Douglas Lifeboat Station

Douglas Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station located in Douglas, capital of the Isle of Man.

Douglas and the Isle of Man holds a special place in the history of the RNLI, previously the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, as this was the home of its founder, Sir William Hillary, 1st Baronet, 1771–1847.

The first Douglas lifeboat was funded by the Duke of Atholl, Governor of the Isle of Man, and arrived in 1802.

A lifeboat station operated by the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck was opened in 1825. 47-032 Sir William Hillary Tyne-class lifeboat

History
In 1802, a lifeboat was provided to Douglas by the John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl, Governor of the Isle of Man. She was an 8-oared 25-foot-long boat costing £130, named Atholl, and was one of 31 lifeboats built by Henry Greathead. There are no records of any service by the boat. The boat was kept out in the open on the beach, and was washed away and wrecked in a storm of December 1814.

On 6 October 1822, the Royal Naval Ship Vigilant was wrecked on the Conister Rock (later the location of the Tower of Refuge), and it was only due to the daring actions of Sir William Hillary, Bt. and a group of volunteers, using local boats, that 97 men were rescued.

Having witnessed many wrecks and loss of life whilst living in Douglas, and now inspired by the events of 1822, Hillary published his Appeal to the Nation in 1823. He gained the support of his philanthropic friends in London Society.

A public meeting was held at the City of London Tavern, Bishopgate on 4 March 1824, with attendees including the archbishop of Canterbury, various MPs, and high-profile public figures such as William Wilberforce and sea rescue expert Capt. George William Manby FRS. It was resolved to form the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck.

The Institution was granted royal patronage by King George IV on 20 March 1824, thus becoming the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck. Prime Minister Robert Jenkinson was made president, with Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Charles Manners-Sutton becoming vice-president. Hillary was awarded an honorary Gold Medal as founder.

In August 1824, Hillary requested of the Institution, that a new lifeboat station be established at Douglas. The request was approved, and an order for a boat, the first lifeboat ordered by the Institution, was placed with William Plenty of Newbury, previously the winner of a lifeboat-design competition. He provided a 20-foot lifeboat, named Nestor, which arrived in Douglas in early October 1825.

However, also following the events of October 1822, a group of marine insurance companies including Lloyd's of London had already agreed in April 1824 to fund a new lifeboat for Douglas. She was a 29-foot North Country type, built by Wake of Sunderland, and cost £112. She arrived in Douglas in November 1824, 11 months before the Institution boat, and was named True Blue.

It may be that Nestor suffered a very short career. On her first and only recorded service, to the vessel City of Glasgow in trouble in Douglas Bay, Nestor was driven onto the rocks on her return trip and badly damaged, although the 15 people rescued from the ship and the lifeboat crew made it safely ashore.

There are conflicting reports of exactly which lifeboats were in service at Douglas after this time. Certainly the True Blue remained in service for many years until 1851, with many heroic and medal-winning services performed. Hillary requested that new stations be set up in Peel (1828) and Ramsey (1829), and a new boat for Peel was ordered from Taylor of Blackwall. Another boat was ordered locally, a 29-foot 10-oared Palmer-type boat, from boat builder Robert Oates of Douglas. Whilst one report shows that this boat was being built for Ramsey, another report indicates that Ramsey's boat was actually built by Harton of London and transported to Ramsey aboard HM Cutter Industry, arriving on 20 February 1829.

A Glasgow boat, Eclipse, ran aground in Douglas Bay in January 1830. Hillary, along with lifeboat coxswain Isaac Vondy and crew, took the unfinished boat from Robert Oates's yard and launched to her aid. In extreme circumstances, with the lifeboat still missing air-cases, causing her to carry excess water from the pounding waves, everyone was safely recovered. Hillary received his second Gold Medal for gallantry.

In 1833, RNLI records show two Douglas lifeboats in service. One was the True Blue, but it is unclear as to the identity of the second boat – maybe the unnamed boat from Robert Oates, or possibly the Nestor, which may have been repaired. By 1843, just True Blue was reported to be in service at Douglas.

A period of decline followed the death of Hillary in 1847, the driving force behind the Institution on the island. A report of 1851 records the True Blue as unservicable. The Institution decided to commission a 24-foot Peake-class lifeboat from Wallis of Blackwall, to be named Sir William Hillary, Bt., and by May 1853, it was reported as ready. But no records show any service by this boat, or indeed that it was ever delivered to Douglas.

In 1866, the RNLI resolved to form a new lifeboat station at Douglas. A new boathouse was built on Harris promenade, at the corner of Church Road, and a 32-foot self-righting lifeboat was commissioned with Forrestt of Limehouse, London, costing £246.

£325 was received from the Manchester and Salford Sunday School Fund, which covered the cost of the boat, plus all kit and equipment, and the launching carriage. On 6 February 1868, the boat was transported by rail to Manchester, and paraded through the streets to Peel Park, Salford, where she was greeted by about 10,000 Sunday-school children and parents and was named Manchester and Salford Sunday School.

