Porthcawl Lifeboat Station () is located at The Esplanade, in the town of Porthcawl, on the South Wales coast, in Bridgend, Wales.
A lifeboat station was established at Porthcawl in 1860, by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), but closed in 1902, when Porthcawl Dock closed. The station was reopened in 1965 as an Inshore Lifeboat Station.
The station currently operates a Inshore lifeboat, Rose of the Shires (B-832), on station since 2009, and the smaller lifeboat, Hugo Missen (D-861), on station since 2022.
History Ever since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved. In just a four-year period between 1856 and 1860, no fewer than nine RNLI Silver Medals were awarded for rescues in the Porthcawl area.
At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Thursday 6 October 1859, following a visit and recommendation by the RNLI District Inspector, and in receipt of a letter from Capt. Crewe Read and Rev. E. P. Nicholl, highlighting the need for a lifeboat on the Glamorganshire coast, it was decided that a station be established at Porthcawl.
The station opened in April 1860, when the 30-foot self-righting 'pulling and sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with (6) oars and sails, The Good Deliverance, was placed here. A boathouse costing £120 was constructed on the promenade, at the entrance to Knights Arms Square.
On 5 December 1869, the Porthcawl lifeboat rescued 11 crew, the Master's wife, and the Pilot, from the schooner Loretta of Bilbao.
After 12 years service, the 6-oared lifeboat was replaced in 1872. The lifeboat had been launched 17 times, saving 26 lives.
A larger 32-foot 10-oared lifeboat, costing £248, along with a new launch carriage, at a further cost of £100, was provided to the station. The expenses were covered by the donation of £680 from Miss J. E. Chafyn Grove of Wiltshire, in memory of her brother, a benefactor of the Institution. The lifeboat arrived in March 1872, and after a procession to Newton Sands, avoiding heavy snowstorms on the day, the lifeboat was named Chafyn Grove by the donor.
The existing boathouse was enlarged, and a harness room was also included, to store equipment, for the six horses needed to launch and recover the lifeboat. The Chafyn Grove would serve until 1887, launching eight times, and saving the lives of 28 people.
In 1887 the station received another new lifeboat, Speedwell (ON 127). The lifeboat was funded by an anonymous gift of £700 from a 'Lady'. The lifeboat was used very little in the following 15 years, with only nine launches, and two lives saved.
Porthcawl Lifeboat Station was closed in 1902, due to the cessation of commercial traffic to the Docks. Since the majority of the lifeboat launches were for commercial traffic, it was deemed unnecessary to have a lifeboat station, and the boathouse was sold. The lifeboat on station at the time of closure, Speedwell (ON 127), was transferred to , but served just one year, before being broken up in 1904.
In 1965, the RNLI re-established a station at Porthcawl, and placed a Inshore lifeboat on service. This lifeboat was one of the first D-class lifeboats, designed to give a rapid response to recreational water users around the coast. Due to the RNLI selling the old boathouse, the new lifeboat was housed in a lean-to, next to Jennings building, and the crew were recruited using adverts in the local press.
On 30 December 1994, the station was alerted to a windsurfer in difficulty, caught in a riptide. Even thought the conditions were well beyond the operational limits of the , Tiger D (D-390) was launched with experience helm Stuart Roberts, along with Carl Evans and Wayne Evans. When the surfer was finally pulled aboard, he was still attached to his board by an elastic cord, which shot into the lifeboat, hitting Roberts on his 'bump cap', which was dented. Helm Stuart Ian Roberts was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal.
In 1996, it was decided that Porthcawl needed a larger lifeboat and a new, purpose built boathouse was constructed to house a brand new lifeboat, along with a new Talus MB-4H Hydrostatic launch tractor and Talus Atlantic Drive Off / Drive On launch carriage.
In 2022, lifeboat (D-861) Hugo Missen replaced relief lifeboat (D-776) Super G II, based at Porthcawl since 2020. The lifeboat was named in memory of Hugo Joseph Missen, son of Helm Joseph Missen and his fiancé Jessica Entwistle, who died of cancer in December 2016 aged 15 months. Hugo was also the grandson of Porthcawl RNLI’s Lifeboat Operations Manager, Philip Missen MBE.
