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Runswick Lifeboat Station
Runswick Lifeboat Station
	1910 Runswick Lifeboat Station;
	Runswick Bay, North Yorkshire
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Town or city	Runswick Bay, North Yorkshire
Country	England
Coordinates	54°32′00″N 0°45′00″W / 54.5332°N 0.7499°W
Opened	1866
Closed	1978

Runswick Lifeboat Station was located in the village of Runswick Bay, approximately 7 mi (11 km) north-west of Whitby, in the county of North Yorkshire, England.

A lifeboat station was established here in 1866 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).^[1]

In 1978, the nearby lifeboat station at Staithes was reopened as in Inshore lifeboat station, and renamed Staithes and Runswick. The All-weather lifeboat 37-11 The Royal Thames (ON 978) was withdrawn, and Runswick Lifeboat Station closed.

Following a meeting of the local population, and with the view that a rescue service was still required, the independent Runswick Bay Rescue Boat was established in 1982.

History

The first lifeboat to be stationed at Runswick was The Sheffield in 1866. She was a 32-foot self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails.^[2]

In April 1901, all the fit and able men were fishing in the bay, when a sudden storm erupted over the area. Older men from the village were drafted in to man the lifeboat, but it was pushed into sea by the women of the village.^[3]

In 1910, a new station was erected on the site of the previous lifeboat house. The enlarged station was necessary to accommodate the new 35-foot (11 m) lifeboat Hester Rothschild (ON 612).^[4]

In 1933, a new motor-powered Liverpool-class lifeboat was received on station, and was named The Always Ready (ON 766). Soon afterwards, Coxswain of the lifeboat Robert Patton died at sea, attempting to rescue a disabled seaman. The lifeboat was renamed Robert Patton - The Always Ready in 1934.^[5]

In 1978, following a coastal review by the RNLI, the lifeboat station at Staithes was re-opened as an Inshore lifeboat station. With motor-powered lifeboats at Whitby and Teesmouth, the Runswick station was closed. Staithes lifeboat station became Staithes and Runswick.The Runswick lifeboat The Royal Thames (ON 978), was transferred to Pwllheli.^[1]

Following the withdrawal of the Runswick lifeboat, it was still felt that with the popularity of the bay, particularly in the holiday season, some sort of rescue cover was still required. A meeting was held in 1980, and the local population at Runswick Bay set about to raise £4000 for their own rescue boat. Runswick Bay Rescue Boat (RBRB) was established at Runswick Bay in 1982, and this now operates in conjunction with all rescue services on the coast, coordinated by HMCG.^[6]^[7]

Runswick lifeboats

ON^[a]	Op. No.^[b]	Name	In service^[1]	Class	Comments
Pre-463	–	The Sheffield	1866–1880	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)
207	–	Margaret and Edward	1880–1893	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)	^[8]
341	–	Cape of Good Hope	1893–1908	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)	^[9]
455	–	Forester	1908–1910	34-foot Self-righting (Rubie)
612	–	Hester Rothschild	1910–1933	35-foot Self-righting (Rubie)	^[10]
766	–	The Always Ready, Robert Patton - The Always Ready (1934–)	1933–1953	Liverpool	^[11]
918	–	Elliot Gill	1954–1970	Liverpool	^[12]
978	37-11	The Royal Thames	1970–1978	37-foot Oakley	^[4]

RNLI Station closed in 1978.

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

Launch and recovery tractors

Op. No.^[b]	Reg. No.	Type	In service^[1]
T16	YW 3377	Clayton	1940–1942
T46	KGP 1	Case LA	1949–1957
T54	KXX 566	Case LA	1957–1966
T55	KXX 565	Case LA	1966–1969
T66	XYP 400	Fowler Challenger III	1969–1974
T57	NYE 351	Fowler Challenger III	1974–1976
T62	PLA 698	Fowler Challenger III	1976–1978

^ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
^ ^a ^b Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

Notes

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2021). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2021. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 2–120.
^ Overton, Holly (15 October 2015). "Runswick Bay, Yorkshire". yachtingmonthly.com. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
^ "Staithes and Runswick Lifeboat Stations: Stronger than the Storm by Grant McKee (RNLI, £8.95)". The Northern Echo. 2 December 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
^ ^a ^b Leach 2018, p. 113.
^ "Saviours of the sea". The Yorkshire Post. 17 August 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2019 – via Newsbank.
^ "History". Runswick Bay Rescue Boat. RBRB Association. Retrieved 26 August 2024.
^ Robinson, Chris (July 1984). "The Foresight of Man, and the Birth of the Runswick Bay Rescue Boat". North East Times County Magazine.
^ Leach 2018, p. 23.
^ "Assets". The Lifeboat. 18 (200). Poole: RNLI: 43. May 1901. ISSN 0024-3086.
^ "Annual Report (Assets)". The Lifeboat. 21 (240). Poole: RNLI: 354–355. May 1911. ISSN 0024-3086.
^ "Name The Always Ready | National Historic Ships". www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
^ "Name The Elliot Gill | National Historic Ships". www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk. Retrieved 16 April 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.