| St Mary's Lifeboat Station | |
| Map Type: | Cornwall |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Location: | St Mary's Lifeboat Station, Harbour Bay, Hugh Town, St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, UK |
| Location Country: | UK |
| Coordinates: | 49.919°N -6.307°W |
| Building Type: | RNLI Lifeboat Station |
| Opened Date: | 1837 |
| Owner: | Royal National Lifeboat Institution |
St Mary's Lifeboat Station is situated in St Mary's Harbour, Isles of Scilly and has been an important station for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution since the service began in 1837, however without a service between 1855 and 1874.
A lifeboat station was provided in 1874 at a cost of £280 . In 1899 this was replaced by a new station at Carn Thomas with a slipway, at a cost of £1,500 . In 1902 the slipway was extended by 40feet[1] by Robert Hicks[2] to enable the lifeboat to be launched at any state of the tide.
The lifeboat house was adapted in 1914 to receive a new motor lifeboat, but this didn't arrive on the station until 1919.
Since the arrival of the Robert Edgar in 1981, the lifeboat has been moored in the harbour, rather than the lifeboat house.
| Name | Class | class=unsortable | Comments | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1837–1839 | — | — | (no name) | lifeboat, originally built for .[3] | ||
| 1840–1855 | — | — | (no name) | lifeboat, originally built for . | ||
| 1874–1890 | — | — | Henry Dundas | 37feet long, 9feet wide with rows of 12 oars, double-banked. Paid for by Mrs. S.J. Dundas.[4] | ||
| 1890–1991 | 271 | — | Henry Dundas | Self-Righter | lifeboat. Later renamed Tom & Jenny.[5] [6] | |
| 1891–1899 | 313 | — | Henry Dundas | Self-Righter | 38feet long and 8feet wide.[7] | |
| 1899–1919 | 434 | — | Henry Dundas | non-self-righting lifeboat. | ||
| 1919–1930 | 648 | — | Elsie | Watson | First motor lifeboat at station. long and wide with a 60 BHP Tylor motor and Gardner reverse gear, giving a speed of 8kn.[8] | |
| 1930–1953 | 728 | — | Cunard | Watson | motor lifeboat. Given by the Cunard Steamship Company. Two 40 hp engines giving a speed of 8.25kn. Cost £8,500 .[9] [10] | |
| 1955–1981 | 926 | — | Watson | Last slipway launched boat. long, speed 8kn. Cost £32,000 .[11] | ||
| 1981–1997 | 1073 | Robert Edgar | Sold in 2002 for use as a training boat in New Zealand. | |||
| 1997– | 1229 | 17-11 | The Whiteheads | |||
St Mary's Lifeboat has received fifty-six awards for gallantry, including 26 RNLI medals for bravery, comprising one gold, nine silver and 16 bronze. The most recent was in 2004 when bronze medals were awarded to Coxswain Andrew Howells and Crew Members Mark Bromham and Philip Roberts for the rescue of an injured man from a yacht on 29 October 2003.[12]