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The
first River Tay Lifeboat went on station at Buddon
Ness in October 1830, the result of a fundraising
campaign led by Dundee businessman James Chalmers
who, three years or so later, invented the adhesive
postage stamp.
Buddon Ness station was run by the River Tay Lifeboat
and Humane Society until the RNLI took over in
1861 and, thanks to the advent of steam tugs able
to tow the Lifeboat downriver, the first Lifeboat
was stationed at Broughty Ferry. Now, at last,
the crew were spared the six mile walk to Buddon
before they could launch the boat!
The
station's Lifeboats undertook numerous valiant
services during both World Wars, but tragedy
struck when, during a violent storm in December
1959, the North Carr Lightship broke its moorings
and began drifting towards rocks in St Andrews
Bay.
The Broughty Ferry Lifeboat Mona and her crew
of eight volunteers launched into the teeth
of a gale to rescue the drifting Lightship's
crew, but all were lost when the Mona was
overwhelmed by huge seas and capsized.
Volunteers to form a new crew came forward
within hours of the disaster and a replacement
Lifeboat was operational just two weeks later. |
Today, Broughty Ferry Lifeboat station operates
a 14 metre Trent class all-weather Lifeboat, Elizabeth
of Glamis, and a 5 metre D class inflatable Lifeboat,
Hartlepool Dynamo. With two turbocharged V10 MAN
diesel engines producing a total of close to 2,000
horsepower, Elizabeth of Glamis is capable of 25
knots and has an operating range of 250 miles.
The Trent carries a crew of seven and is self-righting
in the event of capsize. Hartlepool Dynamo, which
carries a crew of three, has a 40 horsepower Mariner
outboard engine and can make more than 20 knots.
The
station's Lifeboats were the busiest in Scotland
in 2003, 2004 and 2006, launching 72 times
and bringing 29 people to safety in 2006 alone.
Currently, in 2007, the twenty volunteers
who crew the station's two Lifeboats include
a garage owner, a company director, a plumber,
a pilot boat skipper, a joiner, two firefighters,
a university lecturer, two police officers
and a laboratory technician. |
Since the station opened in 1830,
Broughty Ferry's Lifeboat volunteers have saved
more than 650 lives. |
