Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Lifeboat Station

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston lifeboat station (not to be confused with Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight) is a RNLI base in Norfolk, England. There were originally two separate stations at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston – two coastal towns either side of the River Yare. These were merged in 1926.

Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth received its first lifeboat in 1802. It was never called out. In 1825 the Norfolk Association for Saving the Lives of Shipwrecked Mariners stationed its first lifeboat at Great Yarmouth. The station was taken over by the RNLI in 1857 and in 1859 a new lifeboat house was built at a cost of £375. The station closed in 1919.

Gorleston
The Gorleston lifeboat station was established by the RNLI in 1866. In 1881 a new boathouse was built at Gorleston for £329 and in 1883 a second boathouse (Gorleston No.2) was built alongside. This closed in 1926 when Gorleston No.1 station was renamed Great Yarmouth and Gorleston.

During 1897 the station received its first steam lifeboat City of Glasgow (ON 362) and during 1921, its first motor lifeboat.

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston
In 1963 an Inshore lifeboat station was established, with a D-class lifeboat. A D-class boat would remain in service until 1977. A B-class lifeboat was placed on station in 1975.



During 1993 crew facilities were upgraded, a gift-shop built and a display area created for the former Gorleston lifeboat John and Mary Meiklam of Gladswood (ON 663). The boathouse was further extended in 2002.

In 1996 Princess Alexandra, The Hon Lady Ogilvy officially named the station's new Trent-class lifeboat Samarbeta, Swedish for ‘working together’.

The current lifeboats on station are the Trent-class 14-10 Samarbeta (ON 1208) and the B-class John Rowntree (B-925).

A new Shannon-class lifeboat 13-44 George and Frances Phelon (ON 1351) has been assigned to Gt. Yarmouth and Gorleston to replace Samarbeta, and is expected on service in 2024. She is a "Legacy Lifeboat", and will carry the names of RNLI benefactors within the numbers on her hull

Notable rescues
In October 1922 the Gorleston pulling and sailing lifeboat and the Lowestoft motor lifeboat, after a struggle lasting 32 hours, brought to safety the whole crew of 24 and a black kitten from the steamship SS Hopelyn wrecked on Scroby Sands.

In 1927 lifeboats from Great Yarmouth & Gorleston, Cromer, Southwold and Lowestoft took part in the rescue of the Dutch oil tanker SS Georgia. This service is considered to be one of the greatest in the history of the RNLI.

The lifeboat Louise Stephens (ON 820) was one of 19 lifeboats involved in the Dunkirk evacuation of 1940.

Great Yarmouth
1825-1919

No.1 Station
Gorleston Lifeboat Station established by the RNLI in 1866

No.2 Station
Gorleston No.2 Boathouse built and opened in 1883.

No. 3 Station
Gorleston No.3 Boathouse constructed in 1891.

No. 4 Station
Gorleston No.4 Station opened in 1897

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston
Gorleston Lifeboat Station became Great Yarmouth and Gorleston in 1926.

Station honours
The station has been awarded 1 gold medal, 21 silver medals, 24 bronze medals, 5 vellum inscriptions and 9 framed letters of thanks.

The following are awards made at Gt Yarmouth and Gorleston


 * Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry (EGM)
 * William George Fleming - 1924


 * George Cross converted from EGM
 * William George Fleming - 1941


 * RNLI Gold Medal
 * William George Fleming, Coxswain - 1922


 * RNLI Silver Medal
 * Captain Chaplin, master of the Royal William steam packet - 1833


 * Charles Salmon - 1855
 * George Fleming - 1855
 * Cdr Thomas Kisbee RN - 1855


 * William Johnson - 1858


 * Captain Thomas Davies RN - 1860
 * George Milligan, Coxswain - 1860


 * Captain David Robertson RN - 1870


 * E W Woods, Coxswain - 1891


 * William Todd, Coxswain - 1898


 * Sidney Harris, Coxswain - 1904
 * James Sclanders, chief engineer of the steam lifeboat, - 1904


 * Sidney Harris, Coxswain - 1905 (Second-Service Clasp)


 * Sidney Harris, Coxswain - 1909 (Silver Third-Service Clasp)


 * Ellery Harris, Second Coxswain - 1909


 * James Cowie - 1910


 * Sidney Harris, Coxswain - 1912 (Silver Fourth-Service Clasp)


 * Sidney Harris, Coxswain - 1916 (Fifth-Service clasp)
 * Edward Bensley - 1916


 * William G Fleming, Coxswain - 1927


 * Charles A Johnson, Coxswain - 1941


 * RNLI Bronze Medal
 * Samuel B Parker (Jnr), Second Coxswain -1922
 * Charles W Chilvers, Bowman -1922
 * James Fleming, crew member -1922
 * William Gosling, crew member -1922
 * George Arthur Harris, crew member -1922
 * Ellery Harris, crew member -1922
 * Arthur Harris, crew member -1922
 * Walter Halfnight, crew member -1922
 * Charles Ambrose Johnson, crew member -1922
 * Harry Leggett, crew member -1922
 * Thomas Morley, crew member -1922
 * Albert Newson, crew member -1922
 * Wwilliam Newson, crew member -1922
 * James Stubbs, crew member -1922
 * Ernest Stubbs, crew member -1922


 * William George Fleming, Coxswain - 1926


 * Charles Ambrose Johnson, Coxswain - 1938 (Second-Service Clasp)


 * Charles Ambrose Johnson, Coxswain - 1940 (Third-Service Clasp)


 * G F Mobbs, Motor Mechanic - 1941


 * Charles Ambrose Johnson, Coxswain - 1941 (Fourth-Service Clasp)


 * John Bryan, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1970


 * John Bryan, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1975 (Second-Service Clasp)


 * Richard John Hawkins, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1980


 * David Mason, Coxswain - 1996


 * The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
 * David Bennington, Acting Coxswain - 1974


 * Richard J Hawkins, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1982


 * Richard J Hawkins, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1987


 * Richard J Hawkins, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1991


 * Stephen Bartram, Assistant Mechanic - 1996


 * A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * Coxswain and Crew - 1966


 * Paul Carter, crew member - 1982


 * David V Mason, Second Coxswain - 1991


 * Bob Keegan - 1998
 * Steve Gowing - 1998
 * Simon Phillips - 1998 from the Great Yarmouth Port Authority


 * Stephen Bartram, Coxswain - 2005
 * Kevin Bennington, crew member - 2005


 * A Collective Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * Richard Hawkins, Coxswain/Mechanic
 * David Mason, Second Coxswain
 * Patrick Lee, Assistant Mechanic
 * David Beale, crew member - 1996
 * Ian Everson, crew member - 1996
 * Geoffrey Wing, crew member - 1996


 * Freedom of the Borough of Great Yarmouth
 * More than 100 lifeboat crew - 1983


 * American Cross of Honour
 * S J Harris, Coxswain - 1912


 * A silver watch awarded by the Queen of The Netherlands
 * William G Fleming, Coxswain - 1927


 * A letter of thanks from the Queen of The Netherlands
 * The Lifeboat Crew - 1927


 * The Thanks of the Royal Danish Navy
 * The Institution and the crew of the lifeboat - 1952


 * Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * Margaret Bibby-Cheshire - 2000


 * British Empire Medal
 * Reverend Albert Thomas Cadmore - 2024