Ramsey Lifeboat Station
| All-Weather Lifeboat | |
|---|---|
| Launch Method | SLARS |
| Address | Queens Promenade, Ramsey, Isle of Man, IM8 1RX |
| Telephone | 01624 812169 |
Explore two centuries of RNLI lifeboat history, heroic rescues, and the enduring tradition of saving lives at sea.
Overlooking Ramsey Bay in the north of the Isle of Man, Ramsey runs a carriage-launched Shannon-class all-weather lifeboat, covering a busy shipping approach and a coast with one of the island’s biggest harbours. A lifeboat has served here since 1829, and the crews hold five gallantry medals.
Ramsey’s lifeboat story begins with the founder of the RNLI himself: on 28 May 1828, Sir William Hillary, president of the Isle of Man District Association, asked headquarters to place lifeboats at both Peel and Ramsey. The first Ramsey boat, a Palmer-class pulling lifeboat, arrived in 1829, but after Hillary’s death in 1847 the station fell into disuse.
At the request of the island’s Lieutenant Governor, the RNLI re-established the station in 1868. Its crews built a fine record: Coxswain Robert Garrett and Honorary Secretary Edward C. Kerr won Silver Medals in 1890 for taking eighteen people off the dredger Walter Bibby and the schooner Margaret in two services within days.
In 1941 Coxswain John Comish won the Bronze Medal for an extraordinary service to the trawler Strathairlie, repeatedly veering the lifeboat alongside on his anchor cable. The Gough Ritchie charitable funds, from the Ramsey brewing family, have supported successive lifeboats; the present Shannon-class Ann and James Ritchie II arrived in 2022.
