The Orkney Islands
- Allan & Helen
- 12 minutes ago
- 9 min read
When we started this challenge on 1st June 2024, of the many places we were looking forward to visiting the most was the Orkney Islands. This ancient archipelago lies about 10 miles north of the mainland of Scotland and comprises over 70 islands, of which 20 are inhabited.
Our afternoon ferry was delayed from Scrabster Port and so we messaged the Stromness Lifeboat Station to let them know we would be behind our scheduled arrival time. The weather had deteriorated and the sea conditions meant the ferry had to take it slow. We boarded the MV Hamnavoe, operated by Northlink Ferries and set sail. We would like to thank Northlink Ferries for their very generous sponsorship during this trip. Once we left the shelter of the bay the sea swell picked up. Helen unfortunately was less than comfortable and sat quietly inside for the duration of the crossing. On arrival in Stromness we disembarked and parked up outside our first station.
Stromness Lifeboat Station
We were welcomed into the station by Peter, Karen, John, Kaja and James. A tiny station which was soon filled by the 7 of us. Small, but full of history with interesting photos and paintings on the walls. We chatted over a cup of tea for a good while before heading down to the boat.
Established in 1867, the station is the oldest of the four in Orkney and when it opened was the most northerly in the RNLI estate. The current building was converted from an old harbour building in 1999 and houses a workshop and a changing room. The previous boathouse and slipway was used from 1926 until 1984 and still stands proudly just a short distance from the harbour.
Their Severn Class, Violet, Dorothy and Kathleen (17-16) is moored alongside a pontoon installed in 2014 to improve access. Funded from the estate of the late Miss Violet Matton of Seaford, East Sussex, and the wills of her two sisters, Dorothy and Kathleen, she was named Violet, Dorothy and Kathleen. We were given a fantastic tour of the boat before heading back to the station to say our farewells.
We were staying in the main town on Orkney, Kirkwall. So we headed the short distance to the lovely B&B, checked in and headed into town to find something to eat.
Kirkwall Lifeboat Station
After a fantastic nights sleep and a delicious Scottish breakfast we headed into town to the Kirkwall station. It was peaceful down at the port and we headed straight to the station to take our photos. We were welcomed into the station by full time mechanic, Andrew where we met many crew members that had come down especially to meet us which was incredible. Thank you so much to John, John, Shaun, Brian, Kevin, Fraser and Graeme for taking time out of your morning.
The RNLI established the station permanently in 1972. Prior to that, between 1968 and 1972 a Clyde Class lifeboat was based in the town carrying out trials in the far north sea conditions. It was manned by full time crew rather than volunteers. The current station was built in 1990 as the crew facilities.
After a long chat and a cup of tea we headed over to the boat moored on a pontoon that was installed in 2004. We were welcomed on board and given a fantastic tour of the boat. The Severn Class lifeboat, Margaret Foster (17-13) has seen 27 years service at the station. The crew were telling us of her uncertain future as she approaches her scheduled refit period. With support from flank stations on the islands, Kirkwall has a challenge area to cover. Covering northern and eastern islands of Orkney they are exposed to some challenging rocky conditions.
Heading back to the station we thanked everyone who took time out of they working day to meet us and headed to our final lifeboat station visit of this trip. To get there we had to take a short ferry ride across the western corner of Scapa Flow to the island of Hoy.
Scapa Flow is a sheltered body of water and has played an important role in trade and conflict for hundreds of years. Vikings anchored their longships, it was the UK’s chief naval base during both great wars and is one of the UK’s key oil terminals. Most notable of its historic events occurred on 14 October 1939. Under the command of Günther Prien, U-Boat, U-47 penetrated Scapa Flow and sank the battleship HMS Royal Oak anchored in Scapa Bay. After firing its first torpedo salvo, the submarine turned to make its escape; but, upon realising that there was no immediate threat from surface vessels, it returned for another attack. The second torpedo salvo blew a 30-foot (9.1 m) hole in the Royal Oak, which flooded and quickly capsized. Of the 1,400-man crew, 833 were lost. The wreck is now a protected war grave.
