The arrival of Enid Collett at Shoreham RNLI Lifeboat Station on December 10, 2010. Picture: Gerald ThompsonThe arrival of Enid Collett at Shoreham RNLI Lifeboat Station on December 10, 2010. Picture: Gerald Thompson
The arrival of Enid Collett at Shoreham RNLI Lifeboat Station on December 10, 2010. Picture: Gerald Thompson

Celebrating 10th anniversary of Shoreham RNLI’s all-weather lifeboat Enid Collett

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 local crew and she arrived at her new home on Kingston Beach on December 10, 2010, to be greeted by crowds of onlookers, 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 the donor whose generous legacy funded 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, her niece was a strong supporter and a fundraiser for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and it was through their relationship that Enid decided to leave a gift in her will.

The Enid Collett was the first Tamar class lifeboat to go on service at a mainland lifeboat 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 lifeboat Lady Hermione Colwyn 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.

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