Chiswick Lifeboat Station
RNLI lifeboat station by Chiswick Pier
Chiswick Lifeboat Station is located in Greater London
Chiswick Lifeboat Station
Chiswick, London
General information
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
AddressThe Pier House, Corney Reach, Chiswick, London, W4 2UG
CountryUnited Kingdom
Coordinates51°28′56″N 0°15′05″W / 51.4822°N 0.2515°W / 51.4822; -0.2515
Opened2002
OwnerRoyal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Chiswick RNLI
Chiswick lifeboat Chelsea Pensioner performing a rescue

Chiswick Lifeboat Station is a lifeboat station on the north bank of the River Thames at Corney Reach, Chiswick, in west London. It is one of the newest stations operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), and one of the first to cover a river rather than estuarial waters or the sea.

Establishment

The inquiry set up after the collision in 1989 between the Marchioness and the dredger Bowbelle, that resulted in the loss of 51 lives, recommended a dedicated search and rescue presence on the Thames. As a part of this, the government approached the RNLI, who agreed to provide a rescue service that covered the tidal Thames between Teddington and the sea. Locations were approved for stations at Teddington, Chiswick, Tower and Gravesend.[1][2] These all became operational at the beginning of 2002.[3]

History

Chiswick Lifeboat Station commenced service on 2 January 2002, and operated with an E-class Tiger Marine fast response boat. In July 2002 the boat was named Chelsea Pensioner at a ceremony held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.[3]

Demand for the services of the Thames lifeboats proved to be much higher than originally anticipated. In 2002, their first year of operation, London lifeboats were called out over 800 times, accounting for 10% of the total number of call-outs, or "shouts", that the RNLI responded to nationwide. Within two months of opening, Chiswick became, and it has continued to be, the UK's second busiest lifeboat station after Tower in Central London.[4] Between 2002 and mid-2018, Chiswick was called to 3,387 incidents and rescued more than 1,620 people.[5]

In 2012, three new E-class lifeboat Mark II lifeboats, E-07, E-08 and E-09, joined the Thames fleet at Chiswick and Tower, and served at both stations. E-003 Chelsea Pensioner was retired in 2015, followed by E-006 Joan and Kenneth Bellamy in 2018.
With the arrival of a new bigger E-class lifeboat Mark III lifeboat arriving at Tower in 2019, Chiswick became the Principal Station for E-08 Dougie and Donna B, and E-09 Brawn Challenge [6]

Crew

The Chiswick station is staffed continuously to provide an immediate response and is coordinated by the Coastguard. The crew is drawn from both full-time staff and a pool of about 50 volunteers.[5]

Boats

Chiswick Lifeboat Station operates two boats.[6]

Op. No.[lower-alpha 1] Name In service [6] Class Comments
B-767 Maritime Nation 2002 Atlantic 75-class
B-734 Amy Constance 2002–2004 Atlantic 75-class
B-734 Amy Constance 2004–2005 Atlantic 75-class
E-003 Chelsea Pensioner 2002–2015 E-class (Mk I)
E-006 Joan and Kenneth Bellamy 2002–2018 E-class (Mk II)
E-005 Legacy 2018–2021 E-class (Mk II)
E-08 Dougie and Donna B [7] 2012– E-class (Mk II)
E-09 Brawn Challenge [8] 2012– E-class (Mk II)
  1. ↑ Op. No. is the RNLI's Operational Number of the boat carried on the hull.

See also

References

  1. ↑ RNLI. "2002: Lifeboats on the Thames". Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ↑ Lister, Sam (3 January 2002). "First Thames Lifeboats Launched". The Times. p. 9.
  3. 1 2 RNLI. "Chiswick's station history". Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ↑ Proto, Laura (27 January 2016). "RNLI crews rescue 245 people from the River Thames in just one year". The Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 Larter, Grahame; Dobinson, Isabel (13 August 2018). "Meet the Chiswick lifeboat crew who have attended 150 call-outs so far this year". My London. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2023). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2023. Lifeboats Enthusiasts Society.
  7. ↑ "Chiswick Lifeboat Named by Olympic Rowing Champion". WimbledonSW19.com. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  8. ↑ "Ross Brawn names RNLI lifeboat". Motorboat & Yachting. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
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