# Ramsgate Lifeboat Station

Ramsgate Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station located in the Port of Ramsgate in the English county of Kent. The station is one of the oldest to operate in the British Isles and has launched to many notable services. Among the awards won by its crews over the years are 42 RNLI medals, including 2 gold, 39 silver and 1 bronze, the last being awarded in 2000.

## History

A lifeboat station was first established at Ramsgate Harbour in 1802 by the trustees of the harbour, pre dating the formation of any national lifeboat organisation by more than 20 years. After a lapse in service between 1824 and 1851 a station was re-established by the trustees.
In 1865, the lifeboat station was taken over by the Board of Trade and the RNLI, who ran it jointly until 1922, when the RNLI took over full responsibility, and run the service to this day.
The current lifeboat station, on the harbour wall between the inner and outer pools of the main harbour, opened in 1998, and services both an inshore lifeboat, the D-class (IB1) Claire & David Delves (B-878) and offshore Tamar-class lifeboat, the RNLB 16-23 Diamond Jubilee (ON 1303).
RNLI 16-23 Diamond Jubilee (ON 1303)

## Dunkirk evacuation

During the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in 1940, Lifeboat Prudential, of Ramsgate was the first little ship to the rescue. The lifeboat left Ramsgate at 2.20 in the afternoon with Coxswain Howard Primrose Knight in command with her own crew of eight men. They had been issued with gas masks, steel helmets and the lifeboat was loaded with four coils of grass warp and cans of fresh water for the troops. She took in tow eight boats, most of them wherries, manned by eighteen naval men, and when she reached Dunkirk her role was to tow the wherries between the beaches and the waiting ships. In total she rescued 2,800 troops from the beaches. For his 'gallantry and determination,' Coxswain Howard Knight was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal.

## Station Honours

The following are awards made at Ramsgate
* Distinguished Service Medal
       Howard Primrose Cooper Knight, Coxswain - 1940
* Gold Medal
       Charles Fish, Coxswain - 1881
       Charles Fish, Coxswain - 1891 (Second Service Award)
* Silver Medal
       William Miller - 1826
       Captain Edward Gimar - 1829
       James Hogbin, Coxswain - 1857
       Isaac Jarman, Coxswain - 1864
       Isaac Jarman, Coxswain - 1870 (Second Service Award)
       Charles Fish, Bowman - 1870
       Mr Daniel Reading, Master of Ramsgate Harbour Steam Tug - 1872
       James Simpson - 1874
       William Wharrier - 1874
       (mate and engineer respectively of the Ramsgate Harbour Tug)
       Richard Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
       Henry Belsey, crew member - 1881
       David Berry, crew member - 1881
       Thomas Cooper Snr. crew member - 1881
       Thomas Cooper Jnr. crew member - 1881
       Thomas Friend, crew member - 1881
       John Goldmith, crew member - 1881
       Stephen Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
       Henry Meader, crew member - 1881
       Robert Penney, crew member - 1881
       Charles Vernon, crew member - 1881
       Alfred Page, Master - 1881
       William Wharrier, crew member - 1881 (Second Service Award)
       William Austen, crew member - 1881
       Charles Knight, crew member - 1881
       Edward Revell, crew member - 1881
       George Woodward, crew member - 1881
       Richard Yare, crew member - 1881
       (Master and crew of the tug Vulcan)
       William Wharrier, engineer, of the Ramsgate Harbour Tug - 1890 (Third Service Award)
       Alfred Page, Tug Master - 1892 (Second Service Award)
       Thomas James Watson - 1892
       William Burton - 1892
       Edwin Hurle - 1892
       Arthur E Fisher - 1892 (the crew of the smack Britain's Pride of Ramsgate)
       Alfred Page, Tug Master - 1898 (Third Service Award)
       John Hawkins - 1906
       William Cooper, Coxswain - 1916
       Thomas W Read, Second Coxswain - 1916
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1986
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000 (Second Service Award)
* Bronze Medal
       Douglas S Kirkaldie. Coxswain - 1952
* Royal Harbour Ramsgate (Indian Chief) Medal for Conspicuous Gallantry
       Charles Fish, Coxswain - 1881
       Richard Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
       Henry Belsey, crew member - 1881
       David Berry, crew member - 1881
       Thomas Cooper Snr. crew member - 1881
       Thomas Cooper Jnr. crew member - 1881
       Thomas Friend, crew member - 1881
       John Goldmith, crew member - 1881
       Stephen Goldsmith, crew member - 1881
       Henry Meader, crew member - 1881
       Robert Penney, crew member - 1881
       Charles Vernon, crew member - 1881
       Alfred Page, Master - 1881
       William Wharrier, crew member - 1881
       William Austen, crew member - 1881
       Charles Knight, crew member - 1881
       Edward Revell, crew member - 1881
       George Woodward, crew member - 1881
       Richard Yare, crew member - 1881 (Master and crew of the tug Vulcan)
* The Maud Smith Award 1952 (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
       Douglas S Kirkaldie. Coxswain - 1952
* The Maud Smith Award 1985 (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1986
* The Maud Smith Award 1999 (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000
* The Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society Lady Swaythling Trophy
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000
* James Michael Bower Endowment Fund Award 1999 as one of the two Silver Medal awardees of 1999
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic -2000
* The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
       Thomas J H Cooper, Coxswain - 1968
       Michael Petts, crew member - 1975
       Timothy Hurst, crew member - 1975
       Malcolm H R Llewellyn - 1980
       Bryan L E Morgan - 1980 (Coxswain and Launch Seaman of the Trinity House Pilot Vessel Versatile)
       Timothy E Hurst, Helmsman - 1985
       Timothy Hurst, Emergency Mechanic - 2000
       Lance Oran, crew member - 2000
* A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
       R Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1983
       D Pegden, Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic - 1983
       D Cooper, Emergency Mechanic - 1983
       W Blay, crew member - 1983
       T Brown, crew member - 1983
       T Hurst, crew member - 1983
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1984
       D Pegden, 2nd Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic - 1984
       T Hurst, crew member - 1984
       M Mett, crew member - 1984
       N Stephens, crew member - 1984
       R Noble, crew member - 1984
       Timothy Hurst, crew member - 1984
       Ronald N Cannon, Coxswain/Mechanic - 2000
       Christopher Andrews, Helmsman - 2008
       Harvey Cole, crew member - 2008
       John Rabbatts, crew member - 2008
* Awarded by the Prudential Assurance Company donors of the lifeboat, in recognition of the Dunkirk service Inscribed Silver Plaques
       Coxswain and Crew - 1940
* Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
       Ronald N Cannon, Retired Coxswain/Mechanic - 2017
* Awarded by The King of Denmark Silver Medal
       Coxswain W Cooper - 1911
       The Master of the Tug Aid - 1911
* Awarded by The President of the United States of America
       Gold watch to the Coxswain- 1919
       Binoculars to the Second Coxswain - 1919
       Gold Medals to the Lifeboat Crew - 1919

