Civil Service lifeboats explained

Civil Service lifeboats are a group of lifeboats belonging to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution which have been funded by The Lifeboat Fund. They usually have the Civil Service designation and number included in the name, such as RNLB E-001 Public Servant (Civil Service No. 44), which was on service at lifeboat station on the Thames between 2002 and 2012.

Since it was formed, The Lifeboat Fund has donated over £26 million to the RNLI, making it the most regular and significant donor for the institution. Civil servants across the UK organise fundraising collections and promote the lifesaving work of the RNLI. All money raised by the fund goes directly to support the RNLI.

The Lifeboat Fund is an official charity, formerly CISPOTEL, established in 1866 by civil servants, and is run by the Civil Service. It raises funds through donations from both serving and retired employees, from Royal Mail and BT staff, and from legacies.

In addition to providing (so far) 55 lifeboats of all different class types, the money is also put towards training, purchasing kit, and refurbishing lifeboat stations, most recently providing a £400,000 contribution to the new lifeboat station and pontoon on the Thames.^{[1] [2]}

Numbering

The first 29 lifeboats share the designation (Civil Service) and numbers 1–11. When a boat was replaced, the new boat would receive the number from the previous boat, and often carry the same name.In the 1950s, this was changed, so that the boats were consecutively numbered, starting with Greater London II (Civil Service No. 30).

Fleet

ON	Op. No.	Name	C.S.No. ^[3]	Class	In service ^[4]	Station	Comments
–	–	Civil Service	(No. 1)	32-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1866–1878		^[5]
301	–	Civil Service No. 1	No. 1	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1878–1897		^[6]
415	–	Civil Service No. 1	No. 1	40-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1898–1925	Margate No. 2
688	–		No. 1		1925–1951 1951–1955	Relief fleet
–	–	Charles Dibdin	No. 2	37-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1875–1888		^[7]
204	–	Charles Dibdin	No. 2	37-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1889–1905
552	–	Charles Dibdin	No. 2	43-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1905–1932
762	–	Charles Dibdin	No. 2		1933–1959
284	–	Civil Service No. 3	No. 3	37-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1877–1899
437	–	Civil Service No. 3	No. 3	37-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1900–1922 1922–1924 1924–1926 1926–1927	Relief fleet Relief fleet
704	–	Greater London	No. 3		1928–1941 1941–1943 1943–1945 1945–1955 1955–1957	Relief fleet Relief fleet
34	–	Civil Service No. 4	No. 4	40-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1884–1895		^[8]
394	–	Civil Service No. 4	No. 4	40-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1897–1912		^[9]
756	–	Civil Service No. 4	No. 4		1932–1948		^[10]
867	–	Lady Scott	No. 4		1949–1981 1981–1986	Relief fleet
80	–	Civil Service No. 5	No. 5	34-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1886–1905
544	–	Civil Service No. 5	No. 5		1905–1931
753	–	Civil Service No. 5	No. 5		1932–1950 1950–1956 1956–1958	Relief fleet
273	–	Civil Service No. 6	No. 6	42-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1890–1895	Douglas No. 2	^[11]
384	–	Civil Service No. 6	No. 6	42-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1896–1924
784	–	Civil Service No. 6, Swn-Y-Mor	No. 6		1936–1963 1964–1967 1967–1972	Relief fleet
289	–	Civil Service No. 7	No. 7	42-foot Self-righting (P&S)	1890–1895	Kingstown No. 2	^[12]
409	–	Dunleary	No. 7		1898–1913	Kingstown No. 2
658	–	Dunleary	No. 7		1919–1938 1938–1939	Relief fleet	^[13]
828	–	The Princess Royal	No. 7		1939–1968 1968–1969 1969–1976	Humber No. 2 Relief fleet
853	–	Winston Churchill	No. 8		1948–1979 1979–1982	Relief fleet
884	–	St Cybi	No. 9		1950–1980 1981–1986	Relief fleet
897	–	St. Andrew	No. 10		1952–1959 1959–1961 1961–1968 1968–1973 1973–1976 1976–1977 1977–1982	Relief fleet Relief fleet Relief fleet
888	–	North Foreland	No. 11		1951–1978 1978–1981	Relief fleet
921	–	Greater London II	No. 30		1955–1976 1977–1989
920	–	Dunnet Head	No. 31		1956		^[14]
940	–	Pentland	No. 31		1957–1970 1970–1974 1974–1985 1986–1990	Relief fleet	^[15]
948	–	Charles Dibdin	No. 32		1959–1975 1975–1977 1977–1979 1979–1982 1982–1988	Relief fleet Relief fleet
952	–	Duke of Cornwall	No. 33		1960–1984 1984 1984–1989	Lizard-Cadgwith Relief fleet
971	–	Joseph Soar	No. 34		1963–1985 1986–1988 1988–1990
987	70-001	Charles H. Barrett	No. 35		1966–1968 1968–1975 1975–1988	Trials Relief fleet
1026	44-008	Eric Seal	No. 36		1974–1996		Eric Seal
1037	54-03	Edward Bridges	No. 37
1046	37-33	Silver Jubilee	No. 38		1978–1991 1991–1993	Relief fleet
–	B-527	Percy Garon	No Number		1976–1986 1986–1996 1996 1996–1998 1998	Relief fleet Relief fleet	^[16] ^[17]
1070	52-16	Richard Evans	No. 39		1981–2000 2000–2003	Relief fleet
1095		St Cybi II	No. 40		1985–1997 1997–2006	Relief fleet
1167	12-009	The Princess Royal	No. 41		1990–2015 2015–2016	Relief fleet
1204	14-06	Windsor Runner	No. 42		1995–2004 2004–2008 2008 2008–	Relief fleet Relief fleet
1237	17-17	Fraser Flyer	No. 43		1999–	Relief fleet
–	E-001	Public Servant	No. 44	E-class Mk1	2002–2012
–	H-003	The Hunstanton Flyer	No. 45	Hovercraft	2003–
–	D-654	Angel of Holyhead	No. 46		2005–2016 2017–	Boarding Boat (BB-654)
–	D-655	Guardian Angel	No. 47		2005–2015 2015–	Relief fleet Training
–	B-806	Mudeford Servant	No. 48		2006–
–	D-697	Stranraer Saviour	No. 49		2008–2019 2019–
–	B-826	Sgt. Bob Martin	No. 50		2008–
–	B-837	Charles Dibdin	No. 51		2009–
–	D-738	David Roulston	No. 52		2010–2022 2022–	Relief fleet
1353	13-46	Duke of Edinburgh	No. 53		2023–
–	D-868	Mr Eric Sharpe	No. 54		2022–		^[18]

