PorthcawlLifeboat Station opened in 1860 and a boathouse was subsequently built on the promenade to house the lifeboat. This station was closed in 1902 when Porthcawl Dock was closed. The station reopened in 1965 as an Inshore LifeboatStation with a lifeboat. The current boathouse was built in 1996 to house a new lifeboat which now houses an lifeboat.
History
The station opened in April 1860, with the boathouse being built on the promenade, at the entrance to Knights Arms Square. In 1870, a new lifeboat was bought for the station which required the existing boathouse to be enlarged. A harness room was also included to store equipment for the six horses needed to launch and recover the lifeboat. In 1887 the station received yet another new lifeboat, however this lifeboat was used very little with only 9 launches until the station closed in 1902. Porthcawl Lifeboat Station was closed in 1902 due to the cessation of commercial traffic to the Docks. Since the majority of the stations launches were for commercial traffic, it was deemed unnecessary to have a lifeboat station and the boathouse was sold. In 1965, the RNLI re-opened the station and placed on service an experimental inflatable inshore lifeboat. This lifeboat was the first D class lifeboat and it was designed to give a rapid response to recreational water users around the coast. Due to the RNLI selling the old boathouse, the new lifeboat was housed in a lean-to next to Jennings building and the crew were recruited using adverts in the local press. In 1995, the stations lifeboat rescued a windsurfer in a force 10 gale which resulted in a silver medal being awarded to the helmsman In 1996 the RNLI decided that Porthcawl needed a larger boat and a new, purpose built boathouse was constructed to house a brand new Atlantic 75 and a new Talus MB-4H Tractor launch tractor together with a Do-Do carriage.
Fleet
All Weather Boats
Inshore Lifeboats
''D''-class
''B''-class
Station Honours
Silver Medals x 8 - pre 1860 Bronze Medal - 1929 Framed Letter of Thanks x 3 - 1968 Silver Medal - 1995 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellums x 2 - 1995 Framed Letter of Thanks - 1995 Framed Letter of Thanks x 2 - 1997 Framed Letter of Thanks x 2- 1998 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum - 2002 Framed Letter of Thanks x 2- 2002 Bronze Medal - 2002 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum x 2 - 2002 Framed Letter of Thanks - 2002 Bronze Medal - 2004 Thanks of the Institution Inscribed on Vellum - 2004
