Qualla: Irvine Lifeboat Station

Irvine Lifeboat Station: Introduction

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mark S, CC BY-SA 2.0. On 29 December 1894, in a hurricane blowing from the north-west, the Irvine lifeboat *Busbie* could not get out of her own harbour. So her crew set the sails and ran her out to sea anyway. They reached the Norwegian ship *Frey*, in distress near Lady Isle off Troon, in thirty minutes. Sixteen of the *Frey*'s crew jumped into the water. The lifeboat crew hauled them in one by one. Trying to land at Troon, the *Busbie* was overwhelmed by waves, and the coxswain and three or four others were swept overboard. The boat self-righted - that was the whole point of the design - and all but one Norwegian regained the deck. Coxswain David Sinclair was 71 years old. The RNLI awarded him its Silver Medal. It was, by some distance, the most dramatic moment in the station's 80-year history.

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Image: Mark S | CC BY-SA 2.0

Irvine Lifeboat Station: Eighty Years of Service

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mark S, CC BY-SA 2.0. Irvine had a lifeboat from 1834, operated by the Irvine Harbour Commissioners. Management transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1860. At the RNLI committee meeting on 1 November 1860, after a report from the Inspector of Lifeboats and the Harbour Commissioners...

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Image: Mark S | CC BY-SA 2.0

Irvine Lifeboat Station: Three Boats, Three Donors

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mark S, CC BY-SA 2.0. In 1874 the *Pringle Kidd* was retired as unfit for service. The RNLI built a new boathouse next to the Irvine beach breakwater at a cost of £307-9s, and sent a 33-foot self-righting lifeboat at £286-8s. On 17 October 1874 the new boat and carriage were paraded through Irvine dra...

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Image: Mark S | CC BY-SA 2.0

Irvine Lifeboat Station: Coxswain David Sinclair and the Frey

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Mark S, CC BY-SA 2.0. The *Busbie* earned her place in lifeboat history on that hurricane night in December 1894. With the wind north-west and the seas too high to launch normally from the harbour, the crew committed to a sailing approach - hard, fast, and out into the open Firth. They reached the *Fr...

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Image: Mark S | CC BY-SA 2.0

Irvine Lifeboat Station: The Jane Anne, Found in Somerset

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Rosser1954, CC BY-SA 3.0. Irvine Lifeboat Station closed on 2 April 1914. With lifeboats still at neighbouring stations, the RNLI committee accepted the recommendation of the Deputy Chief Inspector of Lifeboats and shut the station after 80 years. The *Jane Anne* (ON 417) went to the relief fleet, then se...

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Image: Rosser1954 | CC BY-SA 3.0