# Newcastle Lifeboat Station

Newcastle Lifeboat Station is situated at South Promenade, Newcastle, a seaside town in County Down, located the foot of Slieve Donard, the highest of the Mourne Mountains, overlooking the Irish Sea, in the south east corner of Northern Ireland.
A lifeboat was first stationed at Newcastle in 1830 by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS). A station was re-established by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1854.
The station currently operates the All-weather Mersey-class lifeboat, 12-20 Leonard Kent (ON 1177), on station since 2022, and the smaller D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat Eliza (D-775), on station since 2014.

## History

In 1825, the newly formed County Down branch of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) established Rossglass Lifeboat Station, when an 18-foot lifeboat was placed at Rossglass, Co. Down.
Thomas Foy, Coxswain of the Rossglass Lifeboat, was awarded the RNIPLS Silver Medal, one of the earliest awarded, for putting out at 02:00 in a fishing boat with five men on 2 December 1825, and saving seven of the nine crew off the vessel Usk, on passage from Liverpool to Spain, when she was wrecked in a violent weather. Between 1825 and 1852, no less than 15 gallantry medals were awarded by the RNIPLS in the area.
A 24-foot lifeboat built by William Plenty of Newbury, Berkshire, costing £130, was placed at Arklow on 30 November 1826. Only 3½ years later, having never been launched on service, and at the recommendation of Capt. Samuel Sparshott, Deputy Inspector General of Coastguard, Newcastle Lifeboat Station was established in April 1830, when the boat was relocated there. No records have been found of any service, and in 1833, the station closed, and the boat was relocated again, this time to Skerries.
The Rossglass lifeboat station was closed in 1835, the lifeboat being relocated to St John's Point Lifeboat Station, just 2 miles (3.2 km) further down the headland, next to H.M. Coastguard station at St Johns Point, remaining there until 1843.
In 1843, the lifeboat was condemned and sold. No replacement was provided. The 1840s was a period of decline for the RNIPLS, with little income, and especially later, following the death in 1847 of the founder, Sir William Hillary, Bt.. However, under the direction of The Duke of Northumberland, appointed as president in 1851, the RNIPLS was resurrected, becoming the RNLI in 1854.
Newcastle Lifeboat Station was re-established in 1854 by the RNLI. A boathouse was provided by The Earl of Annesley MP. A 27-foot unnamed self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, arrived in 1854, but weighing two tons, was found to be too heavy for the location. The lifeboat was withdrawn the following year, later to be stationed at Castletown, and a replacement 26-foot unnamed boat arrived at Newcastle. In 1858, a larger 30-foot unnamed lifeboat was placed on station, this one serving until 1881, being named Reigate in 1868.
Reigate was launched to the aid of the schooner Rose on 26 February 1874, when she was wrecked in Dundrum Bay. One of the five crew was lost, but four were rescued. Coxswain James Hill, and Capt. Charles Grey-Jones, second assistant inspector of lifeboats, were each awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.
Reigate was replaced in 1881, by a new 34-foot lifeboat, Farnley (ON 283). A new boathouse was required, and was constructed at a cost of £425. The building, used until the 1930s, still stands on Downs Road, and is currently used by the Newcastle Elim Pentecostal Church.
On 15 March 1905, 20 lives were saved from the French barque Cannebiere, in a joint effort by the Newcastle lifeboat Farnley, and the tug Flying Irishman, in a service lasting over 14 hours. The vessel, on passage from Glasgow to New Caledonia, was sheltering from a storm in Dundrum Bay, but ran aground after dragging her anchor. John McCausland, Master of the tug, and Coxswain Superintendent James Foland of Newcastle lifeboat, were awarded a 'Gold Medal and Diploma' by the French Government, presented in 1906 by the Lord Mayor of Belfast, Sir Daniel Dixon, 1st Baronet.
A new station with slipway was constructed in 1936. This was followed by the arrival of a 35-foot Self-righting (motor) lifeboat, L. P. and St Helen (ON 703), built in 1927, and having previously served at Eastbourne and Boulmer.
In a remarkable period of service during World War II, Newcastle, and lifeboat L. P. and St Helen, would see three medal rescues carried out in a one-year period. Coxswain Patrick Murphy would receive the RNLI Bronze Medal for a service on 19 January 1941, to the vessel Hoperidge. Murphy would receive a Second-Service clasp just 9 days later, when 14 men were rescued off the vessel Sandhill, damaged by a Naval Mine. Mechanic Robert Agnew would also receive the RNLI bronze medal.
Just one year later, in an exceptionally daring and skilfull rescue, 39 people were rescued from the convoy steamship Browning, which had run aground on 21 January 1942, in a south-east gale near Ballyquintin. After several attempts to get close, the Coxswain manoeuvered the lifeboat through the rocks, and managed to get the 39 people aboard. Now dangerously overloaded, he took the boat out over a reef, judging the waves perfectly. With weather too poor to return home, the lifeboat made for Portavogie. Seven medals for gallantry were awarded, with Murphy being awarded the RNLI Gold Medal. He would also be awarded the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service (BEM).
In 1992, the RNLI would receive an extraordinary bequest, a sum of £4 million from the estate of Mrs Eugenie Boucher, specifically to be used for the construction of new boathouses. A native of Penza in Russia, eight so named 'Penza' boathouses would be constructed, including one for Newcastle. Built on the site of the tractor house and coastguard hut, the building was completed in August 1993. Then followed the arrival on 11 August 1993, of a new Mersey-class lifeboat, 12-29 Eleanor and Bryant Girling (ON 1188), funded from the bequest of Eleanor Bertha Girling.
On 24 January 1994, a D-class (EA16) Inshore lifeboat was placed on service for the season, for evaluation. A permanent D-class lifeboat was placed at the station on 19 May 1995. Initiated by Wing Cdr Mark Codgebrook, £11,000 had been raised by the personnel at the local RAF Station, and at a ceremony on 10 June 1995, Group Captain R. E. Wedge named the boat Aldergrove.
On 3 December 2014, Aldergrove II (D-637). a second boat funded by the personnel at RAF Aldergrove, was retired. Newcastle would receive the D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat Eliza (D-775), funded from the bequest of Mary Olga Illingworth, in memory of her mother.
Mersey-class lifeboat 12-29 Eleanor and Bryant Girling (ON 1188) was withdrawn to the relief fleet in 2022, and replaced with a slightly older Mersey-class lifeboat, 12-20 Leonard Kent (ON 1177), previously stationed at Margate. Soon after, in 2023, Newcastle would receive T121, the newest of the 31 Talus MB-H Crawler launch tractors, at just 19 years old.
From 28 October 2024, following the departure of 12-34 Freddie Cooper (ON 1193) from Aldeburgh, Newcastle, along with Douglas in the Isle of Man, will be just one of two RNLI stations still operating the Mersey-class lifeboat, and the last one using a carriage.

