# Lowestoft Lifeboat Station

Lowestoft Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) operated lifeboat station in the town of Lowestoft in the English county of Suffolk. The station is located at the mouth of Lowestoft's outer harbour on the South pier. It is one of the oldest lifeboat stations in the United Kingdom, having been established in 1801.

## History

The station was established in 1801, when a lifeboat built by Henry Greathead began operating from the town. In 1807 the station became the first to operate a sailing lifeboat, the Frances Anne, which operated until 1850 and saved over 300 lives. The RNLI took control of the station in 1855.
A second station operated in the town between 1870 and 1912, whilst the South Broads Lifeboat Station, an inshore station, operated at Oulton Broad between 2001 and 2011.

## Station honours

Crews from Lowestoft have received 45 awards for gallantry, including 39 medals. The RNLI Gold Medal has been awarded twice. The first award was to Lieutenant R B Matthews RN in October 1827. Coxswain John Swan was the second recipient, for his actions during the rescue of the crew of the merchant ship SS Hopelyn, wrecked on North Scroby Sands in October 1922. The lifeboat Michael Stephens took part in the Dunkirk evacuation in 1940.
The following are awards made at Lowestoft
* Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry (EGM)
       John Thompson Swan - 1924
* RNLI Gold Medal
       Lieut Robert Bates Matthews, RN - 1827
       John Thompson Swan, Coxswain - 1922
* RNLI Silver Medal
       Lieut John Crouchley Evison, RN - 1834
       Lieut Richard Joachim, RN - 1836
       Mr Francis Stannard, Master of the schooner Glenmoriston - 1853
       Lieut Richard Joachim, RN - 1855 (Second-Service clasp)
       Captain Richard Joachim, RN - 1857 (Third-Service clasp)
       Robert Hook, Coxswain - 1859
       Nathaniel Colby, crew member - 1859
       Francis Smith, crew member - 1859
       James Butcher, crew member - 1859
       William Rose, crew member - 1859
       Alfred Mewse, crew member - 1859
       Thomas Liffen, crew member - 1859
       Richard Butcher crew member - 1859
       Captain Richard Joachim, RN - 1861 (Fourth-Service clasp)
       Robert Hook, Coxswain - 1873 (Second-Service clasp)
       Mr George Edward Hall, master of the fishing boat Trial - 1882
       John Thompson Swan, Coxswain - 1914
       John Thompson Swan, Coxswain - 1918 (Second-Service clasp)
       Ralph A W Scott, Motor Mechanic - 1922
       Albert Spurgeon, Coxswain - 1927
* RNLI Bronze Medal
       George Ayers, Second Coxswain - 1918
       George William Ayers, crew member 1922 (Second-Service clasp)
       John Rose, crew member 1922
       H Allerton, crew member 1922
       J Ayers, crew member 1922
       W Butcher, crew member 1922
       C Mewse, crew member 1922
       Albert Spurgeon, crew member 1922
       F Swan, crew member 1922
       Albert Spurgeon, Coxswain - 1943 (Second-Service clasp)
       Thomas Victor Knott, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1974
       Peter Gibbons, Second Coxswain - 1974
       Thomas Victor Knott, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1976 (Second-Service clasp)
       John Catchpole, Coxswain - 1988
       Shane Gordon Coleman, Coxswain and sole crew member of the Lowestoft Pilot boat, (also Second Coxswain/Mechanic of the Lowestoft lifeboat) - 1990
       John Catchpole, Coxswain - 1996 (Second-Service clasp)
* The Maud Smith Award 1988 (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
       John Catchpole, Coxswain - 1988
* The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
       Shane Coleman, Second Coxswain/Mechanic - 1996
       John Fox, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2010
* A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
       Michael Knott 1976
       John W Catchpole, Second Coxswain - 1981
       Coxswain J Catchpole - 1989
       Shane G Coleman, Second Coxswain/Mechanic - 1990
* Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
       S Coleman, Second Coxswain/Mechanic - 1989
* Silver Medals from the Austrian Government
       Crew of 1866 Lowestoft Lifeboat - 1893

## Lowestoft lifeboats
### Pulling and sailing lifeboats

| On station | ON | Name | Class | Length | Comments |
| 1801–1802 | – | | Greathead | | |
| 1807–1850 | – | Frances Ann | Norfolk and Suffolk | 39 ft 0 in (11.89 m) | Designed by Lionel Lukin, the forerunner of the Norfolk and Suffolk type. |
| 1850–1876 | – | Victoria | Norfolk and Suffolk | 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m) | Number 1 lifeboat. Renamed Laetitia by 1874. |
| 1870–1886 | – | George | Norfolk and Suffolk | 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m) | Number 2 lifeboat. |
| 1875–1905 | 22 | Samuel Plimsoll | Norfolk and Suffolk | 44 ft 4 in (13.51 m) | Number 1 lifeboat. |
| 1886–1890 | 23 | The Two Sisters | Norfolk and Suffolk | 46 ft 3 in (14.10 m) | Number 2 lifeboat. Originally in service at Pakefield with the name Sisters. |
| 1890–1892 | 288 | Stock Exchange | Norfolk and Suffolk | 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m) | Number 2 lifeboat. |
| 1893–1912 | 356 | Stock Exchange | Norfolk and Suffolk | 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m) | Number 2 lifeboat. |
| 1905–1921 | 543 | Kentwell | Norfolk and Suffolk | 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m) | Number 1 lifeboat. |

### Motor lifeboats

| On station | ON | Op. No. | Name | Class | Comments |
| 1921–1939 | 663 | – | Agnes Cross | Norfolk and Suffolk | Previously John and Mary Meiklam Of Gladswood at Gorleston. |
| 1939–1963 | 838 | – | Michael Stephens | Watson | Later stationed at Exmouth. Sold in 1976 and now used as a pleasure boat on the River Yealm. |
| 1963–1986 | 970 | – | Frederick Edward Crick | Watson | |
| 1986–1987 | 924 | – | Archibald and Alexander M. Paterson | Barnett | |
| 1987–2014 | 1132 | 47-020 | Spirit of Lowestoft | Tyne | On display at Chatham Historic Dockyard since June 2019. |
| 2014– | 1312 | 13-05 | Patsy Knight | Shannon | |