RNLB Mary Stanford (ON 661) was a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) Liverpool-class pulling and sailing type lifeboat stationed in Rye Harbour. On 15 November 1928 the Mary Stanford capsized, drowning the entire crew of 17. The lifeboat was launched in a south-west gale with heavy rain squalls and heavy seas to the vessel Alice of Riga. News was received that the crew of the Alice had been rescued by another vessel and the recall signal was fired three times. Apparently, the lifeboat crew had not seen it. As the lifeboat finally came back into harbour she was seen to capsize and the whole of the crew perished. Previous service About every 10–15 years the RNLI lifeboats around the coast of Britain and Ireland are replaced with new boats as a matter of course. Some stations stay with the same class of boat and others are upgraded to the new improved versions of what they have had, or downgraded to a more suitable class to carry out the work that they have been doing with the old boat. It is traditional for crews to be asked for their view on the type of boat supplied. In May 1914 a new lifeboat was offered to Rye Harbour to replace the John William Dudly a self-righting 10-oar pulling and sailing Liverpool class in service since 1900. At the invitation of the Institution the then coxswain, William Southerden, and two of the crew were invited to visit three lifeboat stations and inspect the different types of boats, doing similar work to that of the Rye Harbour boat. In July they visited Cromer and witnessed an exercise launch of the Louisa Heartwell. The one chosen was a 38 ft (11.7 m) Liverpool non-self-righting pulling and sailing boat with 14 oars. This was thought to be the ideal craft to operate in the surf conditions of Rye Bay. Also, according to the brother of one of those lost, the crew rejected a self-righting boat as it would have been too heavy to drag across the shingle and launch. S. E. Saunders of East Cowes was the builder and on 13 April 1916 she was tested for draught and stability and found to be 'perfectly satisfactory'. The cost of the lifeboat was met by a legacy in memory of Mary Stanford, after whom the boat was named. After the loss, a donation by John Frederick Stanford,