You can read more about the history and wrecks of Scapa Flow on the Northlink Ferries website:
Longhope Lifeboat Station
After a short and beautiful drive from the small ferry port of Lyness on the island of Walls, we arrived at the Longhope Lifeboat Station. It was in a stunningly beautiful location and we were taken aback by the colour of the turquoise sea.
We were welcomed into the station by Coxwain Scott, Steve, Alex and Allan and made very welcome. The history of the station makes it one of the best known in the RNLI. Established in 1874 on the narrow causeway that links Hoy to Walls, the first boat house was built following a request from local residents to serve the Pentland Firth. This was replaced in 1906 with a boathouse and slipway on an inlet called Brims, leading directly into the Firth. This boathouse is now the home of the Longhope Lifeboat Museum, more on that later.
The current station was built in 2001 at Longhope pier with a new pontoon completed in 2003 to accommodate the Tamar Class Lifeboat.
We headed out to the lifeboat where we were welcomed aboard and given a fascinating tour. Along the pier we met Kevin Kirkpatrick, former Coxwain and chair of the Longhope Lifeboat Museum Trust. The Tamar Class lifeboat, Helen Comrie (16-05) ticks of the fourth of the current all-weather lifeboat classes in the fleet whilst we have been on this trip. She joined the station in 2006.
We had a fantastic discussion with the crew and they recalled their largest rescue involving a passenger ferry operating the Pentland Firth crossing. On 5 July 2022, MV Alfred grounded on the uninhabited island of Swona whilst enroute from Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope. It resulted in damage but no reported water ingress. There were 84 passengers and 13 crew on board at the time of grounding. Some passengers sustained injuries with one passenger being hospitalised. Longhope Lifeboat accompanied by Thurso Lifeboat evacuated many of the passengers before she was refloated and taken to Orkney under her own power escorted by the two lifeboats and two tugs.
This visit completed our 153rd of the challenge
Longhope Lifeboat Museum
Before heading back across the Scapa Flow to the mainland we had plenty of time to visit the nearby 1906 boathouse which now houses the Longhope Lifeboat Trust museum.
Find out more about the Museum on their website
The boathouse is an outstanding construction in the wilderness of the coastline. We were welcomed inside by volunteers Mike and Ray and immediately gained a sense of the historical importance of the place. The boathouse contains an impressive array of artifacts from various lifeboats that have served the islands. We were given the opportunity to board the boat taking pride of place on the slipway. It was like stepping back in time as we looked around the deck, the wheelhouse and the extremely cramped cabin area where the navigator was positioned. It was an incredible restoration which actually is still seagoing. Just a week before we visited she was launched into the crystal clear turquoise waters.
The Thomas McCunn was the third lifeboat to operate from this slipway. Preceded by a Watson Class sailing lifeboat, the Anne Miles in 1906, and a Watson Class motor lifeboat, K.T.J.S. between 1926 and 1933 when the Thomas McCunn, a twin engine Watson Class arrived. Mike and Ray showed us around the museum passing under the bow of the boat by huge wooden slipway doors. It was an awe inspiring view. During her 30 years service at Longhope she was launched on service 101 times and saved 308 lives. After leaving Longhope she was placed in the relief fleet for 10 years before being sold and used as a pleasure boat. In 2000 she was bought by the museum trust and returned where she proudly sits on her original slipway.
The lifeboat station was altered in 1962 to accommodate Thomas McCunn’s replacement, a larger twin engine Watson Class, T.G.B. Despite being strong and resilient vessels, Watson-class boats like TGB were not designed to self-right when capsized in heavy seas, and this was ultimately to lead to her involvement in one of the worst tragedies ever to occur in the history of the lifeboat service. Serving one of the most treacherous stretches of water on the British Isles, TGB was launched 34 times, rescuing 24 people.
Longhope Lifeboat Disaster
On the evening of the 17th of March 1969, the volunteer crew, venturing out into a force nine gale that had been battering the coast, leading to waves measuring over sixty feet high. The crew were responding to a mayday call from the Liberian registered steamship Irene. The freighter was being driven towards the rocky Caithness coast. Launching at the same time as the TGB was Kirkwall’s Grace Paterson Richie.
