# Campbeltown Lifeboat Station

Campbeltown Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat at Campbeltown in Argyll, Scotland. It opened in 1861 and today operates both inshore and all-weather lifeboats.

## History

There were few lifeboats in south west Scotland in the 1850s but the RNLI stationed one at Campbeltown in 1861. The cost was paid by Lady Murray of Edinburgh, the cost of the boat, carriage and boathouse came to £431. The local committee also managed a second station from 1869. This was known as Southend at Dunaverty Bay. A new boathouse was built at Campbeltown in 1898, this time costing £885; the old one was demolished and the site handed back to the land owner.
A second, smaller lifeboat was added to the station in 1910 but it was never used before it was withdrawn in 1931, the year after the second station at Southend was closed. The larger 'pulling and sailing' lifeboat was replaced by a motor lifeboat in 1912.
A D-class inshore lifeboat (ILB) was trialed at Campbeltown in 1992 and a permanent ILB was provided from 1994. A new boathouse was built for this in 1996, the ILB being garaged on the ground floor with crew and other facilities for boat lifeboats on the upper floor.

## Service awards

The Norwegian barque Argo was wrecked near Macharioch on the morning of 27 February 1903. The lifeboat James Stevens No. 2 put out into the gale but a steam tug came to its aid and towed it as close to the wreck as was possible. The lifeboat's coxswain took the boat through shallow rocks to rescue nine of the crew just before the wreck broke up, the other two having gone ashore to get help but were drowned when they tried to return. The tug towed the lifeboat back to Campbeltown. Each of the lifeboat crew were given a medal and diploma by the Norwegian government. 1903 Norwegian medals
Two services during World War II resulted in the award of RNLI medals to Campbeltown lifeboat crews. The first was for saving 44 crew from the Dutch mv Mobeka on 19 January 1942. Coxswain James Thomson was given an RNLI silver medal and the British Empire Medal while RNLI bronze medals were awarded to the rest of the crew: Duncan Newlands, Duncan Black, Hubert Lister, Joseph McGeachy, Duncan Mclean, Neil Speed and James Lang. Duncan Newlands was the Second Coxswain at the time but on 16 March 1946 was the lifeboat's Coxswain when he was given a second bronze award. This time the lifeboat, which had damaged its rudder and suffered an engine breakdown, saved 54 people from the American ss Byron Darnton after it ran aground on Sanda Island. Duncan Black, the lifeboat's mechanic, received the 'Thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum' for his work.
A trawler, the Erlo Hills, with 14 people on board broke down and was blown ashore in a Force 9 storm on 2 October 1981. After the Campbeltown lifeboat was at sea it was discovered that the casualty was near Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland. This is in the area of the Portrush lifeboat but it was decided to allow the Scottish lifeboat to complete its mission. The Erlo Hills was towed away from the shore but the crew were reluctant to abandon ship. They did eventually transfer to the lifeboat, a difficult thing in waves 10 ft (3.0 m) high, and taken to Campbeltown. Coxswain/Mechanic Alexander Gilchrist was awarded an RNLI silver medal.
Coxswain John Stewart was awarded a bronze medal for a difficult rescue on the night of 29 November 2001. The fishing boat Sincerity's engine failed and it hit rocks 70 m (77 yd) off Ardlamont Point, some 30 miles (48 km) from Campbeltown. The two people on board tried to launch their life raft but the wind tore it away. Two closer lifeboat stations, at Tighnabruaich and Arran, were unable to help as the weather conditions were too rough for their Atlantic 75 inshore lifeboats so Campbeltown's All-weather lifeboat set out. Once it arrived at the scene it took more than an hour to effect the rescue in the dark and amid the high waves.
The ss Gracehill ran aground on Sanda Island in fog on the night of 8 March 1957 so the lifeboat was launched. Visibility was less than 50 yd (46 m) but two fishing boats were able to help the lifeboat navigate as they could see it on their radar and give them instructions by radio. The 10 crew of the Gracehill had taken to the ships boats by the time the lifeboat reached the scene, and were sheltering behind the wreck. They were taken aboard the lifeboat which then made its way slowly back to port through the fog, arriving nearly 7 hours it had set out. The 'Thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum' was given to Duncan Newlands, the coxswain who had won two bronze awards during the war.
The 'Thanks of the Institution inscribed on vellum' was presented to Coxswain/Mechanic Alexander Gilchrist for rescuing a crew of three from the John Hannah VC in a Force 6 on 30 September 1988. The same award was made to Coxswain Jim McPhee for leading the rescue of the single person who was trapped on the Gille Brighde when it capsized on 29 March 1995. A 'Framed letter of thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution' was given to Acting Coxswain John D Stewart for his leadership when the lifeboat went to aid the yacht Ra that was lost in thick fog on 6 July 1991.

## Campbeltown lifeboats

| At Campbeltown | ON | Op. No. | Name | Class | Built | Comments |
| 1861–1876 | – | – | Lord Murray | Peake | 1861 | |
| 1876–1888 | – | – | Princess Louise | Self-Righter | 1876 | |
| 1888–1898 | 148 | – | Mary Adelaide Harrison | Self-Righter | 1888 | |
| 1898–1912 | 413 | – | James Stevens No. 2 | Liverpool | 1898 | |
| 1910–1931 | 481 | – | Richard Cresswell | Whale Boat | 1902 | Previously stationed at Poolbeg, it was only used as a boarding boat at Campbeltown although it was maintained as a second lifeboat. |
| 1912–1929 | 620 | – | William MacPherson | Watson | 1937 | Campbeltown's first motor lifeboat. After Campbeltown it was stationed at Aldeburgh and Pwllheli until 1940 and then used as a yacht until 1999. |
| 1929–1953 | 720 | – | City of Glasgow | Barnett | 1929 | [20] [21] |
| 1953–1979 | 899 | – | City of Glasgow II | Barnett | 1953 | |
| 1979-1999 | 1059 | 52-12 | Walter and Margaret Couper | Arun | 1979 | Sold in 2001, now used as a pleasure boat in Russia. |
| 1999– | 1241 | 17-19 | Ernest and Mary Shaw | Severn | 1999 | |
* 17-19 Ernest and Mary Shaw

### Inshore lifeboats

| At Campbeltown | Op. No. | Name | Class | Model |
| 1992 | D-399 | Bertha | D | EA16 |
| 1993 | D-403 | City of Peterborough | D | EA16 |
| 1994–2001 | D-455 | Spirit of Kintyre | D | EA16 |
| 2001–2010 | D-571 | Three Brothers | D | EA16 |
| 2010–2020 | D-737 | Alistair Greenless | D | IB1 |
| 2010– | D-870 | Leonard Mills | D | IB1 |