Dover History

1837 The first lifeboat station was established by the Dover Humane and Shipwreck Institution and a boathouse was built at Townsend.

1853 The lifeboat was kept beneath the Pier and launched by davits.

1855 The RNLI took over the lifeboat station.

1965 A boathouse was built at the western end of the harbour.

1882 A Silver Medal was awarded to Major Henry Scott for helping to rescue five crew from the wrecked barque Chin Chin.

1891 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain James Woodgate for 21 years as Coxswain.

1893 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain James Woodgate for a 28-hour service to the barque Johanne Marie. Seven survivors were rescued from the rigging.

1903 Police Inspector Nash was killed by the carriage during a launch to the wreck of a hopper barge.

1914 The station closed as it was difficult to man the lifeboat during the First World War.

1919 The station re-opened with a steam lifeboat.

1922 The station closed.

1930 The station re-opened and the lifeboat was kept afloat at moorings in The Camber.

1940 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Colin H Bryant and Bronze Medals to three other crew members of the crew for rescuing 16 men from HM trawler Blackburn Rovers on 26 November 1939, which was on an anti-submarine patrol off Dover. Lt Richard Walker RNR, Assistant King’s Harbour Master, was also awarded the Bronze Medal.

1941 The station closed after the lifeboat had been taken over by the Admiralty.

1947 The station was re-established and the lifeboat was moored in the Eastern Docks.

1951 A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain John Walker for rescuing a man from the yacht Akeco.

1956  A Bronze Medal was awarded to Coxswain John Walker for rescuing 10 people from the yachts Tawi, Sonia and Madam Pompadour in hurricane force winds.

1966 A Letter of Appreciation was sent to the station after seven men were rescued from the Varne Lightship on 2 December in force 10–11 winds.

1976 A Silver Medal was awarded to Coxswain Mechanic Arthur Liddon and Bronze Medal to Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic Anthony George Hawkins when the lifeboat escorted the coaster Primrose with broken steering gear during a hurricane on 1–2 December 1975. Second Assistant Mechanic Richard John Hawkins and Crew Members John James Smith and Gordon David were each awarded the Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum.

1977 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum were awarded to Coxswain Mechanic Arthur Liddon and Second Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic Anthony Hawkins for rescuing six crew from the trawler St Patrick with a fire in her engine room.

1979 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Crew Member GV James for saving a canoeist trapped underneath his capsized canoe. A Letter of Appreciation was also sent to the Coxswain and crew after six other canoeists were rescued.

1981 The Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum was awarded to Coxswain/Mechanic Anthony Hawkins for a service to the container vessel Dragor Maersk. A special Doctor’s Vellum was awarded to Honorary Medical Adviser Dr Peter Welch for carrying out a difficult and arduous transfer to treat an injured seaman.

1982 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic Anthony Hawkins and his crew when five people were rescued from the fishing vessel Armandeche.

1985  A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic Anthony Hawkins, his crew and shore helpers, and to the crews of the motor launches Darg, Denise and the tug Dextrous, for a service to the hovercraft Princess Margaret.

1987  A 150th anniversary Vellum was awarded to the station.

1988  A Silver Medal was awarded to Acting Coxswain Roy Couzens and Bronze Medals to Acting Assistant Mechanic Michael Abbott and Crew Members Geoffrey Buckland, Dominic McHugh, Christopher Ryan, Robert Bruce and Eric Tanner for rescuing three crew from the 16,000 ton vessel Sumnia, which had been driven against Admiralty Pier. The Maud Smith Award for the most outstanding act of lifesaving was awarded to Acting Coxswain, Roy Couzens for this service.

1992 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum were awarded to Coxswain/Mechanic Anthony Hawkins and Crew Members David Pascall and Rodney Goldsack for rescuing three people and saving the yacht Phaedra.

1993 A Framed Letter of Thanks was awarded to Coxswain/Assistant Mechanic Anthony Hawkins for negotiating the lifeboat around ropes, wires and mooring buoys to rescue three crew from the barge Brahant.

1997 The station’s new Severn class lifeboat City of London II arrived at the station.

2000 New shore facilities were built.

Station honours

At Dover lifeboat station the following awards have been made:

Framed Letter of Thanks

Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum

Bronze Medal 13

Silver Medal 6