Arbroath Lifeboat Station is located at the harbour town and former royal burgh of Arbroath, on the North Sea coast, 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Dundee, in Angus, Scotland.

A lifeboat was first stationed here in 1803 by the Arbroath Lifeboat Committee, with management of the station being transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1865.

The station currently operates the B-class (Atlantic 85) Inshore lifeboat Dylan Rotchell (B-927), since 2024, and a smaller D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat Mintybell (D-892), on station since 2024.

Arbroath set up a Lifeboat Committee in 1803. With money from Lloyd's of London, and public donations, £120 was raised, and a lifeboat was ordered from Henry Greathead of South Shields, arriving on 10 Aug 1803.

By the early 1850s, Arbroath's Greathead lifeboat was no longer seaworthy. The RNLI offered to take control of the Arbroath Lifeboat Station, but £188-9s-0d had already been raised for a new lifeboat and boathouse, and a new 27-foot 10-oared Self-righting lifeboat, was ordered from Thomas Wake of Sunderland. It was to be ready in Sunderland by 1 June 1854, at an agreed price of £115. The new lifeboat arrived in Arbroath in July 1854, towed from Newcastle upon Tyne by Steam Tug. Arbroath Town Council donated £100, and offered the free use of the old boathouse, which was altered to accommodate the new boat.

Things didn't always go well in the following 10 years, difficulties getting crew, reluctance to practice, and on one occasion, a missing boat-house key-holder delaying the launch. When the RNLI offered once again to take over the station in 1865, this time the offer was accepted. This brought more formal arrangements, the appointment of Coxswain and Second Coxswain, Honorary Secretary, President and Patron. The Town Council funded construction of a new lifeboat house on East Grimsby, and a new 32-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was constructed by Forrestt of Limehouse, and arrived on 2 January 1866. The boat was named People's Journal No.2, after the Dundee periodical The People's Journal, who appeal had funded this boat, and one at Peterhead.

1932 saw the arrival of the first Arbroath motor-lifeboat. John and William Mudie (ON 752) was built by Thorneycroft, and had a single 35 hp engine giving a speed of 7 knots and a range of 116 miles (187 km). She could carry 7 crew, and 30 survivors. In 1940, the lifeboat was sent to the aid of the vessel Foremost, which was under attack from German aircraft. The lifeboat was brought alongside whilst the vessel was still under machine-gun attack, but 7 survivors were taken off. Coxswain William Swankie was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal, and then later the British Empire Medal.

Around 5:00pm on 26 October 1953, the cargo ship Islandmagee departed the River Tay, despite warnings of gale-force winds on the BBC shipping forecast, due at Leith at 5:00am. The vessel passed North Carr Lightship at 9:15pm. Some time later, in very poor conditions, both Anstruther and Arbroath lifeboats were launched to reports of distress flares seen from Fife Ness, but nothing was found.

The Islandmagee was never seen again, although bodies of crewmen and a ships lifeboat were recovered from the shore in the following days. The wreck was identified by divers in 1986. Calling off the search at 4:30 am, both lifeboats headed home, but due to the conditions, the Arbroath Coxswain David Bruce decided to lie off the harbour, and await daybreak before heading in. Hit by a large cross wave, the lifeboat, a non-self-righting Liverpool-class, was capsized, and 6 of the crew including the Coxswain, were lost.

The Robert Lindsay (ON 874) was taken away for repairs, but would never return. The boat would later serve at Girvan and Criccieth.

An increase in water-based leisure activity in the 1960s would see the widespread introduction of a small inflatable inshore lifeboat at many lifeboat stations, and Arbroath received a D-class (RFD PB16) (D-16) in 1968.

A Mersey-class lifeboat 12-35 Inchcape (ON 1194) was placed at Arbroath in 1993, one of only a handful of slipway-launched Mersey lifeboats. Double the speed of the previous Rother-class lifeboat 37-36 Shoreline (ON 1054), she would serve for 31 years, launch 460 times, and save 12 lives.

On 11 May 2023, it was announced that the All-weather lifeboat would be withdrawn from Arbroath, and replaced with a fast Inshore B-class (Atlantic 85) lifeboat. 12-35 Inchcape departed Arbroath for the last time on 17 March 2024.

Arbroath took delivery of their new D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat Mintybell (D-892) on 30 July 2024, replacing Robert Fergusson (D-759) which had been on station since 2013.

The following are awards made at Arbroath

• British Empire Medal

William Swankie, Coxswain - 1942

• RNLI Gold Medal

Lt. Christopher Jobson RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1827

Lt. Christopher Jobson RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1827 (Second-Service Gold Lifeboat)

• Silver Watch, awarded by the German Emperor

William. H. Smith, Coxswain - 1905

David Swankie, Second Coxswain - 1905

Peter Swankie, Bowman - 1905

• RNLI Bronze Medal

William Swankie, Coxswain - 1940

• Monetary Award, awarded by the German Emperor

Arbroath Lifeboat Crew - 1905

• A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution

Allan Russell, Mechanic - 2001

Thomas Yule, Second Coxswain - 2001

Peter Willis, crew member - 2001

• British Empire Medal

Maureen Morrison, President, Arbroath Fundraising Guild - 2023KBH

In memory of those lost whilst serving Arbroath lifeboat.

• Fatally injured under the lifeboat carriage during launch, 24 September 1911,

Peter Swankie, Bowman

• Lifeboat capsized whilst crossing the Harbour Bar, after launching to reported flares, likely from the vessel Islandmagee, 27 October 1953

David Bruce, Coxswain, 48

Harry Swankie, Mechanic, 63

William Swankie (Jnr), Asst. Mechanic, 30

Tom Adams, Bowman, 33

Charles Cargill, 28

David Cargill, 29

ON	Op.No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
−	−	Unknown	1805−1854	Greathead
−	−	Unknown	1854−1866	27-foot Self-righting
Pre-445	−	People's Journal No.2	1866−1888	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)
176	−	William Souter	1888−1900	37-foot Self-righting (P&S)
439	−	James Stevens No.13	1900−1925	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)
572	−	James Gowland	1925−1932	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)
752	−	John and William Mudie	1932−1950	35ft 6in Self-righting motor
874	−	Robert Lindsay	1950−1953	Liverpool
797	−	Howard D	1953−1956	Liverpool
934	−	The Duke of Montrose	1956−1982	42ft Watson
1054	37-36	Shoreline	1982−1993	Rother
1194	12-35	Inchcape	1993−2024	Mersey

All-weather lifeboat withdrawn in 2024

Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

Op.No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
D-16	Unnamed	1968−1969	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-170	Unnamed	1969−1972	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-219	Unnamed	1973−1986	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-330	Unnamed	1987−1994	D-class (EA16)
D-471	Coachmakers of London	1994−2004	D-class (EA16)
D-621	Duncan Ferguson	2004−2013	D-class (IB1)
D-759	Robert Fergusson	2013−2024	D-class (IB1)
D-892	Mintybell	2024−	D-class (IB1)

Op.No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
B-927	Dylan Rotchell	2024−	B-class (Atlantic 85)

Relief fleet

• List of RNLI stations
• List of former RNLI stations
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats

• Arbroath RNLI Lifeboat Station