The Bridlington Lifeboat and crew are an institution close to the heart of everyone in Brid. All our fishermen, as well as the rest of the mariners around Bridlington, are incredibly grateful for the safety and reassurance they provide.
History
Instituted 220 years ago in 1805, the Bridlington lifeboat is the oldest in the Yorkshire and Humber region, with many saved lives to its name. Over the years, the crew have been presented with over 50 awards for bravery, including 16 well-deserved RNLI medals for gallantry. Among these are 11 silver awards and five bronzes. The last of these prestigious awards was given in the year 2000 when Coxswain Fred Walkington was awarded the Bronze Medal Second Service Clasp, and Assistant Mechanic Andrew Brompton received the Bronze Medal, for rescuing the five crew members and saving the yacht Lobo in extremely severe weather on the 11th of July.
Recent news
Eve
n more recently, the lifeboat moved to the ultra-modern Spa Promenade Lifeboat Station in 2017. The new Art Deco style station is close to the sea, allowing for quicker and easier launches. Because minutes mean lives, this can make all the difference. The new station also allows both the Ernie Wellings inshore lifeboat (ILB) and the Anthony Patrick Jones all-weather lifeboat (ALB) to be stored in the same facility.
The latter of these two recently made national and even international news in early March when the Solong and the Stena Immaculate collided off the coast of Flamborough. It was part of a huge operation to aid the endangered ships, bring casualties to shore and try to find the missing crewmember, Mark Pernia, joined by the Cleethorpes, Humber, Mablethorpe and Skegness crews.
Many of you will have seen the helmet footage of a Bridlington crew member during news reports. Tragically, missing sailor Mark Pernia was never found, but many lives have been saved over the Brid lifeboat crew’s years, and indeed centuries of service.
From the horse’s mouth
Bridlington RNLI Station Mechanic, AJ Shepherd, said: ‘We launched our Shannon class lifeboat, Antony Patrick Jones, to assist with the call. It was a real team effort working with volunteers from our neighbouring stations and other partner agencies.
‘Our charity’s lifeboat crews regularly train to hone their lifesaving skills. Such training prepares us for a variety of situations like this incident.’
Success and support
One such notable operation was the Great Gale of 1972, when the Bridlington RNLB Robert Whitworth lifeboat saved 16 people from three wrecked ships during a great many launches. Unfortunately, the heavy toll on the lifeboat put it out of action, but 16 more people survived the severe storm thanks to the crew’s work, and many more have been brought back from maritime tragedies since.
Now seems like a great time to remind everyone that the life-saving work of the Bridlington Lifeboat crew and the rest of the RNLI can only take place thanks to the generous gifts of the public. There are many ways to give and raise money to help the RNLI save lives, and you can learn more about them here.