It was operated by the River Tay Lifeboat and Humane Society (RTLHS), established in 1830, following the wreck of the Childe Harold on 27 November 1829, whilst on passage from St Petersburg to Dundee.

Under the instruction of the Society however, the air boxes, vital for self-righting, were reduced in size, as it was thought it would increase streamlining and speed.

After this major failure, and with the Society now also short of funds, calls were made for the management of the lifeboats to be passed to the RNLI, and this was agreed in December 1861.

All 24 passengers and crew of the steamship Dalhousie, wrecked on the Abertay Sands whilst on passage from Newcastle upon Tyne to Dundee, had perished.

[5][6] On 6 December 1865, the Mary Hartley failed to rescue five crew from the schooner Princess, on passage from London to Dundee, when she was wrecked on the Abertay Sands.

[1] At 01:00am on the 18 November 1893, pilot cutter No.2 of Dundee stranded on Abertay Sands in gale-force conditions, but it would be daybreak before the alarm was raised.

The steam tug Excelsior had been sent from Dundee, and towed the lifeboat back to harbour, to the cheers of the hundreds of people gathered to watch the outcome.

There was much difficulty with the local council, who insisted that the boathouse could not be built over the adjacent sewer, and at one point, offered the RNLI £100 just to leave the site.

[9] Work began on a new landing stage in 2001, and on 14 April 2001, Broughty Ferry received the new 25 knot Trent-class lifeboat 14-31 Elizabeth of Glamis (ON 1252).

[2][9] Both lifeboats from Arbroath and Broughty Ferry were launched to the aid of the steam trawler Quixotic of Aberdeen on 5 December 1939, when the vessel was driven on to Bell Rock.

In the early hours of Friday 18 March 1960, in a move not appreciated by many, but on the direct orders of the RNLI, the boat was towed around the breakwater, allowed to dry out, and destroyed by fire.