We have reached a couple of milestones on our challenge to visit all 238 RNLI Lifeboat Stations. On the last day of November we attended our 100th Station and also marked 6th months since we started the challenge. So what better way to celebrate these milestones than to visit the RNLI’s busiest Lifeboat Station.
Tower Lifeboat Station is located on the River Thames adjacent to Waterloo Bridge. It was established on 2nd January 2002, along with Gravesend, Chiswick and Teddington, as a result of findings from the inquiries into the catastrophic collision between the pleasure boat Marchioness and the dredger Bowbelle in 1989. With 51 lives lost, this remains the largest single loss of life disaster on the River.
The station is one of only a few RNLI lifeboat stations that is crewed around the clock on every day of the year. Equipped with the fastest lifeboats in the RNLI’s fleet, Tower’s crew aim to launch within 90 seconds of an emergency call being received from the Coastguard.
Initially the crew were accommodated at Tower Pier, hence its name. Later in 2006 the station was relocated to the renovated Waterloo Police Pier before new improved facilities were provided in 2023.
The station is equipped with a unique class of Lifeboat specifically designed for the demands of the River. The E-class inshore lifeboat is the fastest in the fleet. There have been 3 iterations of the E-Class with the latest, Mark III, being the fastest and largest. They are powered by 2 Volvo engines and waterjets making them highly manoeuvrable and able to access the most challenging areas of the River. These boats are capable of up to 40 knots and can carry up to 20 casualties. Truly impressive vessels. There are 4 in-service in the fleet being shared between Tower and Chiswick Stations.
When we visited the boats were out on exercise. E-class Hurley Burly (E-07) has been in service since 2011. In 2012 two new boats joined service, Dougie and Donna B (E-08) and Brawn Challenge (E-09). Finally in 2019 a new Mark III boat, Hearn Medicine Chest (E-10) joined Tower Station.
As mentioned, Tower RNLI Station is the busiest of the 238 launching on average 500 times per year. At the time of writing the station had surpassed 11,090 call outs since 2nd January 2002 saving 508 Lives. This year alone they have exceeded their average with 704 Call outs and 23 lives saved.
Unfortunately, due to some safety issues with the gangways and construction work, it is currently not possible to gain access to the station and so our visit photos were taken from the bridge and the Victoria Embankment. We were lucky enough to be able to have a phone call with a crew member who came out and gave us a wave. If you are visiting London why not pop along and have a look at the impressive floating station.
Find out more about Tower RNLI at the link below
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