Brighton Lifeboat Station

Brighton Lifeboat Station is located in the seaside town of Brighton in the county of East Sussex.

The station is located in the marina area of Brighton and is co-ordinated from H.M. Coastguard at Lee-on-Solent. Being an inshore station, the majority of the station's services are within two miles of the station. The station is called to an average of sixty rescues a year.

A lifeboat was first placed at Brighton in 1809. A lifeboat station was first established by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) in 1825, operating until 1837. Then followed a succession of privately operated lifeboats, some continuing in service until 1932. A new lifeboat station was opened by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1858, which was in operation until 1931.

Brighton Lifeboat Station was re-opened in 1965 as an Inshore lifeboat station. It currently operates a B-class Inshore lifeboat, Random Harvest (B-852), on station since 2011.

History
The first lifeboat to be placed at Brighton was a 22-foot long lifeboat, one of 31 built by Henry Greathead of South Shields, from his design of 1789 known as the Original. It had been placed at Newhaven in 1803, but this type of lifeboat was designed to work in the shallow waters off the east coast of England, and was not well liked at Newhaven.

Previously funded by Mr. John Godlee, with a £50 donation from Lloyd's of London, and with both parties in agreement, the boat was transferred to Brighton, arriving in 1909. No service records have been found, other than in 1816, the boat was reported to have 'rotted away'.

The Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), the forerunner of the RNLI, first opened a lifeboat station in Brighton in 1825. The lifeboat for this station was kept in a cave, close to the Chain Pier. The service operated from this cave until 1837, when the construction of the Madeira sea-wall and Madeira Drive was completed. At that time, the RNIPLS lifeboat was withdrawn.

However, 1837 saw the introduction of a series of private lifeboats, operated by Brighton Humane Society, Brighton Town Council, and Mr. John Wright, the latter using a boat formerly operated by the Humane Society.

1857–1932
In 1854, the RNIPLS became the RNLI. Following a public meeting in Brighton in 1857, the RNLI agreed to establish a new lifeboat station at Brighton. A 30-foot Self-righting 'pulling and sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was ordered from Forrestt of Limehouse. After trials on the Regent's Canal on 17 June 1858, the boat, and its new carriage, were transported to Brighton free of charge by the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, arriving in July 1858. An Arch under the east promenade was provided as a boathouse by Brighton Town Council for a peppercorn rent of one-shilling per annum. The lifeboat, which was never named, made only 3 launches on service.

The RNLI provided a new boat for Brighton in 1867. Funded from money raised by Sunday School children, the lifeboat was named Robert Raikes after the philanthropist and Anglican layman. 24,000 children were present when the boat was formally handed to the RNLI at the Agricultural Hall, in Islington. A new boathouse, with a flat roof, was constructed on the beach, opposite the Bedford Hotel, close to the West Pier. Under the terms of the lease, the flat roof "had to be made available for local Band Concerts".



The 1867 boathouse would be in use for just 20 years. In 1885, much of the beach was washed away, and new groynes were installed to recapture the sand. This created much difficulty when trying to launch the lifeboat, so two arches, No. 109 and No. 110, in the newly created western promenade, were leased to the RNLI. One was used for storage, and the other to house the new 34-foot lifeboat which arrived in 1888. Sunlight No.2 (ON 145) was one of two lifeboats funded from a 'Sunlight Soap Competition' by Lever Brothers, Sunlight No.1 (ON 124) being placed at Llandudno. Arch No. 111 was used to house the Brighton Town Council lifeboat John Whittingham.

In 1929, heavy silting at the entrance to Shoreham harbour disappeared, and the RNLI re-opened the Shoreham Harbour Lifeboat Station, with a motor-powered lifeboat. The Brighton RNLI lifeboat William Wallis (ON 539) was withdrawn on 7 July 1931, and the RNLI station closed. The Brighton Town Council boat John Whittingham was withdrawn in 1932.

