Humber Lifeboat Station

Humber Lifeboat Station is located at Wharncliffe Rd North, within the Port of Grimsby, on the south shore of the Humber estuary, in North East Lincolnshire. The station was opened in 1810, operated by Hull Trinity House, and was located on Spurn Point, now a tidal island, on the north side of the Humber estuary, attached to the south-east point of the East Riding of Yorkshire, by a three-mile (4.8 km) long narrow gradually moving Isthmus. Management of the station was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1911. The station currently operates a Severn-class All-weather lifeboat, 17-05 Pride of the Humber (ON 1216), which has been on station since 1997. History A lifeboat station was established in 1810 at Spurn Point with a crew supplied by Hull Trinity House. Known as Spurn Point Lifeboat Station, a decommissioned gun battery emplacement, last used in 1809, was requisitioned as the main lifeboat building and was also partly converted into the Life Boat House Hotel. The crew of the lifeboat were billeted in Kilnsea, 3 miles (5 km) up the coast, until 1819 when cottages were built adjacent to the life boat house. The Life Boat House Hotel was owned and operated by the master of the crew. Apart from selling drink and provisions, the master made a side income from loading gravel and sand onto passing ships. The land and money to fund the operation had been supplied by the local lord of the manor. He petitioned Trinity House to take up the offer of the land and supply a lifeboat to use at Spurn. This they did, engaging Henry Greathead of South Shields in building a ship with ten oars. In the early days of the rescue boat, the mood of the crew at Spurn was sullen as they were not paid too well and were at the mercy of the master who ran the inn to provide what food and drink they needed. Locals from up the coast would come to load ships with gravel and sand, which they did brandishing revolvers, threatening the crew members, who viewed the enterprise as taking away their self-sufficiency. In 1811, the master wrote to Trinity House to complain about this "Law of the Dunes" as he labelled it, to which they had no legal recourse, with the nearest officials miles away. In December 1823, a fierce storm worked the ropes loose on the lifeboat and it capsized. It was ruined and needed replacing. Something similar occurred 60 years later in 1883, again after a particularly stormy night, the crew discovered that their lifeboat had been loosed of its moorings during the storm. This time it was safe and was later found drifting off the island of Texel, off the coast of the Netherlands. Between 1908 and 1911, the station came under the aegis of the Humber Conservancy Board, who argued that the lifeboat station and crew should be handed over to the RNLI. For their part, the RNLI were reluctant to take on the crew as they were paid, which went against its policy of having volunteers. Eventually, these issues were sorted out and the RNLI assumed control in 1911. In 1919, the first motorised boat, the Samuel Oakes (ON 651) arrived on station, and in 1924, the station name was changed from Spurn Point to Humber Lifeboat Station. The lifeboatmen were known to have taken advantage of the military railway between Spurn Point and Kilnsea as a means of quick transport up the coast to the village. They adapted a boat powered by wind to run along the line. When they met a military supply train travelling in the opposite direction, they were required to remove their sail wagon from the rails to allow the train to pass, not an easy task as the sail wagon had no working brake. Due to the remoteness of the station, its restricted access (by road from the north) and the dangerous waters around this part of the east coast, the crew were on-site full time and were the only full-time paid RNLI All-weather lifeboat crew in the United Kingdom. The station was one of nine RNLI lifeboat stations situated along the Yorkshire Coast and the most southerly of them all. Up until 2012, the families of the crew lived in cottages on Spurn Head adjacent to the lifeboat station, but a decision was taken to have two crews revolving through a roster and so the families moved to new accommodation in Kilnsea. As the spit of land is prone to breaches, this was also viewed as in the best interests of the families of the crew members. Latterly, the families had been housed in cottages built in 1975 to replace the row of houses first built in 1819. These were demolished when the seven new houses were built at a cost of £100,000. The retaining wall built to hold the sea back from the domestic area still survives fulfilling its intended purpose. From August 2012 to 2023, the two crews rotated through a shift of six days on and six days off. The lifeboat was moored at the end of