The station currently operates a B-class (Atlantic 85) Inshore lifeboat, Sheila & Dennis Tongue III (B-897).

The RNLI had wished to station a lifeboat in Staithes by 1870, but had given up on the idea as there was a lack of suitable locations to site the lifeboathouse.

[1] In 1874, a wealthy donation, and a codicil in a will of a benefactor that stipulated that a lifeboat should be stationed at Staithes, enabled the RNLI to press ahead with its plans.

By 1984, the RBRB was fully accredited with the coastguard and is part of the overall response to emergencies in the north east region, being seen as a complement to the RNLI services, not competing or hindering them.

[13] ...the boat was in every respect staunch and seaworthy, but that on her being launched by a strange crew for the first time, the brass ventilators opening into the air-chambers below deck were not screwed down, and consequently, when on her second voyage, she shipped in heavy seas and the air-cases filled with water and she capsized.