The crew that night consisted of eight men. Daniel Kirkpatrick, aged 59, had been a member of the Longhope crew since 1940, and had been appointed as Coxswain in 1954. He was awarded three silver medals for gallantry but did not survive to collect his third medal. Accompanying Daniel was his two sons, Bowman Daniel ‘Ray’ Kirkpatrick, aged 32, and Crewman John ‘Jack’ Kirkpatrick, aged 27. The other members of the crew included Second Coxswain James ‘Jimmy’ Johnston, aged 30, his brother, crew member Robert ‘Robbie’ Johnston, aged 31 and their father, Mechanic Robert ‘Bob’ Johnston, aged 62. Also onboard was Assistant Mechanic James ‘Jimmie’ Swanson, aged 59, and crewman Eric McFadyen, aged 24.
At 9:15 pm, the SS Irene had run aground at South Ronaldsay and was reached by coastguards, with all crew members rescued. The TGB had been in constant radio contact with the radio operator since its departure, with the last radio signal from TGB recorded at 9:28 pm. The lighthouse keeper on Pentland Skerries last spotted TGB at 9:35 pm, with the stern light visible half a mile to the northeast. At this point, the wind was registering at gale force ten. As repeated radio calls went unanswered, the original search for the SS Irene turned into a search for the missing lifeboat and its crew. The Coxswain of the Kirkwall Lifeboat reported to the coastguard that the chances of finding TGB in current conditions was near zero, and the search was called off for the night. Resuming the next day, conditions had improved, meaning a full sea and air search and rescue could begin. Assistance in the search for TGB came from RAF Kinloss, RAF Lossiemouth, and lifeboats from Stronsay, Stromness, Kirkwall, and Thurso.
At 1:40 pm, the crew of a Thurso lifeboat found the upturned TGB, four miles southeast of Tor Ness, and found no signs of life. Unbeknownst to the crews of the Thurso and Stromness lifeboats as they towed the TGB to Scrabster on the mainland was the fact that the bodies of seven of the eight crew members were still strapped into their seats. The body of James Swanson was missing. Daniel Kirkpartrick’s watch had stopped at 9:47 pm. It was estimated that the boat was capsized by a freak wave that may have been around one hundred feet high.
The Village of Brims had lost a third of its population to the disaster, with everyone in the community affected. The crew left behind a widowed mother, seven widows and eight children. Within a week of the tragedy, volunteers had already stepped in to begin training in order to continue the work of the lost crew.
The impact of the disaster led to important design changes to lifeboats. The Longhope tragedy meant that all subsequent lifeboats were designed to be self-righting. The TGB was refurbished following the disaster and continued service in Donegal, Ireland, launching a further forty-one times and rescuing thirty-one people, before going to the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine in the 1980s, where she remains today.
The TGB serves as a reminder of the bravery of all RNLI crew members. Kevin Kirkpatrick, whom we met earlier at the Longhope Station, lost his father, uncle, and grandfather in the disaster and continued the family tradition as the Coxswain of the Longhope lifeboat station and is now retired.
At the Scottish Maritime Museum, the TGB is surrounded by boulders, which can be purchased by visitors in order to support the RNLI and the maintenance of the vessel. Alongside the lifeboat is a photograph of the crew, with a description of the events that transpired fifty-six years ago. It serves as a poignant reminder of the bravery and selflessness of the lost crew.
Read more about the disaster on the Scottish Maritime Museum website
Such an interesting and humbling visit to the museum and we said a fond farewell to Mike and Ray and headed back to the short ferry crossing to the mainland. After a drive around the coastline of Scapa Flow we found a lovely restaurant for dinner and then headed to Stromness Port where we boarded the MV Hamnavoe for an overnight stay and an early morning sailing back to Scrabster and the start of the A9.
13 hours later and we were back home exhausted but full of amazing memories of our most adventurous trip on our challenge so far. With 85 station visits remaining, one year anniversary of starting the challenge and with our first fundraising target almost met, it istime for a short break before heading off to South West Wales.
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