Largs Lifeboat Station
| Inshore Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | A85 Carriage |
| Address | Greenock Road, Largs, North Ayrshire, KA30 8NG |
| Telephone | 01475 675149 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
On the Firth of Clyde opposite the island of Great Cumbrae, Largs runs a fast Atlantic 85 over one of the busiest stretches of leisure water in Scotland. The RNLI established the station in 1964 — one of the first two inshore stations in the country — and the crews hold a Silver Medal.
When the RNLI introduced its first fast inshore lifeboats in response to growing leisure use of the water, just two of the original 25 stations were in Scotland: Broughty Ferry and Largs, established in May 1964. The first boat was an unnamed 16-foot D-class, at first kept only in the summer months.
On 24 July 1983 the Largs lifeboat Independent Forester Liberty launched to a capsized motor-boat off Great Cumbrae with four people aboard. Three were taken from the water, but a girl remained trapped in an air-pocket beneath the upturned hull; crew member Arthur Hill repeatedly ducked under the boat and freed her, for which he received the Silver Medal and the Maud Smith Award for the bravest act of life-saving of the year.
The station has grown through Atlantic 21 and 75 boats to today’s Atlantic 85, the R. A. Wilson; its 1998 boathouse was opened by the Princess Royal.
