page_title: Appledore Lifeboat Station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Appledore Lifeboat Station / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Two lifeboats moored at the Royal National Lifeboat Institution's moorings in Poole, Dorset, England. In front is the Appledore Lifeboat, Tyne Class 47-027 George Gibson. Behind is Severn Class 17-46 Margaret Joan and Fred Nye, part of the RNLI's relief fleet.
context_page_description: Appledore Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution search and rescue operations at Appledore, Devon in the United Kingdom. The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1825 and the present station was opened in 2001. It operates a Tamar-class all weather boat and an Atlantic 75 B Class inshore lifeboat.
context_section_description: The Bideford District Association of the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (as it was then known) introduced a lifeboat service in February 1825. The boat was kept in the King's Watch House at Appledore. In 1831 the work was taken over by the Devon Humane Society and they built a new boat house at Watertown, half a mile nearer the sea. This was large enough for two boats and a second one arrived in December that year but in 1848 was transferred to a second boat house at Braunton Burrows on the opposite side of the estuary. It was easier to launch from here to help ships on that side of the water but crews for lifeboats at Braunton Burrows always came from Appledore. A third station was built at Northam Burrows to the west of Appledore in 1851. This was expanded to house a second boat in 1856 and the old boat house at Watertown eventually lost its boats.
  The two stations were remote from Appledore where the crews lived. With the development of boats that could be more easily sailed (rather than just rowed) a new boat house was built at Badstep in 1889 to replace Northam Burrows. During World War I it became difficult to find the horses and men necessary for launching boats at Braunton Burrows so it too was closed temporarily in 1918 but this became permanent the following year. The first motor lifeboat arrived on station in 1922. In 1938 a Watson, the Violet Armstrong, replaced the earlier, smaller, boat and had to be kept moored afloat as it did not fit in the boat house. Instead a small boarding boat was kept in it and used to ferry the crew out to the lifeboat. The new lifeboat had a shallower draught than was usual for a Watson Class and also had her stern strengthened, both modifications to help crossing the shallow water at the mouth of the estuary.
  An inshore lifeboat has been stationed at Appledore since 1972 and is kept in the boathouse with the boarding boat. The boat house had a new crew room installed at first-floor level in 1980 but was demolished in 2000 and a new station opened the following year.
caption: 47-027 George Gibson was stationed at Appledore from 1988 to 2010. It is seen here on a visit to the RNLI Depot at Poole in front of a larger Severn-class boat
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