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Use our online tool to find the precise location of your loved one’s name in the letters and numbers of Swanage’s Launch a Memory Lifeboat.
Use our online name finder
Your Launch a Memory Swanage updates
Welcome to your updates page, where you can keep track of the Swanage lifeboat.
On this page
Guidance on station visits and contact
As Swanage is a working lifeboat station, we kindly ask that you don’t contact the station directly with Launch a Memory queries or turn up hoping to see the lifeboat, as it may be out on operational duties.
If you have any queries about Launch a Memory, please read our FAQs, email [email protected] or call our Supporter Experience Team on 0300 300 9905.
Any opportunities to see the lifeboat in the future will be communicated to supporters by email and this updates page.
Your event highlights
Watch highlights from your Launch a Memory event, which was held at the All-weather Lifeboat Centre in Poole, Dorset, over the weekends (Friday-Sunday) of 11-13 and 18-20 September 2026.
It was an absolute honour to welcome so many of you and to hear your reasons for adding a loved one’s name to the Swanage Shannon. If you couldn’t make it, this video is especially for you, because you and your loved one were as much a part of this special event as those who were there in person.
Please note: The video contains emotional stories told by Launch a Memory supporters that some viewers may find upsetting.
Keepsakes and gift ideas
Mementos for your Launch a Memory Swanage lifeboat 13-13 are available online from RNLI Shop and from the RNLI shop in Swanage. They act as a proud reminder that your loved one is right beside the crew, every time they launch. And every £1 you spend goes towards saving lives at sea.
When buying from RNLI Shop, don't forget to tick the box marked ‘YES - email me with news and offers’ at the check-out to ensure you keep hearing from us.
Track your Swanage lifeboat
Thanks to a new online tracker, you can now see where the Swanage lifeboat is and where it has been. You can view the details of previous shouts and training exercises, including its route, its speed and sea conditions.
The tracker is powered by data from the lifeboat’s Automatic Identification System (AIS). It’s a work-in-progress, and we are constantly looking at ways to improve and develop it. It works best on a mobile phone but can also be used on a tablet or desktop device. If you spot any bugs or have any ideas on how it can be improved, please let us know by using the feedback tool within the tracker - thank you.
Previous updates
READ MORE ABOUT THE CALL OUT
Your special lifeboat joins multi-agency search
In November, despite strong winds and rough seas, the Swanage crew launched your Launch a Memory lifeboat to aid the search for a missing person. As frequent waves washed over the deck of your all-weather lifeboat, the crew were grateful to be wearing their foul-weather gear, funded by supporters like you.
The crew faced driving rain, struggling to see through the spray, even with their searchlights. Eventually, HM Coastguard reported that the missing person was believed to be inland, and George Thomas Lacy returned to the station, arriving back at Swanage a couple of hours after launch.
READ MORE ABOUT THE CALL OUT
READ HOW SWANAGE RNLI STARTED
Swanage marks 150 years of lifesaving
Your Swanage crew were proud to join in with the activities that marked the station’s recent anniversary. The lifesavers celebrated with an Open Day at the station, which is still on the original 1875 site - the station was rebuilt in 2015/2016 to house your Launch a Memory lifeboat. The crew received a certificate commemorating 150 years of saving lives at sea.
READ HOW SWANAGE RNLI STARTED
Read the full story
Carrying the torch
In September, your crew rescued a person who had been blown out to sea in a dinghy. When the crew arrived, the dinghy was 2 nautical miles out and had capsized multiple times. The Swanage volunteers brought the casualty aboard your special lifeboat and moved them to the wheelhouse to warm up. The person was later handed into the care of HM Coastguard.
Read the full story
Read Alice's Story
Like father, like daughter
Swanage RNLI celebrates Alice Haw’s proud achievement as she ‘passes out’ as Helm on the Inshore lifeboat, Roy Norgrove. Inspired by her father, retired coxswain Chris Haw, Alice joined eight years ago and now also navigates the Shannon lifeboat RNLI 13-13 — the very lifeboat carrying names from the Launch a Memory campaign.
Read Alice's Story
Read Felix's Story
Memories that live on
At Swanage RNLI, lifesaving runs in the family. Steve and Felix Williams are a father-son duo who serve side by side on the crew. Steve has volunteered for 26 years, acting as both Navigator on the all-weather lifeboat George Thomas Lacy and the station’s Training Coordinator. Felix, inspired by years of watching his dad respond to the pager, joined the crew six years ago and is now a fully qualified crew member.
Felix says seeing his dad’s dedication over the years makes him proud to follow in his footsteps. Both serve aboard the Launch a Memory lifeboat, carrying the names of loved ones who inspire every rescue. Their story is just one example of the strong family bonds that power the RNLI, where generations come together to save lives at sea.
Read Felix's Story
Read the story
You’re part of our 150-year story at Swanage
‘Becoming a Launch a Memory lifeboat station in 2025 - our 150th anniversary year - is just phenomenal. And having your loved one’s name on our Shannon class lifeboat really is the icing on the cake. Thank you for remembering or celebrating a loved one with us and welcome to the Swanage RNLI family’
Dave Turnbull, Volunteer Coxswain, Swanage Lifeboat Station
Read the story
Get the most from Launch a Memory
Find out more about the Shannon class lifeboat, the first all-weather lifeboat to be designed and built in-house at the RNLI.
more about the shannon class
Many people have shared heart-warming stories about why they chose to include the name of someone they miss on the lifeboat - as well as celebrating their or their loved one's connection to the RNLI.
Leave a dedication
With an RNLI Forever by the Sea tribute fund, you can share treasured memories and help to raise money for the RNLI.
create a tribute fund