Torbay RNLI marks official anniversary with Brixham service

Following Sunday’s spectacle at Brixham Breakwater, a second celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution was held on Monday at Brixham’s All Saints Church. 

Church bells across the Bay also rung out at 18:24 for 200 seconds to signify the 200 years of the RNLI. 

The service was well attended by the local community as well as the Torbay crew, other station volunteers, family and friends.

Also in attendance was the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Devon; the Countess of Arran and other local dignitaries.

The service was led by Fishermen’s Mission Area Officer for Devon, Helen Lovell-Smith and Rt Reverend James Grier and featured music from a choir made up of the wives of the crew, although they were joined on one song by the crew themselves. 

Art was hung around the church by local schools whose children also participated in the service, to everyone’s delight. 

Following the service, attendees also met, questioned and chatted to the RNLI coxswains and crew over refreshments.

The event proceeded the previous day’s ‘Blessing of the Fleet’, where lifeboats gathered in the Bay before embarking in convoy along the Breakwater to Torbay RNLI's berth for a ceremony.

The RNLI revealed that in its two centuries of operating, volunteer lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved an incredible 16,028 lives across the southwest. Lifeboats have been launched in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset West Dorset and the Channel Islands 55,912 times, saving 14,967 lives. Additionally, RNLI lifeguards across the region – who became part of the charity’s lifesaving service in 2001 – have responded to 176,585 incidents, saving 1,061 lives.

In total, across the UK and Ireland, 146,452 lives have been saved by the RNLI, equating to an average of two lives saved every day for 200 years.

Founded in a London tavern on 4 March 1824, the RNLI has continued saving lives at sea throughout the tests of its history, including tragic disasters, funding challenges and two World Wars.

Torbay RNLI was established in Brixham in 1866 following one of the nation’s greatest maritime tragedies. Known locally as the 'Great Gale,' a storm hit Torbay on the evening of January 10, 1866, resulting in the destruction of approximately 60 vessels and claiming the lives of about 100 sailors.

Reports from that time suggested that after the storm abated, it was possible to traverse the coastline from Brixham to Paignton by walking across the wreckage of ships.

The only lifeboat at the time of the storm was based in Teignmouth, which had to be hauled ten miles overland to Torquay Strand the next day. For most ships, this was too late.

The tragedy highlighted the urgent need for a lifeboat in the Bay and within months, hundreds of pounds were raised for a station and a new lifeboat: ‘The City of Exeter’.

The story was immortalised in the poem ‘The Great Gale’ by Fisherman Sprat, which was read at the service by MP Anthony Mangnall.

Anthony said: “This is one of those amazing moments where you get to come and see the fantastic work that volunteers do to keep people safe at sea.

“The RNLI is just a living embodiment of the generations of people who have gone to sea to protect those out on the water. This week is a long week of celebration for the 200 years the RNLI has existed, both in Brixham and across the country.

“These guys are an integral part of our community, both for the maritime industries and for the thousands of visitors that we get here every year.”

Torbay’s RNLI station has remained in operation ever since its founding, although vast improvements have been made to its lifeboats and kit – from the early oar-powered vessels to today’s technology-packed lifeboats, which are now built in-house by the charity; and from the rudimentary cork lifejackets of the 1800s to the full protective kit each crew member is now issued with.

More recently, in 2008, Torbay RNLI went to the rescue of the 20-person crew of The Ice Prince, a cargo ship which had got into difficulty in atrocious conditions 31 miles out in the English Channel. Following the rescue, the Torbay RNLI crew involved were recognised for their bravery, receiving the RNLI Thanks of the Institution Vellum award, with Coxswain Mark Criddle receiving the RNLI Silver Medal for Gallantry.