Exmouth Lifeboat Station
| Exmouth Lifeboat Station | |
| RNLI lifeboat station | |
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| Country | England |
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| County | Devon |
| Town | Exmouth |
| Location | Queen's Drive, EX8 2AY |
| - coordinates | 50°36′40″N 3°23′56″W / 50.611140°N 3.39893°WCoordinates: 50°36′40″N 3°23′56″W / 50.611140°N 3.39893°W |
| Founded | 1803–1814 first station 1859 second station 2009 present station |
| Owner | Royal National Lifeboat Institution |
 Exmouth within Devon
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Exmouth Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Exmouth, Devon, England. The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1803 and the present station was opened in 2009. In 2014 a new Shannon-class 25-knot all-weather boat (ALB) went on station. Also operated is a D-class (IB1) (IB1) inshore lifeboat (ILB).
Vessels trying to reach Topsham and Exeter have to negotiate the sandbanks at the mouth of the River Exe. Local people raised funds with the help of Lloyd's of London to purchase a lifeboat in 1803. A boathouse was built near Passage House but this was washed away in a storm in 1814. The RNLI revived Exmouth Lifeboat Station in 1858. A new boathouse was built near the beach, although the lifeboat had to be taken across the road before it could be launched. This boathouse was demolished and a new one built on the same site in 1903 to accommodate a larger lifeboat. The first motor lifeboat at Exmouth arrived in 1933 and a tractor was provided to speed up the movement across the road and beach for launches.
Exmouth received brand new Liverpool-class Maria Noble on 1 October 1953 but it was not named until 1 September 1954. Her first service call was on the evening 19 September 1954 to investigate flashing lights and shouts for help near the Maer Rocks. The lifeboat secretary and coxswain lit up the scene with a car's headlights and they saw the 20-foot (6.1 m) cabin cruiser Nicky which was at anchor but appeared to be sinking. The tide was too low to reach it with the lifeboat, but as soon as the water had risen sufficiently it was launched. Even now the lifeboat touched the bottom in the troughs between waves. The lifeboat took on board all the people from the Nicky and returned to station just 26 minutes after being launched. Coxswain Harold 'Dido' Bradford was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal for bravery during this rescue.
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Wikipedia