Southend-on-Sea Lifeboat Station

Southend-on-Sea lifeboat station
Lifeboat station at the end of Southend Pier.
Southend-on-Sea, Essex
General information
Type	RNLI Lifeboat Station
Location	Southend-on-Sea lifeboat station
Address	Southend Pier,
Town or city	Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS1 1EE
Country	England
Coordinates	51°31′56.6″N 0°42′59.0″E / 51.532389°N 0.716389°E / 51.532389; 0.716389
Opened	1879
Owner	Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Website
Southend-on-sea RNLI Lifeboat Station

The Southend-on-Sea lifeboat station is a lifeboat station at Southend-on-Sea in the English county of Essex, operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) since 1879.^[1][2]

Because of the large tidal range and extensive drying foreshore at Southend, the lifeboat station uses two boathouses.

The first of these is situated at the head (outer end) of the 1.34 miles (2.16 km) long Southend Pier, and houses a B-class (Atlantic 85) lifeboat and a smaller D-class (IB1) lifeboat, both of which are launched by davit into the deep water adjoining the pier.

The second boathouse is situated adjacent to the inshore end of the pier, and houses a second D-class IB1 lifeboat together with a H class hovercraft, both of which are launched down an adjacent slipway.^[3]

The pier head lifeboat station from the sea (the lifeboats are stored behind the red doors, and are launched by the davits)

The pier-head lifeboat house is a modern structure, which incorporates crew accommodation and offices, an RNLI shop, and a viewing gallery from which visitors can view the lifeboats. It is topped by a sun deck to which the public have access. Lifeboat crews use an electric buggy, complete with sirens and blue flashing lights, to access this boathouse along the pier from the shore.^[3]