Fishguard Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Inshore Lifeboat | |
| Launch Method | Moored afloat |
| Address | North Breakwater, Fishguard Harbour, Goodwick, Pembrokeshire, SA64 0BU |
| Telephone | 01348 873231 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
From the North Breakwater of Fishguard Harbour at Goodwick, Fishguard runs a Trent-class all-weather lifeboat moored afloat and a D-class, covering the southern end of Cardigan Bay and the Irish Sea ferry route to Rosslare. A lifeboat has served here since 1822, and the station holds an exceptional gallantry record — including the first lifeboat award ever made to women in Britain.
A private lifeboat, built and run by Lt Thomas Evans RN, was first placed at Fishguard in 1822; the first station won eight Silver Medals for gallantry between 1834 and 1855. Among them were two awarded in 1847 to Martha and Margaret Llewellyn — the first women in Britain to receive a lifeboat award — who had waded into a storm-driven sea with ropes around them to save three men from the smack Margaret.
The RNLI took over in 1855, building a boathouse on Goodwick beach. The station’s greatest service came on 3 December 1920, when the lifeboat rescued seven people from the Dutch motor schooner Hermina at Needle Rock; her engine failed during the service, and it took three hours to bring the boat back under oar and sail.
The development of Fishguard Harbour by the Great Western Railway brought a relocated boathouse and slipway in 1911 and a new station in 1930. Today Fishguard runs the Trent-class Blue Peter VII — one of seven lifeboats funded by the BBC’s Blue Peter — moored afloat, with a D-class for inshore work around Strumble Head and the bay.
