Bembridge Lifeboat Station - 1983-872044

Bembridge Lifeboat Station is an RNLI station located in the village of Bembridge in the English county and island of the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom.LocationThe station is located on the eastern approaches to the Solent Estuary and is south of the area of the Solent known as Spithead. The station is on one of the busiest shipping lanes in United Kingdom waters, used by over 100,000 commercial ships per annum.The main boathouse stands away from the shore on a piled platform with slipway, and is linked to the shore by means of a gangway. The station operates two lifeboats. The All weather lifeboat is a and is called and has been at the station since 2010. The second lifeboat is an Inshore lifeboat and is a and is called. The inshore lifeboat is kept in a boathouse on the shore next to the pier head of the main boathouse gangway.HistoryThe first lifeboat service began at Bembridge in 1867. A boathouse was built at Lane End at a cost of £165, and the first lifeboat was launched from here by means of a carriage. The first lifeboat on station was a self-righting pulling lifeboat and was 32ft and 7ft in beam. She was paid for by the subscriptions of the citizens of Worcester and was named. The first boathouse was enlarged between 1902 and 1903 and was used right up until 1922.By 1922 the RNLI realised that given Bembridge's location that the station required a motor lifeboat to replace the old pulling lifeboat. This change-over would require the construction of a new boathouse. To launch a motor lifeboat the RNLI had to build a concrete pier some 250 yards in length from the shore to the outer ridge of rocks. At the seaward end of the pier, a platform was constructed on concrete piles, with a concrete, timber and steel launching slipway directly into deep water outside the reef. Following the construction of the new facility, a single-screw motor Lifeboat of the self-righting type arrived at the station. This lifeboat was christened and launched by a lady of the donor's family. The lifeboat was named after the gentleman who had presented the legacy. The improvements made to the station at this time made Bembridge the most state of the art station in the country and gave the crew the capability to be at sea in just 14 minutes. The new motor lifeboat also extended the range of the station, which in turn led to the closure of the neighbouring stations of Brook and Brighstone.

Tags: Emergency Rescue Service