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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Ramsgate Lifeboat Station
Ramsgate Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station located in the Port of Ramsgate in the English county of Kent. The station is one of the oldest to operate in the British Isles and has launched to many notable services. Among the awards won by its crews over the years are 42 RNLI medals, including 2 gold, 39 silver and 1 bronze, the last being awarded in 2000.

History

A lifeboat station was first established at Ramsgate Harbour in 1802 by the trustees of the harbour, pre dating the formation of any national lifeboat organisation by more than 20 years. After a lapse in service between 1824 and 1851 a station was re-established by the trustees.

In 1865, the lifeboat station was taken over by the Board of Trade and the RNLI, who ran it jointly until 1922, when the RNLI it took over full responsibility, and who run the service to this day.

The current lifeboat station, on the harbour wall between the inner and outer pools of the main harbour, opened in 1998, and services both an inshore lifeboat, the D-class (IB1) Claire & David Delves (B-878) and offshore Tamar-class lifeboat, the RNLB 16-23 Diamond Jubilee (ON 1303).


RNLI 16-23 Diamond Jubilee (ON 1303)

Dunkirk evacuation

During the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in 1940, Lifeboat Prudential, of Ramsgate was the first little ship to the rescue. The lifeboat left Ramsgate at 2.20 in the afternoon with Coxswain Howard Primrose Knight in command with her own crew of eight men. They had been issued with gas masks, steel helmets and the lifeboat was loaded with four coils of grass warp and cans of fresh water for the troops. She took in tow eight boats, most of them wherries, manned by eighteen naval men, and when she reached Dunkirk her role was to tow the wherries between the beaches and the waiting ships. In total she rescued 2,800 troops from the beaches. For his 'gallantry and determination,' Coxswain Howard Knight was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

Station Honours

The following are awards made at Ramsgate

Howard Primrose Cooper Knight, Coxswain - 1940
Charles Fish, Coxswain - 1881
Charles Fish, Coxswain - 1891 (Second Service Award)
William Miller - 1826
Captain Edward Gimar - 1829
James Hogbin, Coxswain - 1857
Isaac Jarman, Coxswain - 1864
Isaac Jarman, Coxswain - 1870 (Second Service Award)
Charles Fish, Bowman - 1870
Mr Daniel Reading, Master of Ramsgate Harbour Steam Tug - 1872
James Simpson - 1874
William Wharrier - 1874
(mate and engineer respectively of the Ramsgate Harbour Tug)
Richard Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
Henry Belsey, crew member - 1881
David Berry, crew member - 1881
Thomas Cooper Snr. crew member - 1881
Thomas Cooper Jnr. crew member - 1881
Thomas Friend, crew member - 1881
John Goldmith, crew member - 1881
Stephen Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
Henry Meader, crew member - 1881
Robert Penney, crew member - 1881
Charles Vernon, crew member - 1881
Alfred Page, Master - 1881
William Wharrier, crew member - 1881 (Second Service Award)
William Austen, crew member - 1881
Charles Knight, crew member - 1881
Edward Revell, crew member - 1881
George Woodward, crew member - 1881
Richard Yare, crew member - 1881
(Master and crew of the tug Vulcan)
William Wharrier, engineer, of the Ramsgate Harbour Tug - 1890 (Third Service Award)
Alfred Page, Tug Master - 1892 (Second Service Award)
Thomas James Watson - 1892
William Burton - 1892
Edwin Hurle - 1892
Arthur E Fisher - 1892
(the crew of the smack Britain's Pride of Ramsgate)
Alfred Page, Tug Master - 1898 (Third Service Award)
John Hawkins - 1906
William Cooper, Coxswain - 1916
Thomas W Read, Second Coxswain - 1916
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1986
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000 (Second Service Award)
Douglas S Kirkaldie. Coxswain - 1952
  • Royal Harbour Ramsgate (Indian Chief) Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry
Charles Fish, Coxswain - 1881
Richard Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
Henry Belsey, crew member - 1881
David Berry, crew member - 1881
Thomas Cooper Snr. crew member - 1881
Thomas Cooper Jnr. crew member - 1881
Thomas Friend, crew member - 1881
John Goldmith, crew member - 1881
Stephen Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
Henry Meader, crew member - 1881
Robert Penney, crew member - 1881
Charles Vernon, crew member - 1881
Alfred Page, Master - 1881
William Wharrier, crew member - 1881
William Austen, crew member - 1881
Charles Knight, crew member - 1881
Edward Revell, crew member - 1881
George Woodward, crew member - 1881
Richard Yare, crew member - 1881
(Master and crew of the tug Vulcan)
  • The Maud Smith Award 1952
    (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
Douglas S Kirkaldie. Coxswain - 1952
  • The Maud Smith Award 1985
    (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1986
  • The Maud Smith Award 1999
    (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000
  • The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society
    Lady Swaythling Trophy
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000
  • James Michael Bower Endowment Fund Award 1999
    as one of the two Silver Medal awardees of 1999
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic -2000
  • The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
Thomas J H Cooper, Coxswain - 1968
Michael Petts, crew member - 1975
Timothy Hurst, crew member - 1975
Malcolm H R Llewellyn - 1980
Bryan L E Morgan - 1980
(Coxswain and Launch Seaman of the Trinity House Pilot Vessel Versatile)
Timothy E Hurst, Helmsman - 1985
Timothy Hurst, Emergency Mechanic - 2000
Lance Oran, crew member - 2000
  • A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
R Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1983
D Pegden, Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic - 1983
D Cooper, Emergency Mechanic - 1983
W Blay, crew member - 1983
T Brown, crew member - 1983
T Hurst, crew member - 1983
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1984
D Pegden, 2nd Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic - 1984
T Hurst, crew member - 1984
M Mett, crew member - 1984
N Stephens, crew member - 1984
R Noble, crew member - 1984
Timothy Hurst, crew member - 1984
Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000
Christopher Andrews, Helmsman - 2008
Harvey Cole, crew member - 2008
John Rabbatts, crew member - 2008
  • Awarded by the Prudential Assurance Company
    donors of the lifeboat, in recognition of the Dunkirk service
    Inscribed Silver Plaques
Coxswain and Crew - 1940
Ronald N Cannon, Retired Coxswain/Mechanic - 2017
  • Awarded by The King of Denmark
    Silver Medal
Coxswain W Cooper - 1911
The Master of the Tug Aid - 1911
  • Awarded by The President of the United States of America
Gold watch to the Coxswain- 1919
Binoculars to the Second Coxswain - 1919
Gold Medals to the Lifeboat Crew - 1919

