This was agreed, and a 20-foot 6-oared non-self-righting lifeboat was ordered from William Plenty of Newbury, Berkshire, arriving on 30 August 1826.

Launched the aid of the Richmond which had run aground, the lifeboat then spotted the brig Osiris, on passage from Ostend to Liverpool, which was also in trouble nearby.

[4] Lt. Frederick John Francis Henslow, RN, of H.M. Coastguard was awarded the Silver Medal.

[2] In the following few years without an official lifeboat, rescues were still carried out by the men from H.M. Coastguard, and no fewer than six Silver Medals were awarded.

A site for a boathouse was provided by H.M. Board of Ordnance at the Dungeness No.1 Battery, which was constructed at a cost of £97-6s-0d.

A replacement boat was ordered, a slightly longer, but much lighter, 28-foot 6-oared lifeboat, weighing just 1 ton 5 cwts, arriving in January 1857.

[2] The first call for the Providence was to the barque Cruz V of Portugal, on passage from Hamburg to Oporto, when she was driven ashore at Dungeness point.

Battling 4 miles (6.4 km) through rough seas, the lifeboat rescued all 14 men from the vessel.

[10] In a severe gale of 6 January 1867, the French lugger Courrier, on passage from Dunkerque to Dieppe, ran aground off Dymchurch.

In July 1871, a new 32-foot 10-oared lifeboat, was transported to Littlestone-on-Sea, where a new boathouse, costing £266-1s-0d, had been constructed at the end of Marine Parade, next to the coastguard station.

[13][14] However, on 22 January 1873, while at anchor in thick fog 3 miles (4.8 km) off Dungeness, the full-rigged ship Northfleet was rammed by the Murillo, which didn't stop.

A 44-foot 12-oared lifeboat constructed by Woolfe, Thomas Wilcox (ON 312), arrived at Lydd (Dungeness) No.2 station on 29 December 1892, and was moored afloat.

To assist launching in different locations, the boat was mounted on a rail carriage, and could be transport along 1 mile (1.6 km) of special railway track, that was constructed from the old lighthouse, past the Britannia Inn.

Charles Cooper Henderson (ON 761) was a 41ft Watson-class lifeboat, constructed by Groves and Guttridge, capable of 7.66 knots.

It was decided to build a boathouse for this larger boat, costing £1,934-13s-10d, and ON 761 was removed from the station during construction in April 1938, returning to Dungeness on 12 January 1939.

For the first time, the lifeboat was kept on a special launching carriage, pulled by a Talus MBC Case 1150B Amphibious Tractor (T85).