## Station honours

The following are awards made at Newcastle, Co. Down.
* RNIPLS Gold Medal
       Capt. J R Morris RN, H.M. Coastguard – 1826
       Capt. Philip R Browne, H.M. Coastguard – 1838
       Lt. Henry Frederick Sewell RN, H.M. Coastguard – 1840
* RNLI Gold Medal
       Patrick Murphy, Coxswain – 1942
* Gold Medal and Diploma, awarded by the French Government
       James Foland, Coxswain Superintendent – 1906
       John McCausland, Master of the tug Flying Irishman – 1906
* RNIPLS Silver Medal
       Thomas Foy – 1826
       Alexander Douglas, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard – 1826
       John Phillips – 1830
       Michael Casey – 1830
       John Strains, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard – 1837
       William Hogg, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard – 1837
       William Adair, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard – 1837
       Captain Philip R. M. Browne, H.M. Coastguard – 1837
       John Adam, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard – 1837
       George MacDonald, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard – 1840
       James Taylor, Commissioned Boatman, H.M. Coastguard – 1845
       James McCarthy, Chief Boatman, H.M. Coastguard – 1852
* RNLI Silver Medal
       Henry Boyd, Coastguardsman, H.M. Coastguard – 1860
       Capt. George Agar Ellis Ridge, RN, Inspecting Commander, H.M. Coastguard – 1860
       Capt. Charles Grey-Jones, Second Assistant Inspector of Lifeboats – 1874
       James Hill, Coxswain – 1874
       Cmdr. Orford Summerville Cameron, RN, H.M. Coastguard – 1877
       William Murphy, Second Coxswain – 1942
       Robert Agnew, Mechanic – 1942
* RNLI Bronze Medal
       Patrick Murphy, Coxswain – 1941
       Patrick Murphy, Coxswain – 1941 (Second-Service clasp)
       Robert Agnew, Mechanic – 1941
       William Leneghan, crew member – 1942
       Thomas McClelland, crew member – 1942
       Patrick McClelland, crew member – 1942
       Patrick Rooney, crew member – 1942
* The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
       Patrick McClelland, Coxswain – 1955
       John Lowry, Helm – 1998
* A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
       Mark Poland, crew member – 1998
       Brendan Rooney, crew member – 1998
       Mr Ian Williamson – 1998
       Newcastle Lifeboat Station – 2005
* Royal Human Society Bravery Award
       Gerald Murphy, Motor Mechanic – 1966
* Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service (BEM)
       Patrick Murphy, Coxswain – 1942
* Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
       Hugh Patrick Paul, Boathouse Manager – 2006NYH
       John Francis Morgan, Coxswain – 2010NYH