See also

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Lifeboat Fund and the RNLI . RNLI . 11 February 2024.
2. Web site: The Lifeboat Fund . Civil Service LF . 11 February 2024.
3. Web site: 125 years of CISPOTEL support for the RNLI . CISPOTEL . 12 February 2024.
4. Book: Leonard . Richie . Denton . Tony . Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2024. 2024 . Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society . 4–132.
5. Not numbered, but it was the first Civil Service funded lifeboat. Later named Harriott Forteath at
6. Later named Helen Blake at
7. The Civil Service Life-Boats . The Lifeboat . November 1932 . 28 . 312 . 12 February 2024.
8. Damaged beyond repair, 1895
9. Later in Reserve fleet to 1919, and at as Reserve No. 3, and then as James William and Caroline Courteney at
10. Damaged beyond repair, 1948
11. Wrecked, 1895
12. Damaged beyond repair, 1895
13. Transferred to in 1939, Renamed Dunleary without Civil Service No.7 designation
14. Dunnet Head (Civil Service No. 31) was destroyed by a fire on 10 December 1956 at the boathouse in Thurso, in its first year on service. It was replaced by Pentland (Civil Service No. 31), keeping the same Civil Service number, but this time funded entirely by the RNLI.
15. Provided by the RNLI to replace Dunnet Head (ON 920)
16. The 1981 Report of the Civil Service and Post Office Lifeboat Fund has Percy Garon listed as No 39. However, 52-16 Richard Evans was designated No. 39 in 1981, Percy Garon now designated (Civil Service) with no number.
17. Web site: Annual Report of the Civil Service and Post Office Lifeboat Fund . Civil Service . 12 February 2024.
18. Web site: Parker . Clare . Cromer RNLI’s new inshore lifeboat named during special ceremony . The Lifeboat Fund . 13 February 2024.