With money from Lloyd's of London, and public donations, £120 was raised, and a lifeboat was ordered from Henry Greathead of South Shields, arriving on 10 Aug 1803.

[2] Things didn't always go well in the following 10 years, difficulties getting crew, reluctance to practice, and on one occasion, a missing boat-house key-holder delaying the launch.

John and William Mudie (ON 752) was built by Thorneycroft, and had a single 35 hp engine giving a speed of 7 knots and a range of 116 miles (187 km).

Some time later, in very poor conditions, both Anstruther and Arbroath lifeboats were launched to reports of distress flares seen from Fife Ness, but nothing was found.

Hit by a large cross wave, the lifeboat, a non-self-righting Liverpool-class, was capsized, and 6 of the crew including the Coxswain, were lost.

Double the speed of the previous Rother-class lifeboat 37-36 Shoreline (ON 1054), she would serve for 31 years, launch 460 times, and save 12 lives.

[1] Arbroath took delivery of their new D-class (IB1) Inshore lifeboat Mintybell (D-892) on 30 July 2024, replacing Robert Fergusson (D-759) which had been on station since 2013.