Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat Station
Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat Station
Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat Station is located in Wales
Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat Station
Horton, Swansea, Wales
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
CountryWales, UK
Coordinates51°32′53″N 4°12′03″W / 51.54806°N 4.20083°W / 51.54806; -4.20083
Opened1884
Owner Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat Station (based in Horton, Swansea, Wales) opened in 1884 and was originally based in Port Eynon.[1]

The current station in Horton operates a D-class (IB1) lifeboat named Barbara Jane (D-824).

History

The first station opened in 1884 in Port Eynon after successive tragedies along the coast resulted in a large death toll. The RNLI decided a lifeboat should be stationed further west than The Mumbles Lifeboat Station and chose Port Eynon for the location.

A boathouse was built on the west end of Port Eynon Bay to house the lifeboat A Daughter's Offering. This building is now used as a Youth Hostel by the YHA. A Daughter's Offering had a successful 22 years of service, saving 39 lives in total. In 1906, A Daughter's Offering had reached the end of her useful life, so a new lifeboat was provided.

The new lifeboat, Janet served for 10 years, saving a total of 15 lives. Tragedy struck on 1 January 1916. Janet responded to a distress signal from the S.S. Dunvegan and while making her way to the vessel was capsized by a large wave. Although the lifeboat automatically righted itself, one crewmember could not make it back onboard and drowned. Janet then capsized again and another two crewmembers had been lost overboard and could not be found. The lifeboat had lost all of its oars at this point and could do nothing but drift towards Mumbles. Lifeboat Disasters

Due to this tragedy, the lifeboat station was closed. A sculpture commemorating the lost crew of the Janet is in the churchyard of Port Eynon Church, and there is a plaque inside the church.

In 1968, the RNLI determined that there was a new need for a lifeboat station in this area, and so allocated a D-class (EA16) lifeboat to a new station based close to the beach in Horton. The new station, Horton and Port Eynon, still operates; a new boathouse was built in 1992.

Fleet

All-Weather Lifeboats

ON[lower-alpha 1] Name In service[2] Class Comments
55 A Daughter's Offering 1884–1906 34ft Self-Righting (P&S)
559 Janet 1906–1916 35ft Self-Righting (P&S) Station Closed 1916

Inshore Lifeboats

Op. No.[lower-alpha 2] Name In service[2] Class Comments
D-165 unnamed 1968–1980 D-class (RFD PB16) Station re-opened, 1968
D-275 unnamed 1980–1988 D-class (Zodiac III)
D-380 unnamed 1988–1997 D-class (EA16)
D-448 Sea Ranger 1997–1998 D-class (EA16)
D-531 Walter Grove 1998–2008 D-class (EA16)
D-688 Albert Wordley[3] 2008–2018 D-class (IB1)
D-824 Barbara Jane[4] 2018– D-class (IB1)
  1. ↑ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.
  2. ↑ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

Station Honours

The following are awards made to the crew of Horton & Port Eynon Lifeboat Station[5]

John Walter Grove - 1973
  • Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum
Charles Gwilyn Twitchett - 1973
Andrew John McNulty - 1973
John Walter Grove - 1974
  • Framed Letter of Thanks
Lawrence Grove - 1999
Lawrence Grove - 2001
Steve Davies - 2015 New Year Honours[6]

References

  1. ↑ "RNLI - Horton and Port Eynon Lifeboat Station". Retrieved 11 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.
  3. ↑ "Last wish leaves lifeboat legacy". BBC. Retrieved 17 May 2008.
  4. ↑ "Horton and Port Eynon RNLI's new inshore D class lifeboat named Barbara Jane". RNLI. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "Horton and Port Eynon's station history". RNLI. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "New Year Honour for Swansea RNLI volunteer Steve Davies". BBC. 30 December 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2015.
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