Hastings Lifeboat Station is located on The Stade, in the town of Hastings, in East Sussex.

A lifeboat was first stationed here in 1835, but after a period of decline, the boat was no longer fit for purpose. A new station was opened by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1858.

The station currently operates Shannon-class All-weather lifeboat, 13-28 Richard and Caroline Colton (ON 1335), launched off the beach using the Shannon Launch and Recovery System, and a D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat, Richard Francis (D-835).

The loss of a Coastguard boat and six crew in 1834 prompted a local fund to be set up, raising £81, and a lifeboat was provided in 1835, built locally by Thwaite and Winter. There are no records of any service, and by 1851, the boat was deemed to be unfit.

The loss of another boat and crew off Hastings in October 1857 prompted local residents to place a request with the RNLI, that a lifeboat be placed at Hastings. This was agreed, and an order was placed with Forrestt of Limehouse, London to build a 30-foot self-righting lifeboat, costing £161. A carriage was ordered, and a new boat house was commissioned at Rock-a-Nore, constructed by local builder Edwin Harman, at a cost of £137-10s. All costs were funded locally.

The lifeboat arrived in Hastings on Monday 5 April 1858, along with a carriage and her equipment, all transported free of charge by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company. She was drawn on her carriage by a team of horses, and paraded through the streets of Hastings and St Leonards-on-Sea to the boathouse, where she was named Victoria by the Mayor. Mr. T. S. Hyde was appointed Honorary Secretary, and Charles Picknell to be Coxswain.

Victoria only served Hastings for 5 years, as she was found to be too small for the conditions encountered. In 1863, she was transferred to Palling in Norfolk, where she served for the following 18 years. Hastings were provided with a replacement unnamed boat, previously a 30-foot 10-oared Self-righting boat stationed at Kingstown (Dún Laoghaire). She was modified for Hastings by Forrestt and extended to 36-foot 4inches (12-oared), arriving on 7 August 1863, and again transported free of charge by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company. In 1867, she was named Ellen Goodman in acknowledgment of the bequest of Miss E. Goodman, of Eversholt, Bedfordshire.

On her last service at Hastings, Ellen Goodman was launched on 18 February 1879, to the aid of the schooner Apollo, on passage from London, United Kingdom to Cette, Hérault, France, with a cargo of currants. Five crew were rescued when she ran aground and was wrecked near 'Rock-a-Nore'.

Hastings was one of the first stations to receive one of the small fast D-class (RFD PB16) (D-21) inshore lifeboats in 1964. As was common at the time, the use of the inshore boat was seasonal, and so followed a succession of boats each year until one was permanently placed on service in 1975, a D-class (Zodiac III) (D-226).

A new Mersey-class lifeboat was assigned to the station in 1989. She was funded by bequests from Dr. William Murphy and Mrs. Dorothy Kellet, and from a special promotion run by Sealink British Ferries, costing £498,625. At a ceremony on 21 September 1989, she was named 12-002 Sealink Endeavour (ON 1125) by HRH The Duke of Kent, President of the RNLI.

In 2015, the RNLI received the most valuable items ever left to the Institution in a single legacy. In a most extraordinary bequest, the RNLI received two rare Ferrari cars from the estate of the late Richard Colton, businessman. Both were sent to auction:

• A silver 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB/4, sold for £1.93m
• A red 1960 Ferrari 250 GT SWB, sold for £6.6m

This has funded two Shannon-class lifeboats, the first being assigned to Hastings in 2018, 13-28 Richard and Caroline Colton (ON 1335).

In 2018, photographer Jack Lowe made images of the lifeboat and crew at Hastings Lifeboat Station using his Edwardian plate-glass camera. An image of Sloane Phillips, Deputy Second Coxswain, has been accessioned into the collection at the Royal Maritime Museum at Greenwich.

On 31 March 1943, Hastings lifeboat Cyril and Lilian Bishop (ON 740) was called to the aid of H.M. Trawler Caulonia, stranded off Jury's Gap, 10 miles east of Hastings, in a WSW gale, with rough seas and heavy swell. All kinds of obstacles had to be removed from the beach following Defence work. The lifeboat was eventually run down the beach just as an enormous wave hit, and the boat was flung back on the beach. Finally the boat was launched, and made to the Caulonia. 17 men had already left in a liferaft. With wreckage all around, Coxswain Muggeridge managed to bring the lifeboat alongside for 30 minutes while the remaining seven crew were rescued. For this service, Coxswain John Muggeridge and Motor Mechanic William Hilder were both awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal. Only days after the rescue, Muggeridge was killed when his fishing boat hit a sea mine, and Hilder died in an air raid two months later.

