Newhaven Lifeboat Station

Newhaven Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the town of Newhaven in the English county of East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The original station was established in 1803 and taken over by the RNLI in 1854.

The station operates an All-weather lifeboat, the Severn-class David and Elizabeth Acland (ON 1243), on station since 1999, and from 2022, a D-class inshore lifeboat, Arthur Hamilton (D-774).

Location
Newhaven lifeboat station is situated on the west bank of the River Ouse within the Port of Newhaven, which is one of only two navigable harbours between the Isle of Wight to the west and Dover to the east. The Port of Newhaven is a busy commercial port with a ferry terminal. The harbour opens out onto the English Channel, one of the busiest stretches of waterway in the world.

History
Newhaven’s first lifeboat was established in 1803 when a lifeboat which had been built to a design by Henry Greathead, the pioneering rescue lifeboat builder from South Shields, was placed on station in the town. The boat was 22-feet long, and was 6-oared. The lifeboat was funded partly by a donation from Lloyd's of London, and the rest from locally raised donations. The lifeboat was one of 31 of this type of lifeboat built by Greathead from his design of 1789 known as the Original. This type of lifeboat was designed to work in the shallow waters off the east coast of England, but in small and open harbours like Newhaven, the Greathead-class boats were not popular because of their weight and the large number of crew needed to man them. This may have been the case at Newhaven, as no record can be found that the boat was ever launched to a service. In 1809 the boat was taken from the station and sent to Brighton.

In 1825 the forerunner of the RNLI, the National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck, supplied a lifeboat to the town. There was still no boathouse in the town, and so this lifeboat when not in use was stored out in the open under a tarpaulin. This boat was in service at the town until 1829, when it was transferred to Cowes.

There are no records of any other Newhaven lifeboat until 1852, when Newhaven was provided with a lifeboat by the Shipwrecked Fishermen and Mariners Royal Benevolent Society. From 1851 the Society operated lifeboats, located at Lytham, Rhyl, Portmadoc, Tenby, Llanelli, Teignmouth, Hornsea and now Newhaven, but it was soon realised that it would be wiser if one organisation concentrated on rescuing lives at sea, whilst the other helped the survivors or their bereaved families. In 1854, the Society transferred its lifeboats to the RNLI.

The RNLI's first life boat at Newhaven arrived in 1863. It had previously been on service at Boulmer and Thorpeness, and was extended to 35-feet by Forrestt of Limehouse, London, and for Newhaven was renamed Thomas Chapman. However, she only served Newhaven for four years, performing just one service, but rescuing five crew.

A new boat arrived in 1867, a 33-foot self-righting lifeboat, also to be named Thomas Chapman, and built by Forrestt of London, costing £290-5s-0d. To house the new boat, Newhaven Lifeboat Station would finally get a boathouse, which was a brick built building on the west bank of the harbour, costing £471-8s-0d.

In 1904, Newhaven became the first lifeboat station to operate a motor-powered lifeboat, when former Folkestone lifeboat J McConnell Hussey (ON 343) was temporarily assigned for trials. It had been fitted with an 11 h.p. engine, giving a speed of nearly 6knts. She served Newhaven for 5 months, before being transferred to Tynemouth for further trials, but it was much liked by the crew, who requested that their regular boat, now the Michael Henry (ON 407) be also fitted with an engine. She was sent to Thames Ironworks, with a reserve lifeboat being placed on station until the return of Michael Henry in 1908.

In 1909, the lifeboat house was extensively modified, and a new slipway was constructed.



On 30 May 1940, the RNLI received a request from the Ministry of Shipping, to assemble as many lifeboats as possible at Dover within 24hrs. Newhaven Lifeboat Cecil and Lilian Philpott (ON 730) arrived in Dover the following morning. She was then used for the Dunkirk evacuation, making one trip and repatriating 51 men, finally arriving back on station on 11 June.

A new Arun-class lifeboat, 52-32 Keith Anderson (ON 1106) arrived on service at Newhaven in 1985. Built by Wm. Osbourne of Littlehampton and costing £415,000, she was funded from the auction of a collection of Jewellery, donated by Mrs Esme Anderson in memory of her late husband.

In November 1999, Newhaven's current lifeboat arrived on station. Costing £1,725,000, she is the 25-knot Severn-class lifeboat 17-21 David and Elizabeth Acland (ON 1243).

Station honours
The following are awards made at Newhaven


 * RNLI Silver Medal
 * John Sullivan, Seaman - 1827


 * Lt. James Rawstone, RN - 1833
 * Lt. Samuel Grandy, RN - 1833
 * Thomas Morgan, Commanding, Revenue Cutter Stork - 1833


 * Lt James Read, RN - 1833


 * Mr Abraham H Young, Chief Boatman, HM Coastguard - 1849


 * Charles Leese, Gunner - 1860


 * Richard Payne, Coxswain - 1930


 * Leonard Alfred John Peddlesden, Coxswain - 1944


 * William Harvey, Coxswain - 1955


 * RNLI Bronze Medal
 * Richard Payne, Coxswain - 1924


 * Mr C J Skinner, decorator - 1926


 * Benjamin Clark, crew member - 1944 (posthumous),
 * Alfred Eager, crew member - 1944
 * Stephen Holden, crew member - 1944
 * Richard Lower, crew member - 1944
 * Harold Moore, crew member - 1944
 * Frederick Parker, crew member - 1944
 * Stanley Winter, crew member - 1944


 * The Maud Smith Award 1954 (for the bravest act of lifesaving during the year by a member of a lifeboat crew)
 * William Harvey, Coxswain - 1955


 * A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * Leonard Patten, Coxswain - 1988


 * Ian Johns, Coxswain - 2006


 * A Gold Watch from The King of Denmark
 * Richard Payne, Coxswain - 1929


 * A Silver Goblet from The King of Denmark
 * Each of the crew - 1929


 * Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * Richard Kenneth Sayer, Honorary Secretary - 1969


 * Ian David Johns, Former Coxswain - 2012

All-weather lifeboats

 * Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.