This site belongs to the Withernsea Lifeboat Station, which is part of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (R.N.L.I) . The R.N.L.I. was established on the 4th March 1824 for the purpose of "the preservation of lives and property from shipwreck". The R.N.L.I. is celebrating its 175th birthday in 1999.Withernsea had its first lifeboat in 1862. It was called Pelican and cost a total of £300 to build. An estimated 20,000 people attended the inaugural launching ceremony on Monday 15th August 1862. It was a sunny day that welcomed the many trippers from Hull who came by train, horse and foot. Also from Hull there were many sailing boats and the fire steamer Zebra with 400 people on board. During the day the Pelican was launched, taken out to the Zebra and capszied to demostrate its self-righting capabilities
.
Over the next fifteen years the Pelican
saved a total of 42 lives and was replaced in 1877 by a new boat, Admiral Rouse
which was replaced in 1883 by the Admiral Rous IIThe last of the five lifeboats
to be housed in Withernsea was withdrawn in 1913. The lifeboats at Withernsea
had saved a total of 88 lives over 51 yearsIn 1974 a new type of lifeboat, the
inshore lifeboat, was placed on station. After a gap of over 60 years the lifeboat
had returned to Withernsea. 