Chiswick Lifeboat Station
Chiswick Lifeboat Station is located on the north bank of the River Thames at Corney Reach, Chiswick, in west London.
It is one of the newest lifeboat stations operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, established in 2002. It is notable for being one of the first stations to cover a stretch of river, rather than estuarial waters or the sea.
Two lifeboats, Dougie and Donna B and Brawn Challenge, are principally located at Chiswick, both on station since 2012.
History
The inquiry set up after the collision in 1989 between the Marchioness and the dredger Bowbelle, that resulted in the loss of 51 lives, recommended a dedicated search and rescue presence on the Thames.The government approached the RNLI, who agreed to provide a rescue service that covered the tidal Thames, between Teddington and the sea.
Locations were approved for stations at, Chiswick,, and at. All four stations became operational at the beginning of 2002.
Chiswick Lifeboat Station commenced service on 2 January 2002, and operated initially with two temporary Inshore lifeboats. An E-class Tiger Marine fast response boat was soon placed on service, and was named Chelsea Pensioner at a ceremony held at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on 19 July 2002. A second lifeboat Joan and Kenneth Bellamy also arrived on service at Chiswick in 2002.
Demand for the services of the Thames lifeboats proved to be much higher than originally anticipated. In 2002, their first year of operation, Thames lifeboats were called out over 800 times, accounting for 10% of the total number of call-outs, or "shouts", for the whole of the RNLI nationwide. Within two months of opening, Chiswick became, and has continued to be, the UK's second busiest lifeboat station after Tower Lifeboat Station in Central London. Between 2002 and mid-2018, Chiswick was called to 3,387 incidents and rescued more than 1,620 people.
In 2012, three new E-class lifeboat Mark II lifeboats, E-07, E-08 and E-09, joined the Thames fleet at served at both Chiswick and stations. Chelsea Pensioner was retired in 2015, followed in 2018 by Joan and Kenneth Bellamy. With a new larger E-class lifeboat Mark III lifeboat arriving at in 2019, Chiswick became the principal station for Dougie and Donna B, and Brawn Challenge.