Independent lifeboats in Britain and Ireland

Independent lifeboat services in Britain and Ireland began to be established around the coasts towards the end of the 18th century in response to the loss of life at sea.

More recently, independent services have been set up in response to the increasing popularity of coastal and river sport and leisure activities.

A few 20th century independent services were started up in response to the rapid increase in popularity and affordability of aquatic sport and leisure activities such as swimming, boating, windsurfing, angling and diving.

It has not been established how many independent lifeboat services there are (2014) because there is no umbrella organisation except for some stations in Ireland and the River Severn area (see table below).

Some independent services come under the umbrella of Community Rescue Boats Ireland (CRBI) and are trained and administrated by Irish Water Safety.