Alderney Lifeboat Station is located at Braye Harbour, on the island of Alderney, the northernmost of the inhabited Channel Islands. It is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown dependency.
A lifeboat was first stationed at St Anne on Alderney by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1869, but was closed in 1884. The station was re-established 100 years later at Braye harbour in 1984.
The station currently operates an All-weather lifeboat, 14-29 "Inner Wheel II" (ON 1245), on station since 2024.
History.
On 19 October 1865, before the establishment of a lifeboat station at Alderney, Gunner James Moore of the Coast Brigade, Royal Artillery, was awarded the RNLI Silver Medal, when along with two colleagues, rescued all 17 men from the French vessel "Carioca", on passage from Le Havre to Rio de Janeiro, when it struck the rocks at Point d'Else.
The RNLI decided to establish a lifeboat station at St Anne on Alderney in 1869. A boathouse was constructed at a cost of £235. A 33-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with both oars and sails, was placed on service, and named "Mary and Victoria". In 15 years, the lifeboat was never required. With many fishermen leaving the island in the 1880s, it became impossible to maintain a crew, and the station was closed in 1884. The lifeboat was relocated to on Jersey.
In January 1984, a station was re-established at Alderney, and the new design lifeboat 33-08 "Foresters Future" (ON 1090) was sent there, initially for a 12-month evaluation period. A new station was officially opened on 10 May 1985 by H.R.H. The Duchess of Kent, who presented 'The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum' to John Kay-Mouat, President of the States of Alderney, for the life-saving work carried out by private boats during the previous 100 years, when there was no lifeboat on the island.
During a remarkable period of four months in 1986, Alderney would see the award of three bronze medals, and five crew members accorded 'The Thanks of the Institution inscribed on Vellum'. On 4 May, four people and the yacht "Sea Victor" were saved after suffering engine difficulties in a southerly gale. Six people and the yacht "Seylla II" were saved in a force 10 gale on 25 August, and the following day, one person and the yacht " Gypsy Rover" were saved in another force 10 gale. Coxswain Stephen Shaw and Second Coxswain Martin Harwood would both received the RNLI Bronze Medal, with Shaw awarded a second medal (second-service clasp).
The lifeboat 44-019 "Louis Marchesi of Round Table" (ON 1045) replaced "Foresters Future" in 1986, serving at Alderney for the next eight years. In 1994, Alderney would be the first station to receive the new lifeboat. Relief and trial lifeboat 14-01 "Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma" (ON 1180) was placed on service temporarily on 7 March 1994, awaiting the arrival of a new production version lifeboat.
Mr Fredrick Roy Barker (1909–1992), known as Roy, was the only son of a Lincolnshire farming family, and after studying animal medicine and husbandry at university, followed by a business degree in the US, he went on to become the managing director and Chairman of Banbury Stockyard in Oxfordshire, the largest livestock trading centre in Europe. Selling the company in the early 1970s, he moved to Jersey, where he was able to fully enjoy his love for sailing and the sea. He left his entire estate to the RNLI, with the request that the income received from the fund be known as the Roy Barker Memorial Fund. The Roy Barker Memorial Fund has helped fund the lifeboat and boathouse at , a lifeboat at , and three other lifeboats, including ones at in Scotland, and in Ireland. It has also funded the SLARS tractor unit at .
The first of the life boats funded by the Roy Barker Memorial Fund, was named 14-04 "Roy Barker I" (ON 1199), arriving at Alderney on 21 July 1995.
Alderney would receive a second lifeboat in 1997, when the Inshore lifeboat "Bacchus" (D-410) was placed at the station. Two years later, the Inshore lifeboat was replaced with another boat, "Spirit of Alderney" (D-551).
On 9 August 2002, a 13-year-old was swept into the sea at the Fort Clonque causeway, followed by her 16-year-old friend and a passer-by, in their attempts to help the girl. Awards were made to five members of Alderney lifeboat station, for their exceptional efforts in the rescue of all three people. Helm of the Inshore lifeboat Philip Murray was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal.
In 2008, towards the end of her 10-year service, it was decided not to replace the Inshore lifeboat, and "Spirit of Alderney" (D-551) was withdrawn in 2009. The station maintains a former lifeboat with reduced equipment levels as a boarding boat, "Ollie Naismith" (D-741-BB) (2022–), which can still be used as an Inshore lifeboat if required.
In September 2024, after 30 years service, "Roy Barker I" was retired. Her replacement is a later lifeboat, a 24-year-old boat built in 2000. RNLB 14-29 "Inner Wheel II" (ON 1245) had previously served at in South Wales.
Station honours.
The following are awards made at Alderney.
Gunner James Moore, Coast Brigade, Royal Artillery - 1865
Capt. Arthur Daniel Jennings, Harbour Master - 1962
Stephen Eric Shaw, Coxswain - 1986
Stephen Eric Shaw, Coxswain - 1986 (Second-Service clasp)
Martin John Harwood, Second Coxswain - 1986
Philip Murray, Helmsman - 2002
Stephen Shaw, Coxswain - 1985
John Kay-Mouat, President of the States of Alderney - 1985
Michael O’Gorman, Assistant Mechanic - 1986
Nigel Rose, Mechanic - 1986
Michael O’Gorman, Assistant Mechanic - 1986
James McDonald, crew member - 1986
Stephen Shaw, Coxswain - 1986
Martin Harwood, Second Coxswain - 1986
Stephen Shaw, Coxswain - 1997
Martin Harwood, Second Coxswain - 1997
Mark Gaudion, crew member - 2002
David McAllister, Station Honorary Secretary - 2002
Declan Goudion, Coxswain - 2007
Steven Wright, Deputy Second Coxswain - 2007
Dean Geran, crew member - 2007
Francois Jean - 2002
Wayne Chandler - 2002
John Kay-Mouat, President of the States of Alderney, and Alderney RNLI Branch Chairman - 1994QBH
Stephen Eric Shaw, Coxswain - 2002QBH
Inshore lifeboat withdrawn in 2009