In 1872, William Curphey took over as coxswain. However, when a launch in September 1873 failed to rescue 3 men from drowning, he resigned, citing that the boathouse was in the wrong location, which had caused unnecessary delays in launching.

The RNLI subsequently decided to place a second boat at the harbour, to be kept afloat at its moorings, and creating a No. 2 station. This boat arrived in 1874, and was named John Turner-Turner in the memory of the late husband of Mrs Turner-Turner of Ringwood, Hampshire, who had provided the funds for the boat.

The No. 1 station effectively closed when the boat house on Harris promenade was sold to Douglas Corporation in 1892, although the No. 1 boat Thomas Rose (ON 191) was still in service, and kept under a tarpaulin at the quay. A severe storm of December 1895 caused the No. 2 boat, by then Civil Service No. 6 (ON 273), to break her moorings, and she was wrecked on the rocks. She was withdrawn from service, and No. 2 station closed.

Following a meeting between the RNLI and Douglas Harbour Commissioners, a new boat house on the Battery Quay was commissioned, along with a slipway. A replacement boat was also ordered, another 42-foot 12-oared self-righting boat, built by Rutherford's of Birkenhead. Costing £618, she was also named Civil Service No.6 (ON 384), arriving in Douglas on 5 June 1896. The entire cost was met by the Civil Service Fund. Thomas Rose was withdrawn from service.

In 1920, the RNLI announced that a new motor-powered lifeboat would be provided for Douglas. A new lifeboat house and slipway was constructed, mounted on piles built in the harbour in front of the existing boathouse, and costing £10,000. The lifeboat was a 45-foot Watson class, built by S. E. Saunders, costing £8,456. Arriving in Douglas in November 1924 and funded by the Manchester and Salford branch of the RNLI, she was sailed over to Trafford Wharf on the Manchester Ship Canal in June 1925, for a naming ceremony attended by over 25,000 people. She was duly named Manchester and Salford (ON 689) by Lady Fry, wife of the Lieutenant governor of the Isle of Man.

Present day
In March 2024, the 1920s boathouse is still in use, awaiting a decision on a replacement boathouse and lifeboat. All-weather Mersey-class lifeboat 12-22 Ruby Clery (ON 1181) is on service, having been transferred from her previous homes at Peel and Ramsey.

Notable rescues
On Friday, 19 November 1830, the Royal Mail steamer St George was driven onto the Conister Rocks whilst at anchor in Douglas Bay. Sir William Hillary, Coxswain Isaac Vondy, 14 crew and 2 volunteers launched the True Blue to her aid. After two hours of rowing in violent seas, they reached a point where they could anchor and veer down between the rocks and the St George. The lifeboat was badly damaged on the rocks, its rudder broken and six oars swept away, and then Hillary and three men, including volunteer William Corlett, were washed overboard. All four men were recovered to the boat, including 59-year-old Hillary, now with six broken ribs. The mast of the St George had blocked their escape route, and two hours were spent cutting it away. Finally, the lifeboat got away, only to be struck by another violent wave, pitching more men into the sea. These men were also recovered to the boat, and finally, with the assistance of two harbour boats, all were rescued.

For this service, Hillary and Lt. Robert Robinson, RN, received the RNLI Gold Medal. Coxswain Isaac Vondy and volunteer William Corlett received the RNLI Silver Medal.

Station honours
The following are awards made at Douglas:


 * RNLI Gold Medal
 * Sir William Hillary, Bt. – 1825


 * Sir William Hillary, Bt. – 1828 (Second-Service Gold Boat)


 * Sir William Hillary, Bt. – 1830 (Third-Service Gold Boat)


 * Sir William Hillary, Bt. – 1830 (Fourth-Service Gold Boat)
 * Lt. Robert Robinson, RN – 1830


 * RNLI Silver Medal
 * Augustus William Hillary – 1828
 * Lt. Robert Robinson, RN – 1828
 * Lt. William Baker Strugnell, RN, H.M. Coastguard – 1828


 * George Quirk, Water Baliff – 1828
 * Thomas Brine, Lloyd's Agent – 1828
 * William Henry Carrington, Comptroller of Customs – 1828


 * Isaac Vondy, Coxswain – 1830
 * William Corlett, Steam Packet Agent – 1830


 * Isaac Vondy, Coxswain – 1833 (Second-Service)
 * Isaac Vondy, Coxswain – 1833 (Third-Service Silver Boat)


 * William Milburn – 1837


 * Captain Edward Quayle, Steam Mail Packet Mona's Isle – 1839


 * William Cain, Boatman – 1840


 * Captain Edward Quayle – 1841 (Second-Service clasp)
 * Thomas Cannell, Coxswain – 1841


 * The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
 * Henry Madoc – 1936


 * Arthur Kitto – 1955


 * Captain J. L. Robertson, Honorary Secretary – 1971


 * British Empire Medal
 * Bobby Lee


 * Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * Robert Jerome Corran, Coxswain – 1999