Southport Offshore Rescue Trust

Early History

Southport Lifeboat has a proud and dramatic history, the earliest service, crewed and organised by local fishermen, was saving lives 20 years before the formation of the RNLI.

The first lifeboat station established at Southport in 1840. The boat was called the "RESCUE", and Richard Rimmer was appointed the first Coxswain. It was housed on the shore opposite Coronation Walk, and remained in service until 1861, having helped in saving 20 vessels and 175 lives.

In 1848, William Rockliffe appointed Coxswain of the "Rescue". Until his retirement in 1873, aged 69, he had assisted at least 367 people.

RNLI in Southport and the Mexico Disaster

Royal National Lifeboat Institution was given £199 by James Knowles, a Bolton businessman, to establish a lifeboat station somewhere on the Lancashire coast. It was decided to put the new boat at Southport. The first meeting of the newly formed Southport branch of the RNLI was held on 14 July 1860.

A new lifeboat house built opposite the end of Coronation Walk in 1981. The new lifeboat, "JESSIE KNOWLES" came into service on 9 September. The "RESCUE" was sold at public auction to William Rockliffe for £23, and the Carriage to a Mr. Hunt, for £4.10s.

In 1874, The boathouse re-erected by the Corporation on a new site under the Esplanade and Coronation Walk. The Jessie Knowles sent away for repair, and never returned, and a new boat "ELIZA FERNLEY" was dedicated: She remained in service until 1886. Charles Hodge was selected as Coxswain after the retirement of William Rockliffe.

December 1886 saw the worst ever lifeboat disaster in British history, the Southport and St Anne's lifeboats disaster or the Mexico Disaster.

It was the last call out of the " Eliza Fernley" and proved to be one of the most tragic lifeboat disasters ever known. The German barque "Mexico", on her way to South America got into difficulty during a fierce storm and went aground at Ainsdale. An immense wave crashed down onto the open boat filling and sinking her almost immediately. She rose again, but keel upwards and failed to right herself. The crew of sixteen did not stand a chance, and only two men survived: Henry Robinson and John Jackson. All 13 of the St Anne's Lifeboat, the Laura Janet, were lost

A third lifeboat from Lytham reached the Mexico and saved her crew.

The Eliza Fernley was taken back to the boathouse and condemned after twelve years service.

As a result of the enquiry into the "Mexico" disaster a new boathouse was built by Southport Corporation, further south-west, and nearer to the shore line. This boathouse is still in use today as an independent station, and houses the present Southport Offshore Rescue Trust lifeboat.

On 24 December, a new lifeboat named "MARY ANNA" replaced Eliza Fernley, a new crew was recruited, and William Robinson appointed Coxswain.

The Mary Anna, apart from quarterly exercises and inspections was only used in service on a very few occasions.

Early in 1887 two Southport ladies offered to provide a new boat to replace the Eliza Fernley. After much discussion as to what sort of boat should be provided the "EDITH AND ANNIE" came on station. The whole cost of the vessel (£900) had been defrayed by the Misses Macrae. For some time this boat was the largest and most expensive of the RNLI’s fleet, and at the time was the pinnacle of lifeboat construction. She was permanently moored at the pierhead. Following several accidents and after a career lasting some fourteen years, in 1902 she was declared no longer safe for service, and was condemned.

On 26 June 1899, another sad lifeboat calamity. The coxswain William Robinson (64) his son John Robinson (44) and his son-in-law Frederick Rigby (37) lost their lives whilst endeavoring to change the moorings of the lifeboat. They were in a punt containing the anchor and chains, when by some mischance the little boat capsized, and of six persons engaged, these three were drowned."

On 15 September 1904 the "JOHN HARLING" entered service on the coast, and for the next twenty years she attended thirteen wrecks, and was the means of saving sixty three lives.

Closure by RNLI in 1925

The John Harling was the last boat to be used on active service for the RNLI before it closed the station completely as the Bog Hole Channel had silted up extensively. The Three Brothers was still in the boathouse, but was never called out, and was finally sent to Cork by The RNLI on 12 April, thus ending the service.

The Lifeboat house was used by the council for storage and Southport was provided lifeboat cover by New Brighton to the South, and Lytham to the North.

Reformation as Independent Lifeboat

Southport Lifeboat was reformed following accidents off the coast where local men lost their lives. After the accidents in 1987, bereaved relatives started a campaign to bring a lifeboat back to Southport. In December 1988 the first boat since 1925 came on station at Southport.

She was a 6 m (20 ft) Carson rigid inflatable (RIB), originally powered by twin 40 hp (30 kW) Mariner outboards, but refitted in 1995 with a single 85 hp (63 kW) Suzuki and a 10 hp (7.5 kW) auxiliary engine. She had self-righting capability, integral fuel tanks and a top speed of around 30 knots. She was named the "Geoff Clements" after one of the young men who perished in the 1987 accidents.

In 1995 a new Lifeboat was brought into service. The "Bessie Worthington" was a 6.6 m (22 ft) RIB manufactured by Delta Power Services in Stockport for the Southport Lifeboat’s requirements, meeting all the necessary specifications including SOLAS (The international organisation for Safety of Life at Sea). The boat was originally powered by twin 90HP Suzuki outboard engines. These were changed to 90HP Mariners in 1998. The "Bessie Worthington" had full self-righting capability activated by the crew after the unlikely event of capsize by pulling handles on the outside of the transom. Delta were responsible for supplying all the electrics and navigation systems (GPS Radio, echo sounder, EPIRB).

During the years following the millennium we added two quad bikes & an ex RNLI D Class to our equipment. The bikes are invaluable for fast response and for searching large areas of beach quickly. The D class allows a good platform for crew training as well as for searching the shallow waters north of Southport Pier and providing invaluable backup to the main boat.

In early 2005 a campaign was launched to replace the "Bessie Worthington". An ambitious target of £120,000 was set to purchase a VTHalmatic Arctic 24. By September 2006 enough money had been raised to commission VTHalmatic to start building the boat. Unfortunately whilst the remainder of the funds were being raised the price had gone up and by the time delivery was made the boat had cost around £140,000. The "Heather White" came into service in May 2007.

Present

With the opening of a Charity shop in Birkdale in 2005, the Southport Lifeboat have been able to continually update the kit available for our crew.

The Heather White's engine's were upgraded from twin 135 hp (101 kW) to twin 150 hp (110 kW) outboards, and are now continually replaced after three years of service. The Honda ATV quad bikes used are also replaced every three years before signs of corrosion from the harsh environment cause problems.

SORT are now in the planning stages for constructing a new lifeboat house on Marine Drive. The project will see the Lifeboat move from the 130-year-old building with no toilet, washing or heating facilities it is currently housed in, to a modern state of the art building in a location closer to the beach.

In 2010, Southport joined Lifeboat Lotto.