Broughty Ferry's station history

Silver Medal awarded to Daniel Kidd and £10 to him and eight other men for rescuing three of the crew of the schooner Fancy which was wrecked off Broughty Ferry on 9 February 1828.

Silver Medal awarded to Lieut Peter Stark RN for putting off in the lifeboat with 14 other men in a high sea and rescuing the crew of three of the Brig Two Sisters of Kirkcaldy to Dundee with a cargo of coal on 11 April 1837.  The three men were taken off the mast which was the only part of the vessel left above water.

Gold Medal awarded to Lieut Peter Stark RN for the rescue of J Gallently, the master, and four men from the schooner Ranger of Perth, wrecked on the Banks of the Tay on 4 March 1838.

RNLI provided a new Peake class lifeboat Mary Hartley, built at a cost of £205, which went on service at the Broughty Ferry station. A new boatshed was built on the foreshore at a cost of £400.

The Buddon Ness lifeboat was fouled and stove in by some small vessel and driven from her moorings and sank.  She was later recovered but condemned and the station was temporarily closed until a new lifeboat was sent in 1867.

A new iron hulled lifeboat Eleanora, which had previously been on service at Teignmouth and New Brighton under different names, was placed on service at Buddon Ness.
A new lifeboat Mary Hartley 11, replaced its namesake at Broughty Ferry.

The Mary Harris 11 was condemned and replaced with a new SR lifeboat English Mechanic built at a  cost of £328.

The Buddon ness lifeboat Eleanora was renamed May.

A new Watson Class SR lifeboat Samuel Shawcross (ON200), built at a cost of £575, was placed on service at Broughty Ferry.
A new SR lifeboat, also named May (ON196), built at a cost of £543, was placed on service at Buddon Ness.

Slipway constructed at a cost of £130.

The Buddon Ness station was closed and the lifeboat May withdrawn, having seen little service for some years.

George Peebles was appointed Motor Mechanic at 5/- per week.

New lifeboat house and slipway constructed at a cost of £1,700.  Death reported of Mr James Hunter who had been Honorary Secretary for 45 years.

A new motorised Watson class lifeboat Maria (ON560), built at a cost of £3,400, was placed on service in October, replacing the Samuel Shawcross.

Bronze Medal awarded to Coxswain Charles Gall for the rescue of six pilots from the cutter Daydream that was totally wrecked during a strong easterly gale and very heavy sea on 11 April 1920.  The lifeboat was launched at 0105 and it was not until five attempts had been made that the five men aboard were saved.  The lifeboat then searched for and found another pilot who was adrift in the cutter's small boat.

A new motorised Watson class lifeboat John Ryburn (ON565), built at a cost of £3,183, was placed on service in October, replacing the Maria. She had previously been on station at Peterhead.

Centenary Vellum awarded.

A new motorised Watson class lifeboat Mona (ON775), built at a cost of £6,802, was placed on service in May, replacing the John Ryburn.

Silver Medal awarded to Coxswain James Coull and Bronze Medal to Acting Second Coxswain George B Smith and Motor Mechanic John Grieve for the rescue of nine from the steam trawler Quixotic of Aberdeen, which had run onto the Bell Rock on 5 December 1939.  A fresh north easterly wind was blowing with squalls of sleet.  A heavy swell was running it was bitterly cold and the night was dark.  The bow of the Quixotic was on the rocks, she was lying on her port bilge and her stern was under water to nearly amidships.  There was so little water that it was impossible for the lifeboat to get under the lee of the vessel.

On 8 December the lifeboat Mona, first stationed at Broughty Ferry in 1935, was launched to the help of the North Carr light-vessel that had been reported broken adrift. Weather conditions were exceptionally severe with a strong south-easterly gale blowing across the entrance to the River Tay. Certain navigational buoys had been driven by the atrocious weather from their positions. In the early hours of the morning the lifeboat unfortunately capsized and her crew of eight were drowned. Two weeks after the disaster, a new crew had been selected and a relief lifeboat, City of Bradford 11 (ON709) was placed on station.

A new motorised Watson class lifeboat The Robert (ON955) built at a cost of £35,500, was placed on service, replacing the relief lifeboat.

On 3 June the Lord Provost McManus unveiled a memorial plaque on the north wall of the lifeboat house to the eight men who lost their lives in the lifeboat disaster of 8 December 1959.

D class lifeboat Pinafore sent to station in April, the first in Scotland.

Watson class lifeboat The Robert withdrawn and replaced by an Arun class lifeboat Spirit of Tayside (ON1056).

150th Anniversary Vellum awarded.

New D class lifeboat D-539 was placed on service in September.

The Spirit of Tayside was withdrawn and temporarily replaced by a newer Arun class lifeboat, the former Stromness boat Joseph Rothwell Sykes and Hilda M (ON1099) on 20 January.

Work commenced on new landing stage.

The new Trent class lifeboat ON1253 Elizabeth of Glamis was placed on service 14 April 2001. This lifeboat was funded by the various gifts and legacies.

The new D-class lifeboat D-698 The Sheila Barrie was placed on service.