Doncaster Free Press. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  13. "The loss of Carol Sandra and North Wind 1984 - The Flamborough Lifeboats Website". sprobson.f2s.com. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  14. Beardsall, Jonny (27 September 1997). "The lifeboat man On call for those in peril on the sea". The Daily Telegraph. ProQuest 316892434.
  15. Kench, Simon (2 June 2018). "Village remember sea tragedy". Bridlington Echo. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  16. "History :: The Flamborough Lifeboat". flamboroughheadstoryboard.co.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  17. "ex-RNLB Howard D. - Maritime Jersey". www.maritime.je. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  18. "Lifeboat returns to coast after three decades away". 7 November 2017. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  19. "Name The Will and Fanny Kirby | National Historic Ships". www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  20. Floyd, Mike, ed. (Winter 1993). "What and Where? The Lifeboat Fleet of the RNLI...". The Lifeboat. Poole: RNLI. 53 (526): 132. ISSN 0024-3086.
  21. Leach 2018, p. 49.
  22. "Lifeboat named after cancer woman". BBC News. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
  23. "Flamborough RNLI's lifeboat returns to South Landing | RNLI". rnli.org. 25 January 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2019.

Sources
  • Chrystal, Paul (2012). Lifeboat Stations of North East England; From Sunderland to The Humber, Through Time. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-1376-5.
  • Leach, Nicholas (2018). The Lifeboat Service in England; the North East Coast, Station by Station. Stroud: Amberley. ISBN 978-1-4456-6832-1.
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