Upgang Lifeboat Station

Upgang Lifeboat Station was located just over 1 mi west of Whitby Harbour, midway between Whitby and Sandsend, on the coast of North Yorkshire.

A lifeboat was first stationed here by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1865, effectively a No.3 station for Whitby Lifeboat Station.

Following the placement of a motor-lifeboat at Whitby, Upgang lifeboat station was closed in 1919.

History
In conditions of a northerly gale, launching either of the Whitby lifeboats was proving extremely difficult. In August 1864, a request was made of the RNLI to station an extra lifeboat further along the coast, to the west of Whitby. The station would be managed by the Whitby committee, and manned by Whitby lifeboatmen. Costing £220-16s-0d, a boathouse was constructed by Robinson and Smales at the tiny hamlet of Upgang, a place that has long since disappeared off the map. A 30-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, and previously at Penzance, was delivered to Whitby, arriving on 4 July 1865. Funds were appropriated from a gift from Dr. H. W. Watson of Derby, and the boat was named William Watson.

Receiving a legacy from Mrs A. E. Sykes, the lifeboat William Watson would come to be renamed Joseph Sykes, in memory of Lt. Joseph Sykes, who had once been rescued from HMS Alceste (1806), when it was wrecked in 1817. When the 20-year old lifeboat was retired in 1879, after 14 years at Upgang, it had never been called out on service. The new boat arriving at Upgang in 1879 was a 32-foot Self-righting boat, costing £282, and would also be named Joseph Sykes.

On 15 January 1881, the Upgang lifeboat would finally be called upon, but the outcome was not good. Along with Whitby lifeboat Robert Whitworth, she went to the aid of the brig Lumley, on passage from the River Tyne to Motril, Spain, and now stranded on rocks approximately 1 mile off Upgang. Despite great effort and many attempts by both lifeboat crews, neither was able to effect a rescue, and all 10 crew aboard the Lumley perished.

The 1879 Joseph Sykes was transferred to Rhosneigr in 1885. The boat had been launched just twice on service, with no lives saved. In her place, Upgang would receive another 32-foot Self-righting lifeboat, built by Woolfe of Shadwell, previously on service at Bamburgh Castle as the John and Betty Cuttell (ON 184). The boat would be renamed Joseph Sykes (ON 184). Very much like her predecessors, there was little demand for the lifeboat, and she too would not be called in the following 5 years on service.

1890 saw yet another replacement lifeboat for Upgang. This was a slightly larger 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, constructed by Watkins & Co. at £414. Provided by an anonymous donor, the boat was named Upgang (ON 298). She would come to be launched six times on service, and save 8 lives.

Upgang was launched for the first time on service on 18 November 1893, to the steamship Southwark, but as the lifeboatmen battled the seas to reach the wreck, all 13 crew were rescued by the Rocket Brigade. Launched to the schooner Maria on 11 June 1899, the lifeboat would finally record its first life saved, in fact rescuing the three crewmen, and recovering the vessel to Whitby harbour. Five crew members of the steamship Ben Corlic were saved on 31 May 1902, when the vessel ran aground on the Upgang rocks.



The final boat to be placed at Upgang was the William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington (ON 594), in 1909. A 34-foot Dungeness-class (or Rubie) lifeboat, built by Thames Ironworks.

One of only two calls made on the William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington was on 30 October 1914, to the 7,400 ton hospital ship Rohilla, which ran onto rocks off Saltwick Nab to the east of Whitby in terrible conditions, with 229 people on board. Much has been documented about the rescue efforts over several days, involving lifeboats from Whitby, Scarborough, Teesmouth and Tynemouth and Upgang. On Friday 30 October, the Upgang lifeboat was transported to Saltwick, and lowered down the cliff on ropes, but the conditions were too bad to launch. On Saturday, the crew rowed for an hour, but couldn't get close, returning exhausted. Finally, other boats managed to rescue 145 of the 229 people on board. For their efforts, Coxswain Robinson and Second Coxswain Kelly were awarded The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum.

With a motor-powered lifeboat being placed in service at Whitby, it was decided that the lifeboat at Upgang was no longer required. The Upgang Lifeboat Station was closed in 1919.

Upgang Lifeboat had been launched just 11 times in 54 years, saving 9 lives. William Riley of Birmingham and Leamington (ON 594) was transferred to the No.2 station at Whitby, serving until 1931. Found in disrepair in 2005, the boat was restored, and was most recently displayed on 4 March 2024, at the RNLI 200 service at Westminster Abbey. No evidence remains of the Upgang boathouse.

Station honours
The following are awards made at Upgang.


 * The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
 * Robinson 'Pounder' Robinson, Coxswain - 1914
 * T. Kelly, Second Coxswain - 1914

Upgang lifeboats

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