## Ramsgate Lifeboats
### All-weather lifeboats

| ON | Op. No. | Name | In service | Class |
| – | – | Northumberland | 1851–1865 | Self-Righting |
| – | – | Friend | 1865–1866 | 29-foot 1in Self-Righting (P&S) |
| – | – | Bradford | 1866–1877 | 40-foot Self-Righting (P&S) |
| – | – | Bowman | 1877 | 44-foot Self-Righting (P&S) |
| – | – | Bradford | 1877–1887 | 44-foot Self-Righting (P&S) |
| 117 | – | Bradford | 1887–1893 | 40-foot Self-Righting (P&S) |
| 350 | – | Bradford | 1893–1905 | 42-foot Self-Righting (motor) |
| 537 | – | Charles and Susanna Stephens | 1905–1926 | 43-foot Self-Righting (P&S) |
| 697 | – | Prudential | 1925–1953 | Ramsgate |
| 901 | – | Michael and Lily Davis | 1953–1976 | 46ft 9in Watson |
| 1042 | 44-016 | Ralph and Joy Swann | 1976–1990 | Waveney |
| 1154 | 47-036 | Kenneth Thelwall II | 1990–1994 | Tyne |
| 1197 | 14-02 | Esme Anderson | 1994–2023 | Trent |
| 1303 | 16-23 | Diamond Jubilee | 2023– | Tamar |

### All-weather lifeboat gallery

* Trent Class Lifeboat Esme Anderson (ON-1197) at Ramsgate, 11 August 2009
* Trent Class Relief Lifeboat Corinne Whiteley (ON-1253) at Ramsgate, 4 April 2010

### Inshore lifeboats

| Op. No. | Name | In service | Class |
| A-500 (17-001) | Unnamed | 1969–1971 | A-class (Hatch) |
| A-502 (17-003) | Unnamed | 1972–1975 | A-class (Hatch) |
| A-510 (18-010) | Unnamed | 1975–1984 | A-class (McLachlan) |
| B-558 | Ramsgate Enterprise | 1984–2000 | B-class (Atlantic 21) |
| B-765 | Bob Turnbull | 2000–2014 | B-class (Atlantic 75) |
| B-878 | Claire & David Delves | 2014– | B-class (Atlantic 85) |
* ↑ 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.