Portpatrick Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | Moored afloat |
| Address | The Harbour, Portpatrick, Dumfries and Galloway, DG9 8SL |
| Telephone | 01776 810251 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
On the Rhins of Galloway, facing the busy North Channel between Scotland and Ireland, Portpatrick runs a Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat from its picturesque harbour. A lifeboat has served here since 1877, and the crews’ record includes a launch to one of the worst peacetime disasters in British waters.
With lifeboats already at Port Logan and Ballantrae, the RNLI opened a station between them at Portpatrick on 15 December 1877, at the request of local people, to protect the many vessels passing this exposed corner of Galloway. The first lifeboats were lowered into the harbour by davit; one fell fourteen feet and was wrecked in 1899.
The station’s gallantry record runs through the twentieth century: a Silver Medal for Coxswain James Smith Jnr in 1913 for the Dunira, and a Bronze for Coxswain John Campbell in 1932 for a twelve-hour service to the Belfast steamer Camlough.
On 31 January 1953 the car ferry Princess Victoria foundered on her crossing from Stranraer to Larne with the loss of around 133 lives; the Portpatrick lifeboat fought through a hurricane for over a day, and Coxswain William McConnell received the Bronze Medal and the British Empire Medal. The station now runs the Shannon-class Stella and Humfrey Berkeley, kept afloat in the harbour.
