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Queenstown Lifeboat Station

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Coordinates: 51°51′06.5″N 8°16′42.8″W / 51.851806°N 8.278556°W / 51.851806; -8.278556
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Queenstown Lifeboat Station
Cobh Promenade, Co. Cork
Queenstown Lifeboat Station is located in Ireland
Queenstown Lifeboat Station
Cobh, County Cork
General information
StatusClosed
TypeRNLI Lifeboat Station
AddressThe Mall, Carrignafoy
Town or cityCobh, County Cork
CountryIreland
Coordinates51°51′06.5″N 8°16′42.8″W / 51.851806°N 8.278556°W / 51.851806; -8.278556
Opened22 October 1866
Closed1920
OwnerIrish Scout Association

Queenstown Lifeboat Station was located in the seaport town of Cobh, (known as Queenstown between 1849 and 1920), situated to the east of the small Pilots Jetty, just off The Mall, overlooking Cork Harbour, on the south coast of Ireland.[1]

A lifeboat station was first established at Queenstown in 1866 by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).[2]

After 54 years in operation, Queenstown Lifeboat Station was closed in 1920.[3]

History

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Ever since its founding in 1824, the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS), later to become the RNLI in 1854, would award medals for deeds of gallantry at sea, even if no lifeboats were involved.

On 27 January 1861, the Austrian brig Uredon, on passage from Cardiff to Malta, ran onto the rocks at Guileen (Gyleen), having missed the entrance to Cork Harbour. 12 of the 13 crew were saved by the Queenstown Coastguard rocket apparatus. Two RNLI Silver Medals were awarded.[4][5]

A third RNLI Silver Medal would be awarded in 1866, when 6 men in the coastguard galley saved the 13 crew of the Italian barque Lidia, when she was wrecked in a gale at Roberts Cove.[6][7]

A donation of £1878-1s-11d was reported at the meeting of the RNLI committee of management on 8 April 1866, to be known as the Quiver Lifeboat Fund, contributed by the subscribers to The Quiver magazine, via the publishers Cassell, Petter and Galpin, and the editor, the Rev. Thomas Teignmouth Shore. The donation initially funded three lifeboats, Quiver No.1 for Queenstown, Quiver No.2 for Margate, and Quiver No.3 for Southwold. It would transpire that No.1 was actually placed at Margate, No.2 at Southwold, and No.3 went to Queenstown.[8][9][10]

A meeting on 3 May 1866 acknowledged the letter and grant by the Secretary of State for War, of the site for a lifeboat house at Queenstown, the building later reported as costing £218-7s-4d.[8][9]

In view of the number of Trans-atlantic vessels using the port, and with several wrecks with loss of life having occurred in the vicinity of Cork Harbour, "it was thought desirable to form a life-boat establishment at Queenstown in the harbour, where at all times and in all weathers the boat could be launched and manned by an efficient crew, and where steam-tugs would be always available to tow her to any part of the neighbouring coast where her services might be needed."[11]

A 34-foot self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with sails and (10) oars, was conveyed free of charge from the River Thames to Cork, by the Cork Steamship Company. On 22 October 1866, in front of "an immense assemblage of spectators", the lifeboat was named Quiver No.3 (ON 302), and then launched on demonstration.[11]

An additional lifeboat was placed at Queenstown in 1890. The 'Queenstown No.2', at 42-feet-long, was at the time, one of the largest self-righting P&S lifeboats constructed, and would be moored afloat at the station. The boat was funded from the bequest of the late Miss Ann Ball of London, and in accordance with her wishes, named Endeavour (ON 272). Both boats would serve at Queenstown until 1899, when Quiver No. 3, at 33-years-old, was retired.[12]

Endeavour was only on station at Queenstown for a further 2 years, before she too was retired, at only 11-years-old. She was replaced by the James Stevens No. 20, a 43-foot Watson (P&S) lifeboat, the last of 20 lifeboats funded by a legacy of £50,000 of the late Mr James Stevens, a property developer from Birmingham. This donation provided more lifeboats than any other single donation ever received by the RNLI.[13]