a pier that sets out into the Humber Estuary (westwards from Spurn Head) rather than a traditional launch down a ramp into the sea (which is on the eastern side of Spurn Head). This location has been described as being in the lee of bad weather, thereby providing a safer place to set off from. The crew have pushbikes to cycle down to the end of the pier and then use a boarding boat to get to the lifeboat. Despite some buildings being erected to launch the lifeboat, even from the early days, it was recognised of the difficulties in launching the boat from land, so it has been traditionally moored away from the coastline. A traditional lifeboat house with slipway was built in 1923 and used up until 1977, but it fell into disuse with bigger lifeboats arriving, that were better moored afloat. The slipway and lifeboat house were demolished in 1995. The Humber Lifeboat has an operational area that covers the Humber estuary to Immingham Dock, south along the coastline to Skegness, northwards to Bridlington and up to a 100 miles (160 km) out to sea. This overlapped with the Cleethorpes Lifeboat to the south and the Withernsea Lifeboat to the north and to other rescue agencies along the river. The Bridlington and Skegness lifeboats were the next nearest all-weather lifeboats along the east coast. In February 2023, issues were found following a routine inspection of the infrastructure of the station. On the grounds of the cost and health & safety reasons, and with consideration of the continuing coastal erosion and difficulties with access, the decision was taken to permanently relocate the boat and crew from Spurn Point to Grimsby, on the south side of the Humber estuary, where there was a second base for the lifeboat at Grimsby Docks, previously used temporarily in certain weather conditions. Operations were transferred in June 2023. On 31 May 2025, the RNLI finally closed the chapter of their presence at Spurn Point, handing over the remaining station buildings to the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. Now with no access difficulties, and in line with all other All-weather lifeboat stations, Humber Lifeboat Station will gradually revert to a primarily volunteer crew. First broadcast on 25 January 2026, the work of Humber lifeboat Station and crew was featured, when they hosted Guy Martin as a trainee crew member, for the TV programme Guy Martin:Proper Jobs. Notable rescues During the stations 200 year plus history, 33 RNLI gallantry medals have been awarded to the crews for their gallantry, including three gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze. Of these, Robert Cross, Coxswain for 31 years until 1943, won two gold, three silver and two bronze, as well as the George Medal. In just 7 weeks between December 1978 and February 1979, the Humber Lifeboat launched to three medal rescues. Coxswain Brian William Bevan , is the only crew member in the history of the RNLI to be presented with Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals for Gallantry at the same awards ceremony. Exact records of the first 100 years of rescues are patchy, but between 1810 and 1854, over 800 people had been rescued from the seas around Spurn Head. Between 1911 (when the Humber Lifeboat came under RNLI control) and December 2009, the lifeboat was launched 2,268 times saving over 790 lives in the process. 31 October 1850 - the brig Cumberland was wrecked off the east coast at Kilnsea during a gale. The captain of the Cumberland had already been drowned by the time the Spurn lifeboat arrived and the crew of eight were forced to climb into the rigging to survive. Four were rescued, but the next day the rescue of the other four necessitated the use of rocket lines. One of the Spurn Lifeboatmen, John Branton, was lost at sea. 19 November 1855 - the lifeboat capsized whilst assisting the schooner Zabuia Deverell; two of the crew drowned. 14 February 1979 - the coaster Revi, a Panamanian registered vessel carrying silver sand, sent out a distress call when she was 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) off Spurn Point. The ship was foundering in a force ten gale and due to the huge waves at sea, (between 33 feet (10 m) and 39 feet (12 m) high) swamping the ship, she was taking on water. The crew of the City of Bradford IV put to sea at 00:15, and after several attempts in extremely rough seas, all four crew jumped from the foundering ship onto the lifeboat, with the last person to jump being the master, who was clinging to the side of the ship as she listing 45 degrees to port. The lifeboat headed back to the safety of the Humber Estuary at 02:33. 17 September 1989 - the crew responded to a distress call after a merchant vessel, the Fiona, stated she had been in a collision with another ship some 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) east of Spurn Point. The lifeboat Kenneth Thelwall was launched at 05:00, and when she was 5 nautical miles (9.3 km; 5.8 mi) out from the site of the Fiona, they could see the fire on the other ship involved, the Phillips Oklahoma. 16 of the 25 crew were taken off the now heavily unstable Phillips Oklahoma onto the Humber lifeboat. The coxswain of the lifeboat, Brain Bevan, later described the fire as "The worst I have ever seen at sea." 14 August 1990 - Two Royal Air Force Tornado GR.1 aircraft (ZA464 and ZA545) collided 10 nautical miles (19 km; 12 mi) north-east of Spurn Point. The aircrew of one aircraft from RAF Laarbruch (ZA464) ejected, but only the pilot was recovered alive. The aircrew of the other aircraft were deemed to have died, after a search by the Humber lifeboat and other agencies resulted in no-one being found. Station honours The following are awards made at Spurn / Humber:ref name="Humber RNLI"/> George Medal Robert Cross, Coxswain – 1940 RNLI Gold Medal Robert Cross, Coxswain – 1940 Robert Cross , Coxswain – 1943 (Second-Service clasp) Brian Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1979 RNIPLS Silver Medal James Norris, Master of the Smack Waterloo – 1839 J. M. Williams, Mate of the quarantine Cutter Bee – 1843 RNLI Silver Medal Edward Weldrake – 1877 Robert Cross, Coxswain – 1916 Robert Cross, Coxswain – 1925 (Second-Service clasp) Robert Cross, Coxswain – 1939 (Third-Service clasp) John Sanderson Major, crew member – 1940 William Jenkinson, crew member – 1940 William James Jenkin Hood, crew member – 1940 Samuel Cross, crew member – 1940 Samuel Frederick Hoopell, crew member – 1940 George Richards, Reserve Mechanic – 1943 Brian Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1979 RNLI Bronze Medal Robert Cross, Coxswain – 1922 John Sanderson Major, Motor Mechanic – 1939 Robert Cross , Coxswain – 1941 (Second-Service clasp) George Stephenson, crew member – 1943 Samuel Cross, crew member – 1943 Sidney Harman, crew member – 1943 William Major, crew member – 1943 George Shakesby, crew member – 1943 Dennis Bailey, Second Coxswain – 1979 Barry Sayers, Mechanic – 1979 Ronald Sayers, Assistant Mechanic – 1979 Michael Barry Storey, crew member – 1979 Peter Jordan, crew member – 1979 Sydney Rollinson, crew member – 1979 Dennis Bailey (Jnr), crew member – 1979 Brian Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1979 Brian Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1982 (Second-Service clasp) The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum R. Buchan, Coxswain – 1966 Humber Lifeboat Crew – 1979 Peter Jordan, crew member – 1980 Dennis Bailey Jnr, crew member – 1980 David Steenvoorden, Acting Coxswain Superintendent – 2004 David Steenvoorden, Superintendent Coxswain – 2006 A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution Dennis Bailey, Second Coxswain – 1987 David Steenvoorden, Superintendent Coxswain – 2005 Daniel Atkinson, Assistant Mechanic – 2006 A Collective Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution Brian Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1987 Dennis Bailey, Second Coxswain – 1987 Richard White, Mechanic – 1987 Peter Thorpe, Assistant Mechanic – 1987 Jack Essex, crew member – 1987 David Cape, crew member – 1987 Brian Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1994 Robert White, Second Coxswain – 1994 Peter Thorpe, Mechanic – 1994 Leslie Roberts, Assistant Mechanic – 1994 Sydney Rollinson, crew members – 1994 David Steenvoorden, crew members – 1994 Christopher Barnes, crew members – 1994 David Steenvoorden, Coxswain – 2012 Stephen Purvis, crew member – 2012 Testimonial on Vellum awarded by the Royal Humane Society C. Alcock, Second Mechanic – 1957 A Special Doctor’s Certificate on Vellum Dr James Duncan Busfield – 1976 Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE) Brian William Bevan, Superintendent Coxswain – 1999 David Leonardus Steenvoorden – 2017 Roll of honour In memory of those lost whilst serving Spurn Point / Humber lifeboat: Lost on service to the brig Cumberland on 31 October 1850 John Branton Suffered from exposure, and died on 13 April 1853 Capt. Michael Hansley Welburn, Coxswain Drowned when the lifeboat capsized, on service to the schooner Zabuia Deverell on 19 November 1855 J. Combes H. Holmes Humber lifeboats Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats Motor lifeboats Inshore lifeboats See also List of RNLI stations List of former RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats Notes References Sources Blass, Tom (2015). The Naked Shore of the North Sea. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4088-1549-6. 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. External links Humber RNLI Lifeboat Station Silent film clip of City of Bradford II being launched at Bridlington harbour