The provision of a lifeboat station at Swanage came about as a result of a rescue.
On the 23rd of January 1875 there was a serious gale blowing with a heavy sea running down the Channel. The brigantine, Wild Wave, was heading for Poole Harbour from Sunderland, with a cargo of coal. Struggling to round Peveril Point and make headway through the treacherous race, she hit the ledges in the early hours of the morning. The Coastguard Lookout at Peveril Point (where the National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) lookout is now) saw she was in difficulties and telegraphed to the nearest lifeboat station, in Poole, to request assistance. The coastguards fired rocket lines to the boat but, with the stormy weather and rough seas, they broke.
As conditions worsened, the chief Coastguard officer, John Lose, realised that the situation was desperate, and the lifeboat might not reach the Point in time. He ordered the launch of the station’s two boats (similar to the pilot gigs we see in the Bay now), “with difficulty, and by incurring much risk”. His prompt actions meant that all the crew were saved and, for his part in the rescue, Lose was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal and his men were rewarded.
The rescue was seen from the shore by the distinguished Swanage resident John Charles Robinson. Robinson lived at Newton Manor and was an influential person in the Victorian art world. After witnessing the wreck he wrote in the Times, ‘five dark, sodden bundles, rather than living creatures, were seen, all clustered together clinging to a mass of tangled rigging a the highest part of the ship’s hull…Soon we see a coil of rope thrown from the largest boat and caught by one of the living “bundles”… and in a few minutes (thanks be to Heaven!) all five – one a very small one were safely stowed in the boat”. The “very small one” was the ship’s cabin boy and it’s believed he was adopted by one of the Poole lifeboat crew!
Throughout 1875, support for a lifeboat station grew, helped by Robinson and other prominent locals, such as George Burt and Lord Eldon. In March 1875, Robinson again wrote to the Times saying, “The wreck of the Wild Wave has, thanks to the publicity given to it in The Times, resulted in unmixed gain to the seafaring interest. The Swanage lifeboat will, in a few weeks, be an established institution…” and on 16th September 1875, the station finally opened. The first lifeboat stationed at Swanage was the Charlotte Mary. The vessel cost £389 and was named after the late sisters of one of the station’s first benefactors, Miss Margaret Ryder-Wilde.
Both the RNLI and NCI, in Swanage, can trace their origin back to the early days of the local Coastguard station.
The current lifeboat station is still situated on the original 1875 site and was rebuilt in 2015/2016 to accommodate the station’s new Shannon class lifeboat.
Thank you to Nick Reed for the write up of the rescue that led to the opening of Swanage Lifeboat Station.
RNLI
Swanage Lifeboat 'Zaida' launching from Swanage Lifeboat Station.
The RNLI is the charity that saves lives at sea. Its volunteers provide a 24-hour search and rescue service around the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland coasts. The RNLI operates 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland and more than 240 lifeguard units on beaches around the UK and Channel Islands. The RNLI is independent of Coastguard and government and depends on voluntary donations and legacies to maintain its rescue service. Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved over 146,700 lives.
