The Mumbles Lifeboat Station



The Mumbles Lifeboat Station (based in Mumbles, Swansea, Wales) opened in 1835 with a lifeboat that was funded and managed by Swansea Harbour Trustees and was known as Swansea Lifeboat Station. The station was taken over by the RNLI in 1863 and moved to Mumbles in 1866. The station only officially became The Mumbles Lifeboat Station in 1904.

The station currently operates a Tamar-class lifeboat and a D-class lifeboat, and operates from a boathouse at the end of Mumbles Pier.

History
When the station first opened, it did not have a boathouse and the lifeboat was stored under the cliffs. In 1866 the first boathouse was built and it was replaced with a larger boathouse when a replacement lifeboat needed more room. A slipway was constructed for launching the lifeboat in 1888 and in 1897, Mumbles Railway and Pier Company constructed a new slipway for the RNLI at no cost to the institution. Another new slipway was built in 1916 and it was extended and had alterations made to it in 1922.

During a gale on Saturday, 27 January 1883, a German barque Admiral Prinz Aldabert was driven on to rocks near the Mumbles Lighthouse. Wolverhampton went out to assist and was washed on to rocks. The lifeboat broke up and four crew drowned and other members missing or seriously injured.

In 1947 the lifeboat Edward, Prince of Wales and her crew of 8 were lost while assisting SS Samtampa which had run aground on Sker Point.

Today
The D-class lifeboat is the main workhorse of the station, being used for more than 60 per cent of the callouts. In 2014 a new Tamar class lifeboat entered service at The Mumbles, temporarily based at Swansea Marina while a new, larger, boathouse and slipway were constructed on the end of Mumbles pier. In 2015 and 2016, Mumbles was the busiest station in Wales, launching 83 times, and was the busiest station in 2022, with 126 launches.

Station Honours
The following are awards made to the crew of Mumbles Lifeboat Station


 * RNLI Gold Medal
 * William John Gammon, Coxswain - 1944


 * RNLI Silver Medal
 * John Bevan, Master of the schooner Gower - 1833


 * William Evans -1835


 * John Reeve, Master of Schooner Wave - 1838


 * Captain Thomas Jones - 1839
 * Captain John Howell - 1839
 * Captain Charles Sutton - 1839
 * Captain Joseph Foley - 1839
 * Arthur Rees - 1839
 * Lewis Jenkins - 1839


 * Captain Joseph Foley (Second service clasp) - 1840


 * Coxswain Jenkin Jenkins - 1883


 * Lionel Derek Scott, Coxswain - 1964


 * Lionel Derek Scott BEM, Coxswain (Second service clasp) - 1971


 * RNLI Bronze Medal
 * William John Gammon, Coxswain - 1941
 * Robert Trevor Williams, Mechanic - 1941


 * William Gilbert Davies, Mechanic
 * Thomas John Ace, Bowman - 1944


 * Lionel Derek Scott, Coxswain - 1968


 * Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
 * W Davies, Second Coxswain - 1964
 * Mechanic J Gammon - 1964
 * W Tucker, Assistant Mechanic - 1964
 * J Bailey, Signalman - 1964
 * K Kostromin - 1964
 * G Parsons - 1964
 * H Randall - 1964
 * J Whitford - 1964


 * Alan Richards Jones, Helmsman - 1971
 * Peter Allan Algie, crew member - 1971
 * Anthony David Lewis, crew member - 1971


 * Lionel Derek Scott BEM, Coxswain - 1981


 * Anthony David Lewis, Helmsman - 1983


 * A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * W Clements - 1973


 * The Maud Smith Award 1944
 * for the bravest act of life-saving in 1944
 * William John Gammon, Coxswain - 1944


 * The Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal and Thanks Certificate
 * R J Gammon, Mechanic - 1948


 * British Empire Medal
 * Lionel Derek Scott, Coxswain - 1970


 * Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE)
 * Capt. Peter Royall Griffiths, DLA - 2009


 * Binocular glass from The Emperor of Germany
 * Coxswain - 1874


 * Engraved Statuette of a Lifeboatman
 * Lionel Derek Scott BEM, Coxswain - 1980