# Abersoch Lifeboat Station

Abersoch Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Abersoch in Gwynedd, Wales. A station was opened in 1869 but was moved to become Penrhyndhu Lifeboat Station from 1894 until 1931. An inshore lifeboat station was opened in Abersoch in 1965 and moved into its present building in 1994. It operates an Atlantic 85 lifeboat.

## History

The RNLI opened a lifeboat station on the north side of the bay at Abersoch in 1869. It was moved to a new site on the south side of the bay in 1894 and was then known as Penryndhu. This boathouse was extended in 1897 by the addition of a watch room. The station was closed in 1931 when a motor lifeboat was stationed at Pwllheli which could cover the coast around Abersoch. The 1894 building still stands and is known as the 'old lifeboat station'.
The RNLI started to provide Inshore Lifeboats (ILBs) in the 1960s and a D-class was sent to Abersoch in 1965, a new lifeboat station being established for it. Similar boats were used at Abersoch until 1978 when the station was upgraded to use larger and faster B-class lifeboats. The boathouse was extended in 1987 so that the tractor could be kept coupled to the trolley on which the lifeboat was launched.
A new lifeboat station with improved crew facilities was built in 1994.

## Service awards

Just a few months after the station opened it was proving its worth. On a night in January 1870 the lifeboat was launched to save the crew of the Kenilworth which had run aground while carrying a cargo of tobacco and cotton. It took three hours for the lifeboat crew to row through the storm to reach the wreck but 13 men were saved. Owen Lloyd Williams was awarded an RNLI Silver Medal for his part in the rescue. In 1879 he was awarded a second-service clasp for his medal for his 'intrepid services' at both Abersoch and nearby Porthdinllaen Lifeboat Station.
The inshore lifeboat crews have been recognised for several difficult rescues. On 25 June 1972 the Abersoch and Pwllheli lifeboats rescued two people from rocks at Cilan Head using a breeches buoy. The Abersoch crew were given framed letters of thanks from the RNLI's chairman. More of these were presented to the three crew involved in rescuing a climber who fell 35 35 m (38 yd) from cliffs into the sea on 13 April 1977.
A girl and her dog were rescued from a rock on 26 October 2000. The operation was carried out after dark and in rough seas. Lifeboat helm Richard Hughes and crew member Simon Harris were presented with the 'Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum'. Barrie Duncan McGill was awarded the MBE by the Queen in 2009 for his services to the RNLI.

## Abersoch lifeboats
### Pulling and sailing lifeboats

| At Abersoch | ON | Name | Built | Class | Comments |
| 1869–1892 | 237 | Mabel Louisa | 1869 | Self-righter | |
| 1892–1904 | 335 | Oldham | 1894 | Self-righter | Transferred to Wick and withdrawn in 1913. |
| 1904–1930 | 530 | Oldham | 1904 | Watson | Sold and converted to a yacht named Grey Dawn. |
| 1930–1931 | 581 | Maria Stephenson | 1907 | Watson | Previously stationed at Buckie and Moelfre; sold in 1936. |

### Inshore lifeboats

| At Abersoch | Op. No. | Name | Class | Model | Comments |
| 1965–1968 | D-70 | — | D | RFD PB16 | |
| 1968–1970 | D-12 | — | D | RFD PB16 | First stationed at Aberdovey in 1963. |
| 1971–1977 | D-192 | — | D | RFD PB16 | |
| 1978–1990 | B-540 | Wolverhampton | B | Atlantic 21 | |
| 1990–2002 | B-582 | Borough of Solihull | B | Atlantic 21 | |
| 2002–2015 | B-790 | Margaret Bench of Solihull | B | Atlantic 75 | |
| 2015– | B-886 | Peter and Ann Setten | B | Atlantic 85 | |