St Andrews Lifeboat Station

St Andrews Lifeboat Station was located at Woodburn Place, in the town of St Andrews, approximately 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Dundee, on the east coast of the Fife peninsula.

St Andrews Lifeboat Station
Old lifeboat station at St Andrews
St Andrews, Fife
General information
Status	Closed
Location	The Old Boathouse
Address	Woodburn Pl,
Town or city	St Andrews, Fife, KY16 8LA
Country	Scotland
Coordinates	56°20′10.5″N 2°46′56.5″W
Opened	1802 / RNLI 1860
Closed	1938

A lifeboat was first placed at St Andrews in 1802. Management of the station was transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1860.

St Andrews Lifeboat Station was closed in 1938.

History

On 3 January 1800, the sloop Janet was driven ashore and wrecked at St Andrews. John Honey, a six-foot four-inch tall University student, and acknowledged athlete and swimmer, was alerted by his tutor that his skills were needed on the shore. Swimming out to the wreck, he brought a line ashore, and the Master and 4 crew were pulled to safety.

Amongst the crowd watching on, was Dean of Guild, magistrate and merchant Cathcart Dempster. Inspired by the actions of John Honey, he started a public fund for the provision of a lifeboat at St Andrews. With additional funds provided by Lloyd's of London, who had a vested interest in reducing insurance claims, a 30-foot lifeboat was ordered from Henry Greathead of South Shields. The boat arrived in the first week of January 1802, and her trials were reported in the Edinburgh Courant of 12 January. The boat was non-self-righting, but to provide greater buoyancy, it was lined with cork. This brought about the local naming Cork Lifeboat. The boat was placed in a boathouse at East Bents.

Only one effective service is recorded for the Cork Lifeboat. On 9 January 1803, the vessel Meanwell of Scarborough, North Yorkshire was driven ashore and wrecked at St Andrews, whilst on passage from Bordeaux. Local fishermen were reluctant to man the lifeboat in the conditions, until Cathcart Dempster, Capt. David Stewart and Major Horburgh volunteered their services. All 12 of the crew of the Meanwell were rescued.

The Cork Lifeboat was not required for the next 21 years, in which time, much neglected, she had fallen into disrepair. A hole in the roof of the boathouse had caused one wall to collapse. In the storms encountered at the start of February 1823, it would be a local fishing yawl, Craignoons, that was used to carry out rescues. Six people were rescued from the brig Itinerant. The boat then rescued three of the six crew of the John and Sarah of Woodbridge, Suffolk, the remaining three choosing to try to save their possessions, at the cost of their lives, as the Craignoons was unable to get close again.

A replacement lifeboat was immediately ordered. Designed locally for use as a surf boat, a 27-foot self-righting lifeboat was constructed with 16 airtight compartments, and 5 copper relieving tubes to rid the boat of water. She was delivered from the boatyard in Tynemouth in September 1824. Lowered into the harbour keel upright on her arrival, she self-righted perfectly. The boat was named Volunteer Lifeboat.

This lifeboat was kept in a boathouse next to Swilken Bridge, which in those days wasn't the bridge on the St Andrews golf course, which was then known as the Golfer's bridge, but the main road-bridge, formerly known as Windmill Path, later to be Old Station Road.

In 1860, with their existing lifeboat now 36 years old, the St Andrews Lifeboat Society were pleased to hand over the management of the station to the RNLI, who were looking to increase their presence in Scotland, and who could provide a replacement lifeboat. Annie, a new 32-foot self-righting (P&S) lifeboat was placed at St Andrews, and a new boathouse was constructed at Woodburn Place.

Former Boarhills Lifeboat House

On 23 October 1864, the brig Napoleon was wrecked off Boarhills in St Andrews Bay, whilst on passage from Sunderland to Gothenburg. Conditions were too bad to try to launch at St Andrews, and to row 5 miles, but both the Coxswain Alex Mackrell and Honorary Secretary John Purvis were in agreement that transporting the lifeboat to Boarhills was pointless, as the boat could not be launched there. All eight of the crew of the Napoleon were lost.

Just one month later, in a storm of 22 November, the barque Sidonia was seen flying distress signals. Much to the disagreement of everyone else, including Second Coxswain William Chisholm, Coxswain Alex Mackrell refused to launch, claiming they were not in distress. As the wind changed, the boat was driven away from St Andrews, but would later wreck at Banff, Aberdeenshire. One crew member was lost.

