# Stornoway Lifeboat Station

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.

## History

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).

## Station honours

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

## Stornoway lifeboats

| ON | Op. No. | Name | In service | Class |
| 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 |
* ↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
* ↑ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.