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1812 The first lifeboat was sold, never having been used.
1828 The station lapsed until 1851.
1908 A lifeboat station opened at Newlyn.
1913
The lifeboat was transferred from Newlyn to Penlee. The RNLI
established a station at Penlee and a new boathouse and roller slipway
were built at Penlee Point. In the years before the RNLI established a
station at Penlee, many courageous rescues were carried out. Two gold
medals and 26 silver medals were awarded for rescues to the many wrecks
during the storms and for "long and gallant services in saving life
from shipwreck".
1936 A bronze medal was awarded to coxswain
Frank Blewett for rescuing nine crew from the steamer Taycraig driven
on to rocks in Mounts Bay in a gale.
1947 A silver medal was
awarded to coxswain E F Madron and a bronze medal to motor mechanic J B
Drew when the lifeboat rescued eight crew from the obsolete battleship
Warspite, which was wrecked at Cuddens Point, Mounts Bay, while being
towed to a shipbreaker's yard.
1961 Shore helper James Pentreath
was killed and another helper, R W Blewett, injured when the Penlee
lifeboat was being rehoused on December 30. A heavy swell carried the
lifeboat broadside and caused the winch wire to strike the two shore
helpers, causing them to fall on to the rocks.
1975 A bronze
medal was awarded to coxswain William Richards for a service to the
motor vessel Lovat. A helicopter rescued two survivors but 11 lives
were lost. In darkness and hurricane-force winds the lifeboat recovered
the bodies.
1979 A special framed certificate was awarded to the
coxswain and crew for the services to numerous yachts in difficulties
during the Fastnet Race on August 16.
1980 A framed letter of
thanks was awarded to coxswain William Richards when the lifeboat towed
the trawler Normauwil clear of danger after it was stranded near Newlyn
Harbour.
1981 On December 19, hurricane-force winds had blown
the cargo ship Union Star off course after it suffered engine failure.
The lifeboat Solomon Browne launched into very difficult waters, so
rough that the crew of the Royal Navy Sea King helicopter from RNAS
Culdrose were unable to lift any of the eight crew from Union Star.
Coxswain William Richards made several attempts to get alongside and
managed to rescue four people who jumped from the Union Star's
wheelhouse on to the lifeboat. The lifeboat made a further attempt to
rescue the remaining four when radio contact was lost. Her last message
was: "We've got four off at the moment." Ten minutes later, her lights
disappeared. The lifeboat had been completely wrecked, with the loss of
her crew of eight. The coaster was also lost. There were no survivors.
Coxswain William Trevelyan Richards was posthumously awarded the RNLI's
gold medal. Bronze medals were awarded posthumously to the remainder of
the crew: Second coxswain/mechanic James Stephen Madron, assistant
mechanic Nigel Brockman, emergency mchanic John Robert Blewett, crew
members Charles Thomas Greenhaugh, Kevin Smith, Barrie Robertson Torrie
and Gary Lee Wallis. A local appeal raised over £3 million.
1982
The chairman of the RNLI, the Duke of Atholl, presented vellums
recording the bravery awards to the families of the men who died.
1983
The new Arun class lifeboat Mabel Alice was placed on service on May 8
and lies afloat in Newlyn Harbour. A new assembly building was built
providing a workshop/store, souvenir outlet and improved crew
facilities.
1985 The thanks of the institution inscribed on
vellum was awarded to Coxswain Kenneth Thomas for escorting the trawler
St Simeon in a strong gale and very rough sea on February 15.
1985
Following the 1981 lifeboat disaster, Penzance Town Council created a
memorial garden on land next to the boathouse at Penlee Point in memory
of the lifeboat crew "who gave their lives in service". A flagstaff
made from the wreckage of the Solomon Browne, and her flag, were
presented to the Dean and Chapter of Truro Cathedral as a memorial and
in appreciation of the support given by the bishop and cathedral
authorities to the Penlee families and the RNLI at the time of the
disaster.
1995 A bronze medal was awarded to coxswain/mechanic
Neil Brockman when, with the Sennen Cove lifeboat, the lifeboat Mabel
Alice assisted in the rescue of five people and saving the fishing
vessel Julian Paul which had fouled her propeller to the west of
Longships on December 7, 1994. Coxswain/mechanic Terence George, of the
Sennen Cove lifeboat, was also awarded the bronze medal.
2000 A
framed letter of thanks was presented to coxswain mechanic Neil
Brockman for taking the lifeboat alongside the French fishing vessel
Gwel a Vo more than 15 times, at night, in rough seas and five-metre
swells on December 21, 1999 to treat an injured man.
2001 When
Marazion inshore lifeboat station closed permanently on October 31,
Penlee lifeboat provided all operational cover in the area.
2002
A B class Atlantic 75 inshore lifeboat, B-787 Paul Alexander, was
placed on service on September 12 to complement the cover provided by
the all-weather lifeboat.
2003 An anniversary vellum was awarded
to the station to commemorate the completion of 200 years of service. A
new Severn class lifeboat, ON-1265 Ivan Ellen, was placed on service.
article copyright WESTERN MORNING NEWS
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