There had been much disagreement about the (non) action taken when the brig Napoleon had been lost. One of the St Andrew lifeboat Committee, George Bruce, was so convinced that a lifeboat could operate from Boarhills, that he purchased the old Volunteer Lifeboat. The former boathouse at Swilken Bridge was dismantled, and reconstructed 5 miles (8.0 km) to the south of St Andrews, on the shore at Boarhills. William Chisholm was appointed Coxswain, and the boat was renamed Bruce's Own. In December 1865, Boarhills Lifeboat Station was opened, and served independently of the RNLI for the next 26 years. In 1881, the boathouse was extended, and a replacement lifeboat, John and James Mills, finally replaced the 51-year-old Volunteer Lifeboat.

The RNLI opened a new station 6 miles (9.7 km) further south at Crail in 1884, and there was then little call for the Boarhills boat. However, in possible the last service, under the command of local fisherman James Gourlay, six men were rescued from the schooner Francis, when she was wrecked in St Andrew's bay on 5 April 1891. Despite this being a private lifeboat, James Grieve Gourlay was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal. It is recorded that the station closed in 1891, but it may be that the lifeboat was just never required again, and the station gradually ceased to operate. The John and James Mills lifeboat remained in the boathouse until 1917, when it was sold in aid of the Shipwrecked Mariners Society.

Two services in 1912 would earn Coxswain James Chisholm the RNLI Silver Medal. On 29 September, three men were rescued from the fishing boat Resolute, moments before the vessel was wrecked on the rocks at St Andrews Bar. On 1 October, in rough conditions and with skillfully navigation around the rocks at West Sands, nine men were rescued from the Swedish barque Princess Wilhelmina.

In 1915, local man Robert Brown was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal, when he put out in a small boat at Kingbarns, and saved the lives of two airmen, when their seaplane had been forced down in a gale.

The St Andrews lifeboat John and Sarah Hatfield (ON 600) was launched to the aid of the steam trawler Loch Long, after she ran shore at Balcomie Briggs on 9 March 1931, and reached the vessel at daybreak. Veering down, a Breeches buoy system was set up, and one man was recovered. The lifeboat then managed to get closer to the Loch Long, and the remaining nine crew jumped aboard the lifeboat. For this service, Coxswain David Fenton was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal.

Coxswain David Fenton was set to retire in September 1938, and with nobody lined up as his replacement. With modern motor-lifeboats at Broughty Ferry, Arbroath and Anstruther, the 26-year-old Pulling and Sailing lifeboat John and Sarah Hatfield was now obsolete, and had not been called on service since 1932. The St Andrews Lifeboat station was closed at the end of August 1938.

The lifeboats at St Andrews and Boarhills had launched over 100 times, and saved 250 lives. The John and Sarah Hatfield was sold, and was last reported as a yacht in Cyprus in 1987. The station building at Woodburn Place, a second structure built in 1910, still stands, and is currently used by St Andrew Sailing Club.

Station honours

The following are awards made at St Andrews and Boarhills.

• RNIPLS Gold Medal

Lt. Henry Cox, RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1835

• RNIPLS Silver Medal

Master Robert Fulton, RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1835

Lt. Henry Cox, RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1840

John Gregory, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard - 1841

Neil McNaughton, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard - 1841

John Wilson, Pilot - 1841

• RNLI Silver Medal

James Grieve Gourlay, Fisherman - 1891

James Chisholm, Coxswain - 1912

Robert Brown - 1915

• RNLI Bronze Medal

David Fenton, Coxswain - 1931

Roll of honour

In memory of those lost whilst serving St Andrews lifeboat.

• Run over by the lifeboat carriage wheels, during launch to the brigantine Kiana on 18 February 1898.

George Sharp

• Run over by the lifeboat carriage wheels, during launch to the fishing trawler Spes Bona on 9 March 1932.

Pat Flanagan (died some days later in hospital)

St Andrews lifeboats

ON	Name	In service	Class	Comments
–	Cork Lifeboat	1802–1823	30-foot Greathead
–	Volunteer Lifeboat	1824–1860	27-foot non-self-righting lifeboat	Relocated to Boarhills in 1865, and renamed Bruce's Own.
Pre-354	Annie	1860–1871	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)	Renamed Polly and Lucy in 1871
Pre-354	Polly and Lucy	1871–1873	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)
232	Ladies Own	1873–1893	33-foot Self-righting (P&S)
349	Louisa	1893–1910	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)
600	John and Sarah Hatfield	1910–1938	35-foot Dungeness (Rubie) Self-righting (P&S)

Station Closed in 1938

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

Boarhills lifeboats

Name	In service	Class	Comments
Bruce's Own	1860–1881	27-foot non-self-righting lifeboat	Formerly Volunteer Lifeboat at St Andrews.
John and James Mills	1881–1891	31-foot Self-righting (P&S) lifeboat	Remained on station until 1917.

See also

• List of RNLI stations
• List of former RNLI stations
• Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats