Oban (gaelic – “an t-Oban” little bay) is a thriving town of 9,000 on Scotland’s west coast. Its popular title is the “Gateway to the Isles" as it forms the hub of the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry network through the Hebridean islands. Guest houses, hotels, fishing and ferry piers front the deep, sheltered bay and on the south side, at Port Beag, is Oban lifeboat station with the modern Trent class lifeboat lying at her berth.

The station is housed in a white, cottage-like building that was made available to the RNLI by the local authority and is over 180 years old. That belies the fact that Oban lifeboat station is relatively young, having been founded in 1972. Since then, it has become the busiest of the 44 lifeboat stations in Scotland and one of the busiest All-Weather Lifeboats (ALB) in the United Kingdom – the first ALB to make over 100 launches in a year. Its record of service reflects the diverse nature of Oban lifeboat’s activities averaging around 60 call-outs per year.