Ramsgate Lifeboats

All-weather lifeboats

ON Op. No. Name In service Class Comments
– – Northumberland 1851–1865 Self-Righting
– – Friend 1865–1866 29-foot 1in Self-Righting (P&S)
– – Bradford 1866–1877 40-foot Self-Righting (P&S)
– – Bowman 1877 44-foot Self-Righting (P&S)
– – Bradford 1877–1887 44-foot Self-Righting (P&S)
117 – Bradford 1887–1893 40-foot Self-Righting (P&S)
350 – Bradford 1893–1905 42-foot Self-Righting (motor)
537 – Charles and Susanna Stephens 1905–1926 43-foot Self-Righting (P&S)
697 – Prudential 1925–1953 Ramsgate
901 – Michael and Lily Davis 1953–1976 46ft 9in Watson
1042 44-016 Ralph and Joy Swann 1976–1990 Waveney
1154 47-036 Kenneth Thelwall II 1990–1994 Tyne
1197 14-02 Esme Anderson 1994–2023 Trent
1303 16-23 Diamond Jubilee 2023– Tamar
  • Trent Class Lifeboat Esme Anderson (ON-1197) at Ramsgate, 11 August 2009
    Trent Class Lifeboat Esme Anderson (ON-1197) at Ramsgate, 11 August 2009
  • Trent Class Relief Lifeboat Corinne Whiteley (ON-1253) at Ramsgate, 4 April 2010
    Trent Class Relief Lifeboat Corinne Whiteley (ON-1253) at Ramsgate, 4 April 2010

Inshore lifeboats

Op. No. Name In service Class Comments
A-500
(17-001) 		Unnamed 1969–1971 A-class (Hatch)
A-502
(17-003) 		Unnamed 1972–1975 A-class (Hatch)
A-510
(18-010) 		Unnamed 1975–1984 A-class (McLachlan)
B-558 Ramsgate Enterprise 1984–2000 B-class (Atlantic 21)
B-765 Bob Turnbull 2000–2014 B-class (Atlantic 75)
B-878 Claire & David Delves 2014– B-class (Atlantic 85)
  1. ^ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ^ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ First motor lifeboat at station
    One of four lifeboats that took part in the Coronation Review of the Fleet by the Queen at Portsmouth on 15 June 1953

References

  1. ^ "Station History". Royal National Lifeboat Institution Ramsgate. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2010.
  2. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2024). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society. pp. 4–132.
  3. ^ "No. 34953". The London Gazette (Supplement). 24 September 1940. p. 5711.
  4. ^ Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. ISBN 0-907605-89-3.
  5. ^ "Royal Harbour Ramsgate Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry". Royal Museums Greenwich. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  6. ^ "An R.N.L.I. / Indian Chief Medal pair awarded to Stoker George Woodward". Noonans. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  7. ^ Ray, John (17 June 2017). "Retired Ramsgate coxswain Ron Cannon awarded MBE in Queen's Birthday Honours". RNLI. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  8. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2021). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2021 (2021 ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 2–18.
  9. ^ "The Institution and the Coronation". The Lifeboat. 33 (366). December 1953. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  10. ^ Ray, John (13 November 2023). "Arrival of RNLB 'Diamond Jubilee' at Ramsgate's Royal Harbour". RNLI. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  11. ^ "Bob Turnbull". Royal National Lifeboat Institution Ramsgate. Archived from the original on 9 October 2011.
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