Stornoway Lifeboat Station is located at Stornoway, a harbour town on the east coast of the Isle of Lewis, part of the Outer Hebrides, an archipelago sitting off the north-west coast of Scotland.

A lifeboat was first placed at Stornoway by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1887.

The station currently operates a Severn-class All-weather lifeboat, 17-18 Tom Sanderson (ON 1238), on station since 1999.

The RNLI established a lifeboat station at Stornoway in 1887. A lifeboat house was built on Bells Road, and a 140-foot-long concrete slipway was constructed to the waters edge, at the end of South Beach Quay. The total cost of construction was £1000. The lifeboat house still stands on Bells Road, in use as a carpet store.

The first lifeboat was a 34-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, and was named Isabella (ON 120). Isabella would be the first of four similar boats, stationed at Stornoway until 1929.

In 1929, Stornoway would receive their first motor-powered lifeboat. The boat was a 51-foot Barnett-class lifeboat, with twin 60 hp engines delivering 9 knots. It was also the first RNLI lifeboat equipped with a radio-telephone. The 100W unit had a range of approximately 50 miles (80 km). Provided from the legacy of Mrs Harriot Richardson of Greenwich, at a ceremony on 9 September 1929, the lifeboat was named William and Harriot (ON 718).

William and Harriot was launched to the aid of the Swedish motor-vessel Hervor Bratt of Gothenburg om 29 January 1949, which had run aground on Trodday Island, Skye. 20 men were brought ashore. The Hervor Bratt would later receive assistance from the Campbeltown lifeboat City of Glasgow (ON 720) after her tow line broke during recovery. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution was later awarded the Plaque of Merit and a Diploma, by the Swedish Lifeboat Society.

A new lifeboat arrived in Stornoway in 1955. The James and Margaret Boyd (ON 913), a 52-foot Barnett-class lifeboat, costing £36,500, was named at a ceremony on 5 July 1955, by H.R.H. Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent, president of the Institution. It was reported that the helicopter transporting her belongings was the first to visit the Isles of Lewis.

On 30 January 1962, the James and Margaret Boyd was called out to the motor fishing vessel Maime, which had broken down in gale-force conditions leaving Stornoway harbour, and drifted on to the rocks at Battery Point. Arriving on scene at 20:35, the Bowman was injured by a flare, and he was returned immediately to the harbour, the lifeboat getting back to the Maime at 21:00. In rain and sleet showers, a line was finally passed to the vessel, with instructions to climb over the rocks, attached to the line. One man made the attempt, but not fastened to the line, he was washed away and drowned. Not wanting to suffer the same fate, the two remaining survivors refused to leave that way. A rubber dinghy was then borrowed from the nearby HMS Malcolm, and with both the Coxswain and John MacDonald veering down, the two survivors were pulled from the Maime. The rescue had taken over 7 hours. Mechanic John MacLeod and Assistant Mechanic John MacDonald were each awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal. Coxswain Malcolm MacDonald was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.

In the early hours of 29 September 1980, the Stornoway Solent-class lifeboat, 48-015 Hugh William Viscount Gough (ON 1020), was launched into a southerly gale to the aid of the fishing boat Junella, aground on rocks north of Skye. The lifeboat arrived after 3 hours, and skillfully avoiding the surrounding rocks, the lifeboat was held alongside the vessel for 40 minutes, allowing all 29 men to leave the Junella. Coxswain Malcolm MacDonald, as his uncle before, was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.

Princess Alexandra was invited to name the new Stornoway lifeboat in 1984, as had her mother some 30 years previously. However, she didn't have quite so far to travel this time, as the boat was named at The Prospect, West Cowes, on the Isle of Wight. This was the home of Sir William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook, chairman of the Beaverbrook Foundation, which had funded a second lifeboat. On the 23 February 1984, the new 52-foot Arun-class lifeboat was named 52-28 Max Aitken II (ON 1098).

In 1999, the Max Aitken II was removed to the Relief fleet, later serving at Longhope, before being sold to China in 2005 as an operational lifeboat, named Hua Ying 385. On 3 February 1999, Stornoway would receive a Severn-class lifeboat 17-18 Tom Sanderson (ON 1238).

The following are awards made at Stornoway.

• RNLI Silver Medal

Malcolm (Calla) MacDonald, Coxswain - 1962

Malcolm (Calum) MacDonald, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1981

• RNLI Bronze Medal

Malcolm (Calla) MacDonald, Coxswain - 1952

John MacLeod, Mechanic - 1962

John MacDonald, Assistant Mechanic - 1962

Malcolm (Calum) MacDonald, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1989

• The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum

Each of the crew of the Stornoway lifeboat - 1980

Malcolm (Calum) MacDonald, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1993

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

Malcolm (Calum) MacDonald, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1993

Donald MacLeod, Second Coxswain - 1993

Robert Hughson, Assistant Mechanic - 1993

John MacLennan, crew member - 1993

Murdo Campbell, crew member - 1993

John MacDonald, crew member - 1993

Angus MacIver, crew member - 1993

• Plaque of Merit and a Diploma, awarded by the Swedish Lifeboat Society

Royal National Lifeboat Institution - 1949

• Freedom of the Burgh of Stornoway

Malcolm (Calla) MacDonald, former Coxswain - 1973

• British Empire Medal

Malcolm (Calla) MacDonald, former Coxswain

• Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)

Dr. Alistair Brian Michie, Stornoway Rescue Helicopter Crew and Lifeboat Medical Adviser - 2005QBH

John Jamieson MacLennan, Chair, Lifeboat Management Group - 2022QBH

ON	Op. No.	Name	In service	Class	Comments
120	–	Isabella	1887−1901	34-foot Self-righting (P&S).
473	–	Sarah Pilkington	1901−1918	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)
559	–	Janet	1918−1924	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)
639	–	James Marsh	1924−1929	35-foot Self-righting (P&S)
718	–	William and Harriot	1929−1954	51-foot Barnett
913	–	James and Margaret Boyd	1954−1973	52-foot Barnett
1020	48-015	Hugh William Viscount Gough	1973−1984	Solent
1098	52-28	Sir Max Aitken II	1984−1999	Arun
1238	17-18	Tom Sanderson	1999−	Severn

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

• Stornoway RNLI Lifeboat Station