Dart's station history

The Health and Safety group within the Dartmouth Market and Coastal Town Initiative wrote to the RNLI in April 2004 with a proposal that a lifeboat should again be stationed in the town after a gap of 111 years.

Meetings were held asking for volunteers and received an enthusiastic response. On 10 August 2004 there was a set-up meeting held and many volunteers came forward including Rob Clements who volunteered to be the Lifeboat Operations Manager.

On 22 November 2004 the inaugural meeting of the Lifeboat Management Group took place. 

Members of the Lifeboat Management Group visited Rock Lifeboat Station, the latest inshore lifeboat station to become operational, in order to give them an idea of what to expect.

In July 2006 an Appeal was launched to raise £205,000 to set up the station with a boathouse, crew equipment, an inshore lifeboat and a tractor and trailer. A local fundraising team was set up to raise funds for Dart.

Mr Mike Felton of Caterfood kindly donated £29,000 to buy the boat. The Hadley Trust which has close links to Dartmouth donated £25,000 to purchase the crew’s clothing. By the time the boat had become operational 15 months later £183,000 had been raised and the Appeal continued until the original target was reached.

Much time and energy was spent in trying to find a suitable site for the lifeboat station. In all 11 different sites were examined. Finally, the site of the disused Play School on Coronation Park was chosen.

Relief inshore lifeboat D-520 Bob Savage transferred 8 August for evaluation and for the crew to begin an intensive period of training on the water.

The partially prefabricated timber lifeboat station was erected in mid-September 2007.

Inshore lifeboat station was completed in October at a cost of £175,000. The station was declared to be operational on 27 October 2007. On the same day the Trustees of the RNLI declared that the new lifeboat would be known as the Dart lifeboat.

A new station D class lifeboat D-702 Spirit of the Dart was placed on service in July and was funded by Caterford (South West) Ltd.  Lifeboat D-523 Peterborough Beer Festival 1 has been withdrawn to the relief fleet.

D-702 Spirit of the Dart, was replaced on 4 August 2019 by D-838 Dudley Jane, donated by Mrs Sarah Fuller.

Following a 20 month trial with Atlantic 75s, on 28 August 2020, the Trustees recognised the Atlantic 85, Norma Ethel Vinall from the relief fleet as a Search and Rescue asset at the Dart station. She operates from an enlarged Aqua Dock attached to a pontoon in Dartmouth harbour.

Dart Lifeboat Station. The busy station operates a D class lifeboat which was joined by an Atlantic 85 in August 2020

The B class was replaced by a brand-new Mark 4 Atlantic 85. The cost of the boat was donated by Jill Samworth, who had been a great friend of the Dart RNLI lifeboat crew for many years, and was officially named Frank C Samworth at a ceremony on Coronation Park in July 2023.

After a seven-year project to raise money and acquire new fit-for-purpose premises, Dart RNLI moved to a permanent new home, the location of the original lifeboat station at Ferry View. After work carried out by Nevada Construction, the station houses the D class, with the B class moored at Dart Marina next door. It was handed over to the crew in early winter.

Silver Medal awarded to Lt. William Lane of the Coastguard for the rescue of the crew of five men from the fishing boat Victoire, of France when she was wrecked in heavy seas and a fierce gale on June 29th.

Silver Medal awarded to Lt. James Clayton of the Coastguard for his rescue of two, the ship’s Master and a young boy, from the sloop Harmony of Brixham, when she ran aground near Dartmouth in heavy seas and a full gale on January 7th.

On March 23rd the barque Spirit of the Ocean of London was driven ashore in exceptionally heavy seas and a severe north-easterly gale. The accident was witnessed by Mr Samuel Popplestone, a local farmer, who immediately went to assist. Mr Popplestone lowered himself over a cliff face to the beach below where he searched for survivors. He pulled two people out of the wreck and recovered them to safety where all three men were later recovered by the coastguard. This brave rescue prompted Queen Victoria to establish the Albert Medal for exceptional gallantry, of which Mr Popplestone was the first recipient.

Lifeboat house built on land used by Dartmouth Boat Club at Sandquay.  The site was owned by Raleigh Estates.  Cost £300.

The Inauguration of the first Dartmouth Lifeboat took place on 23 October 1878. She was named Maud Hargreaves. Miss Maud Hargreaves was the daughter of Mrs Emma Hargreaves, who lived in Claygate, Surrey. The lifeboat was named by a friend of Mrs Hargreaves, Mr Walter Austin. The ten oared lifeboat was built by Messrs Wolfe & Son of Poplar, London. The 33ft x 8½ft boat had a harbour trial on the Limehouse Canal, London. She was a self righting boat with a self water ejection system. The boat arrived by rail at Kingswear on 22 October 1878. 

The lifeboat was launched from the slipway on the New Ground that had been built by Redway and Sons. Whilst passing Sandquay they rescued a twelve year old boy who had fallen in the water, to the cheers of the watching crowd.

During the summer months the lifeboat was housed at Sandquay. In the winter the boat was kept at moorings in Warfleet Creek.

The establishment of this station in 1878 is recorded in the Lifeboat Journal of 1 February 1879 whilst a fuller description of the station is given in the Journal of 1 November 1888 following the arrival of a new lifeboat.

Slipway built at Sandquay, cost £61.

After ten years the lifeboat Maud Hargreaves was replaced by a new twelve oared sailing lifeboat Henry and Amanda Shaw. She was 34ft x 8ft and had a new water ballasting system.

In 1891 it was reported that there had been no practice in bad weather and they had failed to answer a call because no crew could be mustered.

Silver Medal awarded to Mr William Kelland for the rescue of one man. A collision occurred between a small boat and a Pilot Cutter in freezing temperatures and rough seas on January 14th. The Dart lifeboat was launched to assist the Pilot Cutter’s boarding boat, which Mr Kelland and another colleague were manning in an attempt to rescue the five crew of the small boat. Despite Mr Kellands gallant efforts, only one man could be saved, the Dart lifeboat conducting a fruitless search for the other four crew.

On 11 January 1894 she attended the Brixham ketch Prince of Wales stranded near Kingswear Castle. A tug had taken the vessel in tow and was heading back to the harbour when the lifeboat arrived. Four Dartmouth lifeboatmen boarded her and assisted at the pumps enabling her to be safely beached one hour later.

In the eighteen years that there was a RNLI lifeboat in Dartmouth they only launched three times and only assisted one vessel.

Station closed.  Lifeboat house sold for £100.