Lifeboats

Fifty five years after the Royal National Life Boat Institution was formed St Davids residents applied and were awarded their lifeboat in 1869.

Not that the requirement for a lifeboat was a difficult decision at all. The waters off St Davids and Ramsey Island, including the notorious Bishops & Clerks rocks and reefs coupled with the very strong tides of the area had caused many a vessel to come to grief.

The area of St Davids Peninsula juts out into the Irish Sea and was and still is a noted navigation land mark. Ships from all over the world pass close to the shore as well as many local vessels and fishing boats. Fishguard Life Boat to the North and St Davids Life Boat are the closest Welsh Lifeboats to southern Ireland and as such bear a huge responsibility for the saving of lives in the Irish Sea and St Georges Channel. In addition to sea traffic St Davids and Strumble Heads are import waypoints or navigation marks for trans-Atlantic aircraft and at times the lifeboats have been called upon for search and rescue in connection with these.

In all nearly 450 lives have been saved by the St Davids Lifeboats.


These pages give a brief insight to the organisation and heroism of the St Davids Life Boat. Fuller details can be obtained from " The Story Of the St Davids Lifeboats" by Dr G W Middleton obtainable from local stores and with the proceeds donated to the RNLI.

The Official RNLI homepage can be accessed below.


Official RNLI UK Site

 

Chronical of Lifeboats

St Davids Life Boats 1869 to 1999

The Augusta ( 1869 to 1885)

Donated by Lord Dartmouth and named after his wife the lifeboat was maned by 10 oarsmen and was 32ft long. As a life boat station had not been constructed the lifeboat was originaly stationed in the middle of St Davids, some two miles from the sea and was conveyed by horse drawn carriage. For a while it was storred at Porthlysgi farm where the coxswain David Hicks lived and launched from the nearby beach.

Durring her period of service the Augusta was launched on service seventeen times and saved 23 lives. When the boat was retirred David Hicks the coxswain purchased her and used her upside down on his farm as a chicken coup !


The Gem ( 1885-1910)

Costing £4,000 the Gem was a twelve oared and sailing lifeboat and was launched from the newly contrucyed slipway at St Justinians. Durring her period of service she was launched 18 times and saved 16 lives.

Her service ended tragically when she foundered on the Bitches Rocks with the loss of three of the crewmen, Coxswain Stephens, Henry Rowlands and James Price.

A full account can be found under Shipwrecks.


The General Farrell (1911-1936)

On the loss of the Gem the oared and sailing vessel briefly covered the station before the first motor lifeboat, the General Farrell was introduced.

Coxswain Sidney Mortimer of the Gem fame sailed her from Blackwall in London taking just over two days to complete the Voyage. She cost ?3,000 and was donated by Mrs C Leckie of Walton On Thames.

She was housed in a new boathouse and slipway built at St Justinians above the existing slipway.


The Swn-Y-Mor (1936 to 1963)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 

Fundraising

Fundraising and Local Committees & Members

The RNLI relies totally upon fundraising and has no public body support. I have sailed in many parts of the world where no rescue service was available and many times my thoughts turned to the remarkable marine rescue service of the UK.

The bulk of the fundraising comes from local committees of local lifeboats. These are invariably made up of the lifeboat crew's families. In St Davids bazaars, coffee mornings, dinners, dances, competitions etc are held in a relentless effort to support the RNLI.

This also provides a secret or hidden benefit of the RNLI and that is the local bonding of families to one cause - the saving of lives at sea.

The funding of the RNLI by private donation has allowed it to establish itself as the foremost marine rescue service in the world without public funding or political restraints. Above all though the dedication of the front line crewmen with their unquestionable heroism and dedication and the understanding and support of their families provide the foundation for the utilisation of public donations to such a good cause.