1965 - Inshore lifeboats
In 1965, the RNLI re-opened the lifeboat station at Brighton, placing a fast Inshore D-class lifeboat (D-39) on service, in response to the huge increase in all forms of water activity. The Inshore boat could be launched quickly with two or three people, and didn't need a crew of seven or eight men, and multiple shore crew to help launch the boat. The boat, which cost £650, had been funded by the customers of 'The Rising Sun' public-house in London, and was kept in one of the promenade arches. It was replaced in 1970 by D-178. The Inshore station closed temporarily in 1974 due to the construction of Brighton Marina.

In 1978 the station re-opened at the new Brighton Marina, where a pontoon was provided for the RNLI at the cost of £10,000. A McLachlan-class lifeboat (A-509) was placed on service until the Atlantic 21 Lions International (B-539) became fully operational in 1979.

In 1981 a permanent boathouse was constructed and a temporary shelter was installed on the nearby quayside to house the crew facilities. This new permanent station was the RNLI's first floating lifeboat station.

In 1997 the station was provided with a larger B-class lifeboat called Thelma Glossop (B-737), arriving on the station on 1 July 1997.

1999 and 2014 improvements
In 1999 work began on the construction of new shore facilities for the station on the quayside within the marina. The work was completed in 2000 at a cost of £299,775.

In January 2014, the station's facilities were closed and the station moved to temporary accommodation nearby. The 2000 building was demolished as part of the £235 million re-development and expansion of the Brighton Marina.

Atlantic 75-class lifeboat Thelma Glossop (B-737) was transferred to Loch Ness in 2011, where she served for another 2 years. A new Atlantic 85-class lifeboat, Random Harvest (B-852) was placed on service on 8 September 2011.

Station honours
The following are awards made at Brighton


 * RNLI Gold Medal
 * Captain Digby Marsh, RN, coastguard, - 1840


 * RNLI Silver Medal
 * Charles Watts - 1824


 * Lt. Edward Franklin, RN, coastguard - 1838


 * Lt. George Franklyn, RN, coastguard - 1839


 * Lt. Nathaniel Newnham, RN, coastguard - 1840
 * Lt. Thomas Henry Prior, RN, coastguard - 1840
 * Lt. James Pratt, RN, coastguard - 1840


 * Richard Pearce, Helmsman - 1996


 * Bronze Medal
 * Martin Ebdell, crew member - 1996
 * Edward Purches, crew member - 1996


 * The Maud Smith Award 1995 (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
 * Richard Pearce, Helmsman - 1996


 * The Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award 1995 (for the outstanding inshore lifeboat rescue of the year)
 * Richard Pearce, Helmsman - 1996
 * Edward Purches, crew member - 1996
 * Martin Ebdell, crew member - 1996


 * The Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award 1997 (for the outstanding inshore lifeboat rescue of the year)
 * Mark Smith, Helmsman - 1998
 * Mark Hayes, crew member - 1998


 * The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
 * Thomas Atherall, Coxswain - 1875


 * Alan John Young, Helmsman - 1986
 * Roger George Cohen, crew member - 1986
 * Stanley Todd, crew member - 1986


 * Mark Smith, Helmsman - 1997
 * Mark Hayes, crew member - 1997


 * Mark Smith, Helmsman - 2011


 * A framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * G Wheeler - 1967
 * P Avey - 1967
 * E C Newman - 1967


 * Brighton Lifeboat Station - 1996


 * Mr Peter Apps, Auxiliary Coastguard - 1996
 * Mr Nick Gilbert, Auxiliary Coastguard - 1996


 * Berenice McCall, crew member - 1997
 * Anthony Parsons, crew member - 1997


 * Marcus Morris, crew member - 2011


 * Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * Roger George Cohen - 2022

Roll of honour
In memory of those lost whilst serving Brighton lifeboat.


 * On call to the brig Atlantique on 2 June 1860
 * John Laker (43), Shore helper, killed after falling under the lifeboat carriage wheel.

RNIPLS / RNLI lifeboats

 * All-Weather lifeboat withdrawn, station closed in 1931
 * Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.