Lifeboat station marks boat’s decade

Shoreham RNLI Lifeboat Station has celebrated the 10th anniversary of the arrival of its all-weather lifeboat Enid Collett.

The Tamar-class 16-15 was brought from the charity’s headquarters at Poole into Shoreham Harbour by our localcrewandshearrivedather new home on Kingston Beach on December 10, 2010, to be greetedbycrowdsofonlookers, all eager to welcome her to the town. The Tamar was the most modern lifeboat and the jewel in the crown of the charity’s fleet. Her arrival in Shoreham followed a public appeal to fund the new boat and replacement station. In the past decade, Enid Collett has launched hundreds of times and helped save many lives of those in trouble at sea.

The lifeboat is named after thedonorwhoselegacyfunded the majority of the £2.7million cost. Enid lived in Great Shelford, Cambridgeshire, and had no connection or personal involvement with the sea or maritime matters. However,herniecewasastrong supporter and a fundraiser for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and it was through their relationship that Enid decidedtoleaveagiftinherwill.

The Enid Collett was the first Tamar class lifeboat to go onserviceatamainlandlifeboat station in the RNLI’s south east region. She was escorted into harbour by RNLI lifeboats from Newhaven, Brighton and Littlehampton.

She replaced the Tyne class lifeboatLadyHermioneColwyn that had been on station since 1990. In January 2009, the Lady Hermione Colwyn was launched down the old lifeboat station’s slipway for the last time, before being moored afloat by the locks for the new build to begin. She made her last trip through the locks and sailed away on November 23, 2010.