Dover Lifeboat Station | |
---|---|
![]() | |
![]() 17-09 at Dover Lifeboat Station | |
General information | |
Type | RNLI Lifeboat Station |
Location | Dover Lifeboat Station |
Address | Marina Curve, Dover, CT17 9FQ |
Country | England |
Coordinates | 51°7′3.00″N 1°19′10.0″E / 51.1175000°N 1.319444°E |
Opened | 1855 (RNLI) |
Owner |
![]() |
Website | |
Dover Lifeboat Station website | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Feature | Clock tower and former lifeboat station |
Designated | 16 December 2009 |
Reference no. | 1393606 [1] |
Dover Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) lifeboat station [2] located in the town of Dover in the English county of Kent. [3] The station first opened in 1837, coming under the RNLI’s control in 1855. [4]
Among the awards won by Dover's crews over the years are 19 RNLI medals for bravery, 6 silver and 13 bronze, the last being awarded in 1998. [5]
The first rescue service at Dover was called the Dover Humane and Shipwreck Institution which was established in September 1837. [6] Its former boathouse at the Dover Western Docks has been designated a Grade II listed building, along with the adjacent clock tower. [7]
Clock tower and former lifeboat house, Dover
From its inception until the First World War, the Dover station operated using rowing and sailing lifeboats. In September 1914, following the outbreak of war, the station was forced to close due to difficulties manning the lifeboat safely. The station re-opened in 1919, with a new steam lifeboat called James Stevens No. 3. Built in 1898 this single propeller lifeboat, one of only six steam driven lifeboats, was designed to be ready to steam immediately, at all times. However, the lifeboat still took at least 20 minutes to get up to steam and required a large technical crew to keep her fired up. It was launched only five times before the station was closed again in 1922. [8]
With increased shipping and the advent of air traffic, the RNLI realised that a lifeboat station in Dover would again be required, [8] and in 1929 a new boathouse was opened in the Eastern Docks at Camber. [9] The re-opened station was supplied with a new faster lifeboat. The Sir William Hillary (ON 725), [8] named after the founder of the RNLI, arrived on station in 1930 and was powered by twin 375 horsepower petrol engines with a top speed of 17.25 Knots. This was almost twice the speed of the rest of the RNLI’s fleet of lifeboats, most of which were capable of 9 Knots. [8] The Dover station operated from this location until the Second World War. At the time of the Dunkirk evacuation the Sir William Hillary was away having a refit and overhaul. The relief lifeboat Agnes Cross (ON 663) remained at Dover until 1941, when the station closed again for the duration of the War. [5]
In 1947 the Dover station began operations again, re-locating to the former Motor Torpedo Boat pens in the East Docks area. [8] The rapid expansion of the Dover ferry terminal in the 1980s saw the lifeboat station move again, to the Tug Haven situated in the inner harbour across from the Cross Wall Quay.
In the late 1990s, work began on a new station built on Cross Wall Quay. Construction was completed in 2000 and the station began operating in August 2001.
In 2022, a new station was announced, replacing the existing station on Crosswall Quay, to be built at the end of the new Marina Curve of Dover's Western Docks. Designed by Studio 4 architects, the building is designed to be as environmentally friendly as possible, utilising a Glulam timber-frame, with ground source heating and PV panelling. [10] Constructed by Walker Construction Ltd, the building was completed in early January 2024, and was handed over to Dover Lifeboat in March 2024.
The current lifeboat is a Severn-class [11] lifeboat called City of London II (ON 1220) [12] which has been on station since 1997 and is the fifteenth lifeboat to be stationed at Dover.
The following are awards made at Dover [13] [14]
Name | In service | Class | Comments |
---|---|---|---|
Unnamed | 1837–1853 | 37-foot Self-Righting (P&S) (12-oar) | |
Unnamed | 1853–1857 | 28-foot Self-Righting (P&S) | [Note 1] [16] |
ON [a] | Op. No. [b] | Name | In service [17] | Class | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
– | – | Unnamed | 1858–1864 | 28-foot Self-Righting (P&S) (6-oar) | |
– | – | Royal Wiltshire | 1864–1878 | 35-foot Self-Righting (P&S) (10-oar) | |
– | – | Henry William Pickersgill | 1878–1888 | 35-foot Self-Righting (P&S) | |
197 | – | Lewis Morice | 1888–1901 | 37-foot Self-Righting (P&S) (12-oar) | |
464 | – | Mary Hamer Hoyle | 1901–1914 | 37-foot Self-Righting (P&S) (12-oar) | Station closed 1914–1919 due to WWI |
420 | – | James Stevens No. 3 | 1919–1922 | Steam | Station closed 1922–1930 |
725 | – | Sir William Hillary | 1930–1940 | 60ft (Fast Afloat) | Lifeboat assigned to the Admiralty. |
663 | – | Agnes Cross | 1940–1941 | Norfolk and Suffolk | Station closed 1941–1947 due to WWII |
694 | – | J.B. Proudfoot | 1947–1949 | 45ft Watson | Previously H.F. Bailey at Cromer |
860 | – | Southern Africa | 1949–1967 | Barnett | |
1003 | 44-004 | Faithful Forester | 1967–1979 | Waveney | |
1031 | 50-001 | Rotary Service | 1979–1997 | Thames | |
1220 | 17-09 | City of London II | 1997– | Severn |