Countdown begins to HM Coastguard’s 200th birthday

This week’s Maritime Safety Week marks almost six months to the day until Her Majesty’s Coastguard will celebrate a milestone birthday – and we need your help to make the occasion extra special.

On January 15, 2022 HM Coastguard will turn 200.

The history of the coastguard can be traced back to 1822 and, with more than 200 years of memories for us to look back on with pride, we know we have many stories to tell. And we hope that you can help us tell them, by sharing your pictures, memories and experiences over the years.

The 21st century solution to search and rescue    Credit: AgustaWestland


Over the past two centuries HM Coastguard has gone from strength to strength, with coastguard operations centres coordinating responses to emergency situations at the coast – calling upon approximately 310 Coastguard Rescue Teams – made up of around 3,000 dedicated volunteers – and 10 search and rescue helicopters.

It is now one of the UK’s four frontline emergency services, operating a 24/7, 365 day a year search and rescue service to save lives at the coast and at sea.

Safety has always been at the heart of what the coastguard does and, with technology ever evolving, HM Coastguard continues to strive to be at the forefront of innovation in order to carry on improving and saving lives.

Claire Hughes, director of Her Majesty's Coastguard, said: “From our volunteers to full-time staff, we are all immensely proud of the coastguard’s distinguished and fascinating history which has really helped to shape the incredibly important work HM Coastguard carries out today. We look forward to marking the coastguard’s 200th birthday in 2022 and upholding HM Coastguard’s commitment to keeping the public safe at the coast for many years to come.”

From days past, a coastguard team - including a diver - pose for the camera    Credit: National Emergency Service Museum

Can you help us to tell the coastguard story? As we approach next year’s 200th birthday, we are pulling together as much history as we can. We would like to look back at some of the stories, experiences and memories that many people have to tell about the coastguard.

If you have something that you think might fit the bill, please use this link to upload your files or email us at CG200@mcga.gov.uk.

Former Coastguard Rescue Officer Tim Stevens firing a Breeches Buoy rocket line as part of a practice exercise. Breeches Buoys were withdrawn from service in the late 1980s after more than 150 years of use.    Picture: Tim Stevens

Popular posts from this blog

Label your kit at the coast

Image
Kayaks. Canoes. Paddleboards. What do they all have in common? They’re quite often found on the coastline or drifting out to sea. And if we don’t know who they belong to, we can spend time searching for an owner when they’re home safe and sound. So please help us to help you. Label your kit so that if you do get separated from it, and it turns up somewhere, we can get hold of you. In recent weeks, our Coastguard Rescue Teams have found numerous items such as kayaks and canoes drifting out at sea or abandoned near the shoreline. Unfortunately, some of the items we have found have not had their owners’ contact details written on them nor been reported as missing to the Coastguard. As a result, it makes it difficult for us to find out who it belongs to and also means we can never be completely sure if someone is safe or in the worst case, in trouble at sea. This can place a huge strain on our resources especially during the busy summer period when we have to call upon our Coastgua
Read more

A short history of HM Coastguard

Image
Today HM Coastguard is a world leader in maritime search and rescue. Looking back almost 200 years, the goods, which now travel by road, were carried by hundreds of small ships. Year in year out dozens of ships and hundreds of lives were lost within sight of the coast. Public shock and dismay at the tragedies drove forward the creation of national life saving organisations. Though it’s beginnings lie in those decades HM Coastguard originated not to meet the dangers of the seas but to combat a threat to the country’s economy and security – smuggling. As soon as medieval taxes were charged on imports and exports, people began smuggling. By 1743 th e estimate was that half the tea drunk in Britain was illegally imported and shows that smuggling was highly profitable. Smugglers have often been romanticised but the reality was brutal. Local people lived in fear, with violent reprisals on informers and the murder of revenue officers, while corruption enabled smugglers to evade harsh p
Read more

BOSCASTLE FLOODS: TEN YEARS ON

Image
Boscastle Flooding 16 th August 2004 The storms of Monday 16 August 2004 saw three weeks worth of rain fall in one day. The resulting water began to be funnelled down the valleys surrounding Boscastle and soon the steep roads became rivers. By the time that the water reached the picturesque village, it had picked up enough momentum to become a raging torrent, sweeping into buildings, washing cars away and felling huge trees. Graham King runs the Witches Museum in Boscastle and was also the station officer for the Boscastle Coastguard Rescue Team at the time of the floods: “ My museum is situated next to the harbour near the river ,” says Graham “ and I can see the coastguard equipment store from there. Initially I was concerned that the vehicle and equipment were going to become stranded but I soon began to realise how quickly the situation was deteriorating and called Falmouth Coastguard ” From that point on the villagers and tourists stranded in flood waters were he
Read more