# Tramore Lifeboat Station

Tramore Lifeboat Station is located on The Cove, near The Pier at Newtown, a suburb of Tramore, a seaside town in County Waterford, approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) south of Waterford, on the south coast of Ireland.
A lifeboat station was first established at Tramore in 1858 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
The station currently operates the D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat, Isabella Purchase (D-781), on station since 2015.

## History

Ever since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved.
On 25 November 1835, the RNIPLS Silver Medal was awarded to farmer Pat Coffey, when he rode his horse out in the surf, to get a line to the French schooner Les Deux Soeurs, wrecked in Tramore Bay on passage from Nice to Rouen. All the crew were saved.
The vessel Prince Regent was wrecked in Tramore Bay on 22 June 1839, whilst on passage from Newport, Wales to New York, Coastguard boatman John Weblin swam out through the surf, to get a line to the ship, and all 40 crew and passengers were saved. Weblin was also awarded the RNIPLS Silver Medal.
When the French vessel Capricieux ran aground at Tramore on 25 January 1858, whilst on passage from Llanelli to Saint-Malo, one crew man was lost, and two local fishermen, John Fitzgerald and Thomas Crotty, were drowned, when their small boat capsized while trying to effect a rescue. This was finally the catalyst for the local residents of Tramore to appeal to the RNLI, for a lifeboat to be placed at Tramore.
A local committee was established, for the management of the station, and to undertake the necessary local fundraising. A 30-foot 6-oared unnamed self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was placed at Tramore in 1858, along with a carriage for transportation. A boathouse was constructed at Lady Elizabeth's Cove.
Between 1861 and 1875, no fewer than 11 RNLI Silver Medals for gallantry were awarded at Tramore:
* 17 February 1861 (4), for the rescue of the crew of the brig San Spiridione.
* 22 January 1862 (2), when 24 people were saved from the ship Queen of Commerce.
* 3 December 1866 (1), for the rescue of the crew of five from the schooner Jane.
* 12 January 1868 (2), for the rescue of 21 people of the ship Oasis.
* 7 October 1869, a Third-Service clasp was awarded to Coxswain Richard O Johns in recogniton of his long service.
* 3 January 1875, (1), when seven men were saved from the schooner Fanny.
Alterations costing £390 were completed at the boathouse in 1894, but in 1899, due to the sea encroaching on the boathouse, the lifeboat was relocated to a new building on Long House Lane in the Riverstown district of Tramore. The station building still exists, the road now being Riverstown Road. The area around the old boathouse at Lady Elizabeth's Cove was later protected, when a new pier of grey limestone slabs with a concrete capping was built in 1907, with a north wall added later.
The Tramore lifeboat station was closed temporarily in 1921. In 1923, the lifeboat on station, Robert and Ellen Robson (ON 669), was removed, and allocated to Aberdeen No.2 Lifeboat Station. Tramore Lifeboat Station closed officially in 1924, after a motor-powered lifeboat was placed at Dunmore East, approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the east.
After service at Tramore, Aberdeen and Whitby, the Robert and Ellen Robson (ON 669) was fully restored, and now takes pride of place at the RNLI Museum in Whitby.

## Inshore station

In 1964, in response to an increasing amount of water-based leisure activity, the RNLI placed 25 small fast Inshore lifeboats around the shores of the UK and Ireland. These were easily launched with just a few people, ideal to respond quickly to local emergencies.
More stations were opened, and in June 1965, the lifeboat station at Tramore was re-established back at Lady Elizabeth's Cove, with the arrival of a D-class (RFD PB16) Inshore lifeboat, the unnamed (D-74).
"The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum" were accorded, in 1973, to Frank Partridge, Sean Walsh and David Kenneally, for the rescue of a boy stranded on rocks in Ronan's Bay, and in 1977, to Noel Power, for the attempt to rescue a man who had fallen from a cliff. Doctor Hugh O'Brien-Moran was accorded a special Doctor's Vellum, for his efforts on the same occasion in 1977.
A new larger boathouse was constructed in 1996, further up the road from the small harbour, additionally providing up-to-date crew facilities. From 28 November 1996, the Inshore boat was placed on service all-year-round.
Helm Paul Tuohy was accorded "The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum", for the rescue of a surfer on 6 June 1997.

## Station honours

The following are awards made at Tramore.
* RNIPLS Silver Medal
       Pat Coffey, farmer - 1835
       John Weblin, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard - 1839
* RNLI Silver Medal
       James Budd, Honorary Secretary - 1861
       Richard O. Johns, Coxswain - 1861
       William Morris Reade - 1861
       Alfred Stephens, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard - 1861
       John Donovan, Chief Boatman, H.M. Coastguard - 1862
       James Gough, fisherman - 1862
       William Nelson, RN, commanding H.M. Coastguard Cruiser Eliza - 1867
       Richard O. Johns, Coxswain - 1868 (Second-Service clasp)
       Martin Norris - 1868
       Richard O. Johns, Coxswain - 1869 (Third-Service clasp)
       Stephen Pilcher, Coxswain - 1875
* The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
       Frank Partridge, Helm - 1973
       Sean Walsh, crew member - 1973
       David Kenneally, crew member - 1973
       Noel I. Power, Helm - 1977
       Paul Tuohy, Helm - 1997
* A special certificate on Vellum
       Doctor Hugh O'Brien-Moran - 1977
* Vellum service certificate
       John D. Palmer, crew member - 1977
* A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
       Garda John Lawton - 1977

## Tramore lifeboats

| ON | Name | Built | In service | Class |
| Pre-333 | Unnamed | 1858 | 1858–1865 | 30-foot Self-righting (P&S) |
| Pre-430 | Tom Egan | 1865 | 1865–1880 | 32-foot Self-righting (P&S) |
| Pre-650 | Alfred Trower | 1880 | 1880–1890 | 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) |
| 280 | Henley | 1889 | 1889–1893 | 30-foot 3in Whaleboat (P&S) |
| 346 | Henley | 1892 | 1893–1918 | 32-foot Watson (P&S) |
| 669 | Robert and Ellen Robson | 1918 | 1918–1923 | 34-foot Self-righting (Rubie) (P&S) |
    Station Closed, 1924
    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 | In service | Class |
| D-74 | Unnamed | 1965–1967 | D-class (RFD PB16) |
| D-163 | Unnamed | 1968–1978 | D-class (RFD PB16) |
| D-179 | Unnamed | 1978–1979 | D-class (RFD PB16) |
| D-269 | Unnamed | 1980–1988 | D-class (RFD PB16) |
| D-375 | Alice | 1988–1996 | D-class (EA16) |
| D-511 | Margaret | 1996–2005 | D-class (EA16) |
| D-643 | Tra Mhor | 2005–2015 | D-class (IB1) |
| D-781 | Isabella Purchase | 2015– | D-class (IB1) |
* ↑ 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.