Sinking of the Luisitania

At 14:10 on the fine calm day of 7 May 1915, the ocean liner RMS Lusitania was torpedoed off the Old Head of Kinsale by German submarine U-20. She sank in just 18 minutes, with the loss of 1197 passengers and crew. The mayday call was received by Queenstown Coastguard at 14:15, and all available vessels were dispatched. The Queenstown lifeboat James Stevens No. 20 was towed to the scene by a tugboat, and was instrumental in picking up survivors, and transferring passengers from ship's lifeboats to larger vessels.[14]

At a meeting of the RNLI committee of management on Friday 9 January 1920, it was decided to close the Groomsport and Queenstown Life-boat Stations.[3]

The lifeboat station still remains, much modernised, and is now the Cobh Sea Scouts headquarters. The lifeboat on station at the time of closure, James Stevens No. 20 (ON 457), would later serve at Fenit in 1923. She was sold from service in 1928, and was last reported as a yacht Eternal Wave in Dartmouth, Devon in the 1970s.[15]

Station honours

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The following are awards made at Queenstown.[16]

Lt. Thomas Goss, RN, Inspecting Commander, H.M. Coastguard, Queenstown – 1861
John Stark, Chief Boatman, H.M. Coastguard, Queenstown – 1861
William Taylor, Chief Officer, H.M. Coastguard, Robert's Cove – 1866
  • The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum
J. Smart, Chief Officer – 1889
R. Cox, Second Officer – 1889
both of the ship Argomene, of Liverpool

Queenstown lifeboat

[edit]
ON[a] Name Built On Station[17] Class Comments
302 Quiver No. 3 1866 1866–1899 34-foot Self-righting (P&S) [Note 1][9]
272 Endeavour
(Queenstown No. 2) 		1890 1890–1901 42-foot Self-righting (P&S) [Note 2]
457 James Stevens No. 20 1901 1901–1920 43-foot Watson (P&S) [Note 3]
Station Closed, 1920
  1. ^ ON is the RNLI's Official Number of the boat.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 34-foot x 8-foot (10-Oared) Self-righting (P&S) lifeboat, built by Forrestt of Limehouse, costing £303-4s-5d.
  2. ^ 42-foot x 11-foot (12-Oared) Self-righting (P&S) lifeboat.
  3. ^ 43-foot x 12-foot 6in (12-Oared) Watson-class (P&S) lifeboat.

References

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  1. ^ "Sheet 195 - Queenstown - 3rd Edition". Maps. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  2. ^ Leonard, Richie; Denton, Tony (2025). Lifeboat Enthusiasts Handbook 2025. Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society. p. 125.
  3. ^ a b "Summary of the Meetings of the Committee of Management". The Lifeboat. 24 (270): 85. August 1920. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  4. ^ Cox, Barry (1998). Lifeboat Gallantry. Spink & Son Ltd. p. 127. ISBN 0907605893.
  5. ^ "Shipping Intelligence". Morning Chronicle. No. 29348. London. 31 January 1861.
  6. ^ Cox 1998, pp. 140.
  7. ^ "The Recent Gales". Freeman's Journal. Dublin. 3 January 1866.
  8. ^ a b "Summary of the Meetings of the Committee". The Lifeboat. VI (62): 225, 227. 1 October 1866. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  9. ^ a b c "Annual Report 1867". The Lifeboat. VI (64): 264, 267, 270, 308. 1 April 1867. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  10. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, pp. 10–13, 28–29.
  11. ^ a b "Additional Stations and New Life-Boats". The Lifeboat. VI (65): 456–457. 1 July 1867. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  12. ^ "Additional Stations and New Life-Boats". The Lifeboat. XIV (157): 396. 1 August 1890. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  13. ^ "Who was James Stevens?". rlni.org. RLNI. Retrieved 8 February 2025.
  14. ^ "100 years ago: Lusitania sinks". RNLI. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
  15. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, pp. 34–35.
  16. ^ Cox 1998, pp. 127, 140.
  17. ^ Leonard & Denton 2025, pp. 26–35.
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