Southend-on-Sea History
1826 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coastguard Mr George Culmer for rescuing two people from the vessel Friendship.
1838 A Silver Medal was awarded to Lieut Sidney King RN for rescuing two people from the barge John.
1879 The RNLI established a lifeboat station; the lifeboat was either launched from moorings at the end of the pier or from a davit.
1885 A second lifeboat (No.2) station was established and the lifeboat was carriage-launched. A boathouse was built at the bottom of Hartington Road.
1887 A Silver Medal was awarded to Light Keeper William Bradley for rescuing a man from the capsized steam tug Jubilee.
1891 The No.2 lifeboat was be moored inside the head of the pier during the winter months and kept in the boathouse during the summer. The No. 1 station lifeboat was removed.
1928 The station’s first motor lifeboat was placed on service.
1935 A new boathouse and slipway were built at the end of pier.
1938 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain Sidney Page for saving seven people from five vessels during a storm on 2 June.
A second Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain Page for rescuing six men from three barges on the night of 26 November
1940 The lifeboat Greater London was one of 19 RNLI lifeboats that went to Dunkirk to help to bring off the British Expeditionary Force. In the last hours of the evacuation the Greater London hauled the destroyer HMS Kellett off the beach and saved the destroyer and her crew from capture.
1941 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Page and Bronze Medals to Crew Members Frank Jurgenson, William Deer, Herbert Myall, Samuel Thomas and Reginald Sanders for an outstanding war service when the lifeboat went out eight times and rescued 12 men from several barges.
1947 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum were awarded to Coxswain Sidney Page and 10 crew members for launching the lifeboat four times in 12 hours and rescuing seven people from three barges.
1953 During a great storm on 31 January the sea flooded large areas of land in many parts of the east coast and the lifeboat was at sea for a total of 26 hours 35 minutes.
1955 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Coxswain Sidney Page for rescuing three crew from the motor barge Fence.
1962 A collective Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Coxswain P Gilson and his crew for rescuing seven people from the vessel Temar that was on fire.
1965 An inshore lifeboat (ILB) station was established with a D class lifeboat, which was housed on the promenade and lowered into the water by davit.
1968 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum were awarded to Robert Chalk, Gordon Easton and D Morgan for rescuing two crew from a cabin cruiser.
1969 A second D class lifeboat was sent to the station in April following the withdrawal of helicopters from RAF Manston.
Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to Robert Chalk and Colin Sedgwick for rescuing four people from two boats on 9 November.
1971 Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to the crews of both the inshore lifeboats – Helmsman Duncan Clark and Crew Members Clifton Warry and Harry Pavitt, and Helmsman Dennis Webb and Crew Member Stephen Cox – for helping to rescue 26 people from 90 capsized yachts during a heavy squall and thunderstorm.
1974 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Robert Chalk for jumping into the sea to rescue a woman in difficulties in the water. He was also awarded a testimonial on Vellum by the Royal Humane Society.
1976 The all weather lifeboat was withdrawn on 28 March and a B class Atlantic 21 lifeboat was placed on service.
1978 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Helmsman Robert T Fossett for saving two boats, rescuing six people and giving help to three other vessels on 6 June 1977.
1979 A Centenary Vellum was awarded to the station.
1981 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to 16-year-old Carl Palmby for going to the aid, in his sailing boat, of a man clinging to his upturned dinghy.
Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to Helmsman Paul Gilson and Crew Members Glyn Gilson and Paul Manners for assisting the tug Laity F.
1982 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Helmsman Robert T Fossett and Framed Letters of Thanks to Crew Members Simon Spratt and Mark Fossett for rescuing the two crew from the fishing vessel Mary.
1986 HRH Princess Anne named the new Atlantic 21 lifeboat Percy Garon II on 2 May.
A new boathouse for the Atlantic 21 was built next to the D class boathouse after the 180ft coaster Kings Abbey sliced through a section of the pier on 30 June.
1989 An extension to the Atlantic 21 boathouse was built for the second D class lifeboat.
1990 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Helmsman Paul Gilson and Framed Letters of Thanks to Crew Members John Foster and Clifton Warry when the D class lifeboat went to help the Atlantic 21 lifeboat Percy Garon II during a storm, steep heavy seas and darkness on 21 October 1989. The Percy Garon II was on service to a sinking barge when both engines failed and was drifting in dangerous waters at Shoebury Sands. Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to the Atlantic 21 Helmsman Robert Fossett and Crew Members Mark Fossett and Roy Kidwell.
1991 A commemorative plaque was unveiled on 24 January by Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal to mark the opening of the new Atlantic 21 boathouse.
1992 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Helmsman Paul Gilson for rescuing the two crew from the yacht First Knight on 23 August 1991. Framed Letters of Thanks were awarded to Crew Members Clifton Warry and Duncan Clark.
1997 The new D class lifeboat, D-527 Ethel Royal, was placed on service on 27 October.
1999 A Framed Letter of Thanks was presented to the station after all three lifeboats had assisted several sailing dinghies that had been capsized or sunk by rapidly deteriorating weather on 3 January.
2000 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Helmsman John Foster and Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum were awarded to Crew Members Michael Whistler and Ian Rees when they rescued three people from the angling boat Lady Jane on 24 October 1999. The Walter and Elizabeth Groombridge Award for the most meritorious service performed by a B class lifeboat in 1999 was given for this rescue. Further honour was bestowed upon them by Southend Borough Council when they awarded them the Mitchell Cup.
2001 A new boathouse was completed in July at a cost of £696,186.
A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Helmsman John Foster for rescuing the three crew and saving the angling boat Sea Breeze on 12 November 2000.
2001 The new Atlantic 75 lifeboat, B-776 Vic and Billie Whiffen, was placed on service on 8 December.
2002 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Helmsman Stewart Olley (Atlantic 75) and Helmsman Michael Whistler (D class) when the two lifeboats saved the three crew and the angling boat Badger on 9 March.
2004 The hovercraft, H-004 Vera Ravine, was placed on service on 10 July and a new boathouse for it was completed in September.
Station honours
At Southend-on-Sea lifeboat station the following awards have been made:
Framed Letter of Thanks 22
Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum 24
Bronze Medal 9
Silver Medal 4