The following are awards made at Hastings

• RNIPLS Gold Medal

Lt. John Prattent, RN, HMS Hyperion - 1830

Lt. Horatio James, RN, HMS Hyperion - 1830

• Gold Medal, awarded by the Argentinian Naval Authorities

Dr Peter Davy - 1974

• RNLI Silver Medal

Alfred Stonham, Fisherman - 1904

John Herbert William Martin, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1975

Dr Peter Davy - 1974

• RNLI Bronze Medal

John Edward Muggeridge, Coxswain - 1943

William R Hilder, Motor Mechanic - 1943

George Douglas White, Second Coxswain - 1975

John H Martin, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1985

• Bronze Medal awarded by the Carnegie Hero Fund Trust

Dr Peter Davy - 1974

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Commander W. Highfield, OBE, RN, Honorary Secretary - 1943

Edward F Adams, Second Coxswain - 1943

Fred White, Bowman - 1943

Hasting Lifeboat Crew - 1975

Christopher Cooper, Helmsman - 1985

Graham Furness, crew member - 1985

Steven Martin, crew member - 1985

David John Curtis, Assistant Mechanic - 1991

Simon Hodgson, Helmsman - 2007

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

J H Martin, Motor Mechanic - 1965

S Ferguson, Police Sergeant - 1965

J H Martin, Motor Mechanic - 1967

W Adams - 1967

R Shoesmith, ILB crew - 1972

C Green, ILB crew - 1972

K Ronchett, ILB crew - 1972

Fred White, Coxswain - 1991

Sloane Phillips, crew member - 2007

Glenn Barry, crew member - 2007

• Letters of Thanks signed by the Secretary of the Institution

John Martin, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1972

B Foster - 1972

R White - 1972

F Davis - 1972

J Mitchell - 1972

R Taylor - 1972

• Testimonial on Parchment awarded by The Royal Humane Society

S Ferguson, Police Sergeant - 1965

• Resuscitation Certificate awarded by The Royal Humane Society

S Ferguson, Police Sergeant - 1965

John H Martin, Motor Mechanic - 1965

• British Empire Medal

John Herbert William Martin, Coxswain Mechanic - 1987

ON	Op.No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
−	−	Ariel?	1835−1851	Unknown
Pre-314	−	Victoria	1858−1863	30-foot Peake
Pre-281	−	Unnamed, Ellen Goodman(from 1867–)	1863−1880	36-foot 4in Self-righting (P&S)
187	−	Charles Arkcoll	1880−1901	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)
469	−	Charles Arkcoll	1901−1931	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)
740	−	Cyril and Lilian Bishop	1931−1950	35ft 6in Self-righting motor
878	−	M. T. C.	1950−1963	35ft 6in Self-righting motor	M.T.C. was named for the Mechanised Transport Corps
795	−	Frank and William Oates	1963−1964	Liverpool
973	37-06	Fairlight	1964−1988	Oakley
984	37-17	Mary Joicey	1988−1989	Oakley
1125	12-002	Sealink Endeavour	1989−2018	Mersey
1335	13-28	Richard and Caroline Colton	2018−	Shannon

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-21	Unnamed	1964	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-25	Unnamed	1965	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-27	Unnamed	1965−1967	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-11	Unnamed	1967	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-143	Unnamed	1967−1975	D-class (RFD PB16)
D-226	Unnamed	1975−1982	D-class (Zodiac III)
D-288	Cinque Ports I	1983−1989	D-class (Zodiac III)
D-392	Cecile Rampton	1989−1998	D-class (EA16)
D-540	Cecile Rampton II	1998−2008	D-class (EA16)
D-699	Daphne May	2008−2019	D-class (IB1)
D-835	Richard Francis	2019−	D-class (IB1)

Op. No.	Reg. No.	Type	In service	Comments
T65	VYT 878	Fowler Challenger III	1963–1970	On display at the RNLI Heritage Centre in Chatham
T57	NYE 351	Fowler Challenger III	1970–1972
T65	VYT 878	Fowler Challenger III	1972–1973	On display at the RNLI Heritage Centre in Chatham
T60	OXO 323	Fowler Challenger III	1973–1974
T65	VYT 878	Fowler Challenger III	1974–1985
T95	B188 GAW	Talus MB-H Crawler	1985
T96	B688 HUJ	Talus MB-H Crawler	1985–1997
T95	B188 GAW	Talus MB-H Crawler	1997–2007
T119	N470 XAW	Talus MB-H Crawler	2007–2019
SC-T16	HF18 DYS	SLARS (Clayton)	2018–	Named Richard and Mark Colton

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

• Hasting Lifeboat Station