Port St Mary Lifeboat Station

Port St Mary Lifeboat Station is located in the town of Port St Mary in the Isle of Man. It currently operates an All-weather Trent-class lifeboat, 14-26 Gough Ritchie II (ON 1234) and a small D-class inshore lifeboat, Frank Martin (D-873).

History
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened a lifeboat station at Port St Mary in 1896, one of six lifeboat stations to operate on the Island. (Castletown lifeboat station closed in 1922, leaving the five stations that exist today).

Recently bequeathed an amount of £50,000 from the estate of Mr James Stevens in 1894, the RNLI provided the station with a new ten-oared pulling and sailing type lifeboat, (one that was provided with both oars, and sails for when conditions allowed), named James Stevens No.1, and costing £463. James Stevens No.1 was in service for 21 years, launching 22 times, and saving 55 lives.

Also in 1896, work commenced on the construction of a boat house on Lime street, Port St Mary, which was completed over the next two years, and which is still in use to this day.

The station received their first motor powered lifeboat, Sir Heath Harrison (ON 785) in 1936. This was over 100 years after the founder of the RNLI, Sir William Hillary, had advocated the use of powered lifeboats.

James and Ann Ritchie funded a lifeboat for Ramsey shortly before James' death in 1970. James' widow Ann Ritchie, née Gough, decided to fund a second lifeboat, and in 1976, Port St Mary received a new Arun-class lifeboat, 54-06 The Gough Ritchie (ON 1051).

After Ann Ritchie's death in 1990, the residue of her estate became the Gough Ritchie Charitable Trust. One third of its income is distributed to the RNLI for use on the Isle of Man, and this funded a second boat for Port St Mary, Trent-class 14-26 Gough Ritchie II in 1998.

In the early hours of 6 November 2021, Port St Mary Lifeboat was alerted to a yacht requiring assistance, with tangled propellers, and dangerously close to the shore. Both the All-weather and Inshore lifeboats were launched in challenging condition, with the Gough Ritchie II providing some weather protection to the Inshore boat. Unable to get in close with the ALB, or tow the yacht away from danger, Helmsman Richard Leigh and his crew of the Inshore boat were able to reach the yacht, and recovered the three crew to the All-weather boat. For this service, Richard Leigh was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal, the first medal for gallantry awarded to Port St Mary lifeboat station.

Station honours
The following are awards made at Port St Mary


 * RNLI Bronze Medal
 * Richard Leigh, Helmsman – 2022


 * The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
 * Norman Quillin, Coxswain/Mechanic – 1981
 * Eric Quillin, crew member – 1981
 * William Halsall, crew member – 1981


 * A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * Michael Kneale, Second Coxswain – 2004


 * Framed Letters of Appreciation signed by the Chief Executive
 * Chris Hill, crew member – 2022
 * Daniel Grace, crew member – 2022
 * Mike Keggen, Coxswain – 2022
 * Sarah Keggen, Lifeboat Operations Manager – 2022


 * Framed Letters of Appreciation Signed by the Operations Director
 * Gareth Watt, Mechanic – 2022
 * Brian Kelly, crew member – 2022
 * Mark Pendlebury, crew member – 2022
 * Laura Cordner, crew member – 2022
 * Robert Marshall, crew member – 2022


 * Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * James Michael Keggen, Coxswain – 2024