On 15 February, it was reported that a 27-foot 3in lifeboat, built to the design of Henry Greathead, had been placed on station at the Watergate boathouse.

On 28 January 1815, as reported in the Durham Chronicle, the Betsy of Monkwearmouth was driven ashore 550 metres (600 yd) offshore at Seaton Carew, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the south of Hartlepool.

A fresh lifeboat crew then set out once more, and managed to rescue the one remaining man, only moments before the vessel broke up.

A 20-foot self-righting lifeboat was commissioned with Mr. Hawksworth of Torquay, to a design by James Peake, and the Royal National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwreck (RNIPLS) donated £10, and a set of life-belts.

Work began in August 1856 to construct a boathouse, 36-feet by 16-feet, at the top end of the Old (or Tide) Harbour (now the deep-water berth), costing £150, and completed by 1 October.

[3] On 18 October 1854, the Seamen's Society lifeboat rescued the seven man crew of the schooner Prospect, which was driven ashore whilst on passage from Aberdeen.

Just two days later, the Hartlepool Board of Trade confirmed it would no longer support the extra Seamen's lifeboat, and it was to be sold.

At 08:05 on 16 December 1914, after having identified Hartlepool as a poorly defended area, but with a considerable number of shipyards and engine works supplying the war effort, three German battleships, Blucher, Seydlitz and Moltke, bombarded the town for 40 minutes, before making their escape in the fog.

[10] Hartlepool's 46ft Watson-class lifeboat The Princess Royal (Civil Service No.7) was launched at 07:35 on 26 January 1942 into an easterly gale and rough seas, to the steamship Hawkwood, with a crew of 23, which had run aground 0.5 miles (0.80 km) north of the Tees North Gare jetty, and broken in two.

Whilst only 3 miles (4.8 km) away from Hartlepool in a direct line, the lifeboat had much further to travel due to the various wartime defences along the coast.

The lifeboat arrived on scene at 08:30, but with the water too shallow to approach, and nobody in immediate danger, it returned to base, to try again later.

After returning to base once more, with the intention of setting out for a fourth time later, it was reported that all 18 had been recovered with the use of rocket lines.

The coxswain of the lifeboat, Lt. William Henry Bennison, CGM RNVR, was awarded the RNLI Gold Medal.