Station honours The following are awards made at Porthcawl:
RNLI Silver Medal Capt. Charles Taw, of the schooner Devonport – 1856 John Jones, Pilot – 1857 James Pearse, Pilot – 1857 Thomas Pearse, Pilot – 1857 George Clark, Pilot – 1857 James Collopy, Boatman, H.M. Coastguard, Porthcawl – 1858 Daniel Shea, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Porthcawl – 1858 Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot, MP - 1860 John Williams, Farmer - 1860 Daniel P. Davies, Pilot's Apprentice – 1914 Stuart Roberts, Helm – 1995
RNLI Bronze Medal William H. B. Cotton – 1929 Nick Beale, Helm – 2002 Aileen Jones, Helm – 2004 (Aileen was the first female lifeboat crew member to be awarded an RNLI medal.)
The Maud Smith Award 1994 Stuart Roberts, Helm – 1995
Lady Swaythling Trophy Nick Beale, Helm – 2002
Emile Robins Award Aileen Jones, Helm – 2004 (first female recipient of the award)
The Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award Nick Beale, Helm – 2002
The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum Carl Evans, crew member – 1995 Wayne Evans, crew member – 1995 Timothy Morgan, Helm – 2002 Riccardo Rava, crew member – 2002 Stephen Knipe, crew member – 2002 Simon Emms, crew member – 2004
A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution L. S. Knipe – 1968 J. Lock – 1968 R. A. Comley – 1968 John Williams, Honorary Secretary – 1995 Philip Missen, Helm – 1997 Steve Jones, crew member – 1997 Philip Missen, Helm – 1998 Ross Martin, crew member – 1998 Riccardo Rava, crew member – 2002 Carl Evans, crew member – 2002 Stephen Jones, Helm – 2002 Christopher Missen, Helm – 2020
Commendation by the Lifesaving Operations Director of the Institution Christopher Kitney, crew member – 2020 Angharad Masson, crew member – 2020 Ryan Lecraw, crew member – 2020
Member, Order of the British Empire (MBE) Philip Leonard Missen, Inshore Lifeboat Crew – 1998QBH Christine Aileen Jones – 2016QBH
British Empire Medal Ian Stroud, Chair, Porthcawl Lifeboat Management Group – 2026KBH
Porthcawl lifeboats Pulling and Sailing (P&S) lifeboats ON Name Built Class Comments The Good Deliverance 1860 1860–1871 30-foot Peake Self-Righting (P&S) 30-foot x 7-foot (6-oared) Peake-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Lady Cotton Sheppard, built by Forrest of Limehouse, London, costing £148.Capsized 1866. Renamed Brave Robert Shedden in 1871. Pre-361 1860 1871–1872 30-foot Peake Self-Righting (P&S) Legacy of Mrs W. Sheddon of Newcastle upon Tyne. Sold in 1872. Pre-567 Chafyn Grove 1872 32-foot Prowse Self-Righting (P&S) 32-foot x 7-foot 10in (10-oared) Prowse-class self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, legacy of Miss J. E. C. Grove of Zeals, Wiltshire, built by Forrest of Limehouse, London, costing £248.Broken up in 1887. 127Speedwell 1887 1887–1902 34-foot x 8-foot (10-oared) self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, gift of Miss J. Houghton of Roehampton, built by Forrest of Limehouse, London, costing £480.Transferred to . Station closed in 1902 Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiasts' Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.
Inshore lifeboats D-class Op. No. Name Class Comments D-52 D-174 1970–1983 1983–1989 D-390 Tiger D 1989–1996 D-714 Jean Ryall 2012–2020 D-776 Super G II 2020–2022 D-861 Hugo Missen 2022–
B-class Op. No. Name Class Comments B-549 Blenwatch 1996 B-726 Giles 2009–
Launch and recovery tractors Op. No. Reg. No. Type Comments TW29Hc TW27Hc M741 RUX Talus MB-4H Hydrostatic (Mk2) 2008–2015 TW29Hc N144 WUJ Talus MB-4H Hydrostatic (Mk2) 2015–
See also List of RNLI stations List of former RNLI stations Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboats Talus Atlantic 85 DO-DO launch carriage
Notes
References
External links Porthcawl RNLI Lifeboat Station Porthcawl RNLI Website