## Newcastle lifeboats

| ON | Op. No. | Name | On Station | Class | Comments |
| Pre-123 | – | Unnamed | 1830–1833 | 24-foot Norfolk and Suffolk | |
| Pre-279 | – | Unnamed | 1854–1855 | 27-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| Pre-296 | – | Unnamed | 1855–1859 | 26-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| Pre-331 | – | Unnamed, Reigate | 1858–1868 1868–1881 | 30-foot Self-righting (P&S) | Named Reigate in 1868 |
| 283 | – | Farnley | 1881–1906 | 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| 556 | – | Marianne | 1906–1917 | 35-foot Self-righting (P&S) | |
| 660 | – | John Cleland | 1917–1932 | 35-foot Self-righting Rubie (P&S) | |
| 553 | – | John | 1933–1937 | 35-foot Liverpool (P&S) | |
| 703 | – | L. P. and St Helen | 1937–1949 | 35-foot Self-righting (motor) | |
| 870 | – | William and Laura | 1949–1980 | Liverpool | |
| 974 | 37-07 | Jane Hay | 1980–1992 | Oakley | |
| 942 | 37-01 | J. G. Graves of Sheffield | 1992–1993 | Oakley | |
| 1188 | 12-29 | Eleanor and Bryant Girling | 1993–2022 | Mersey | |
| 1177 | 12-20 | Leonard Kent | 2022– | Mersey | |
    Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.

### Inshore lifeboats

| Op.No. | Name | On Station | Class |
| D-333 | Unnamed | 1994 | D-class (EA16) |
| D-478 | Aldergrove | 1995–2005 | D-class (EA16) |
| D-637 | Aldergrove II | 2005–2014 | D-class (IB1) |
| D-775 | Eliza | 2014– | D-class (IB1) |

### Launch and recovery tractors

| Op. No. | Reg. No. | Type | On Station |
| T7 | AF 4215 | Clayton | 1924–1932 |
| T44 | KGJ 57 | Case LA | 1949–1958 |
| T45 | KGJ 58 | Case LA | 1958–1963 |
| T53 | KXT 421 | Case LA | 1963–1967 |
| T44 | KGJ 57 | Case LA | 1967–1969 |
| T50 | KLA 84 | Case LA | 1969–1977 |
| T59 | OJJ 866 | Fowler Challenger III | 1977–1985 |
| T61 | PLA 561 | Fowler Challenger III | 1985–1988 |
| T104 | E269 YUJ | Talus MB-H Crawler | 1988–1999 |
| T119 | N470 XAW | Talus MB-H Crawler | 1999–2006 |
| T118 | M224 SNT | Talus MB-H Crawler | 2006–2022 |
| T120 | P514 HAW | Talus MB-H Crawler | 2022–2023 |
| T121 | DX04 YZG | Talus MB-H Crawler | 2023– |
* ↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
* 1 2 3 Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.