Angle Lifeboat Station
RNLI Lifeboat house, Angle
Angle Lifeboat Station is located in Wales
Angle Lifeboat Station
Angle, Pembrokeshire
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
LocationPoint Angle, Pembrokeshire, UK
CountryWales, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°41′08″N 5°04′51″W / 51.68556°N 5.08083°W / 51.68556; -5.08083
Opened1868
Owner Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Angle Lifeboat Station, Angle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, first opened in 1868[1] after a request from the local Coastguard for a lifeboat station to be opened within the Milford Haven Waterway. Originally called Milford Lifeboat Station, in 1892 the name was officially changed by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) committee.[2]

The station currently operates a Tamar-class lifeboat Mark Mason

History

The Lady Rank, Chapel Bay, Angle (2007)
The Lady Rank, Chapel Bay, Angle (2007)

The station was established by the RNLI in 1868, although three RNLI silver medals had already been awarded for local rescues. A boat house and wooden slipway were built, the latter replaced by a stronger slipway in 1888. A new boathouse and roller slipway were built in 1927 and two years later the station took delivery of its first motor-lifeboat.[1]

In 1991 construction began of a new, larger, boathouse and slipway adjacent to the 1927 structure. Following completion in 1992, the old boathouse and slipway were demolished.

In the 1990s an inshore lifeboat station was established and in 1996 a D-class lifeboat, D-493 Isabella Mary began service at the station. The 1992 all-weather lifeboat station was adapted for the new, larger, Tamar class lifeboat, and in 2009 the station took delivery of the Tamar-class, 16-11 Mark Mason.

Station honours

The Loch Shiel before 1894

Twelve RNLI Medals have been awarded, seven silver and five bronze, including two second award clasps, and three medals before the station was established in 1868.[3]

The first rescue where the crew received medals was in 1894, with 27[1] (some say 33)[4] people saved from the 1878-built Loch Shiel which had run onto rocks off Thorn Island. Two lifeboat crew members and the honorary secretary received RNLI silver medals. One of these crew members was Thomas Rees, who is buried in the churchyard at St Mary's. It was said that the lifeboat was unable to reach the stricken ship, but the lifeboat crew managed to get to it by climbing around Thorn Island and getting a rope to the ship.

The rescue is described as Wales' "Whisky Galore". The Loch Shiel was carrying goods from Scotland to Adelaide and included gunpowder, beer,[5] and 7,500[6] (some say 7,000)[4] cases of Glasgow whisky. The cargo was partially recovered by the Customs, but some of the bottles are still amongst the wreck and are described as "undrinkable".[4] In 1999, bottles of beer from the wreck were auctioned for £1,000 per bottle.[6]

The next award was a bronze medal awarded to Coxswain James Watkins for rescuing 28 people on 26 November 1929 from the single-screw steamship Molesley which had been caught by a sudden wind change and a poor decision by its captain.[7] James Watkins went on to be awarded a silver medal for rescuing 6 people in 1944 from the motor boat Thor, and a year later another bronze medal for a difficult rescue of nine people from the steamer Walter L M Russ.[1] (This steamer had been seized from the Germans and sank on 15 July before it could be renamed the Empire Concourse.)[8] James Watkins finally retired in 1946 after 24 years service as coxswain and 13 years as second coxswain.[3]

More recently, Coxswain William John Rees Holmes has been awarded two bronze medals. The first was in 1977 when the tanker Donna Marike was thought to be about to explode and the lifeboat stood by her in December 1976. The second bronze medal was for rescuing three people from the fishing boat Cairnsmore on 1 December 1978.[1]

In 1997 a third coxswain, Jeremy R. Rees, and his crew were awarded another bronze medal for rescuing four people after their motor boat, Dale Princess, was blown on to cliffs on Skomer Island. The rescue was made in gale-force winds and stormy seas.[1]

The following are awards made to the crew of Angle Lifeboat Station [9]
Twelve medals have been awarded, 7 Silver and 5 Bronze.

Mr William Field - 1833
Mr Thomas Landells - 1850
John Large - 1861
R W Mirehouse, Honorary Secretary - 1894
E Bull, crew member - 1894
T Rees, crew member - 1894
James Watkins, Coxswain - 1944
James Watkins, Coxswain - 1929
James Watkins, Coxswain - 1945 (Second Service award)
William John Rees Holmes, Coxswain - 1973
William John Rees Holmes, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1979 (Second Service award)
Jeremy Richard Rees, Coxswain - 1997
  • The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
Albert Rees, Mechanic - 1944
William John Rees Holmes, Coxswain/Mechanic - 1977
  • A special framed certificate
Coxswain and Crew - 1977 (Fastnet Race)
  • A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
The crew of The Lady Rank - 1997

Angle Lifeboats

All Weather boats

Pulling and Sailing Lifeboats

ON[lower-alpha 1] Name In service[10] Class Comments
Katherine[11] 1868–1888 33ft 10 oared Self-Righting (P&S)
223 Henry Martin Harvey 1888–1906 37ft 12 oared Self-Righting (P&S)
46 Reserve No.4A (or No.6) 1906–1910 37ft 12 oared Self-Righting (P&S) Formerly Charlotte at Porthoustock
438 Reserve No.6 1915–1919 35ft Self-Righting (P&S) Formerly James Stevens No. 11
434 Henry Dundas 1919–1927 38ft Watson (P&S)
462 Thomas Fielden 1927–1929 40ft Watson (P&S)

Steam Lifeboat

ON Name In service[10] Class Comments
420 James Stevens No. 3 1908–1915 56ft 6in Steam-class Damaged on rocks after breaking her moorings, withdrawn in 1915
Ex-Gorleston, Grimsby

Motor Lifeboats

ON Op. No.[lower-alpha 2] Name In service[10] Class Comments
713 Elizabeth Elson 1929–1957 45ft 6in Watson-class
931 Richard Vernon & Mary Garforth of Leeds 1957–1987 46ft 9in Watson-class
1114 47-011 The Lady Rank 1987–2008 Tyne-class
1112 47-010 RFA Sir Galahad 2008–2009 Tyne-class Ex-Tenby
1291 16-11 Mark Mason[12] 2009– Tamar-class

Inshore Lifeboats

Op. No. Name In service[10] Class Comments
D-336 Unnamed 1994–1996 D-class (EA16) Temporary assignment from the relief fleet,
D-493 Isabella Mary 1996–2004 D-class (EA16)
D-638 Richard John Talbot Hillier 2004–2015 D-class (IB1)
D-776 Super G II 2015–2020 D-class (IB1) Inshore boat withdrawn 2020. Service coverage by Boarding Boat (BB-695)
  1. ↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ↑ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 RNLI.org.uk: Angle History Archived 9 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine, RNLI.org, accessed 6 January 2021
  2. ↑ Angle Lifeboat Station website: Station history Archived 20 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  3. 1 2 "Angle Lifeboat Station:History RNLI website". Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 letters, wrecksite.eu, accessed 30 August 2008
  5. ↑ Loch Shiel, Pembrokeshire wrecks
  6. 1 2 Diver sinks £1,000 pint, BBC, accessed 30 August 2008
  7. ↑ Wreck report for Molesley[usurped], 19 August 1930, GB Board of Trade
  8. ↑ EMPIRE – C, mariners-l.co.uk
  9. ↑ "Angle's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.
  11. ↑ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2021). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2021 (2021 ed.). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. pp. 2–18.
  12. ↑ "New £2.7M Tamar class RNLI lifeboat arrives in Angle". The Tenby Observer. Retrieved 20 March 2009.
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