Louise Stephens is one of only three RNLI lifeboats designed for beach launching. She entered service at Great Yarmouth & Gorleston and was deployed to Dunkirk on 30 May 1940. Throughout her RNLI career, she was launched 311 times and saved 177 lives at sea.

After being sold out of service in 1974, the vessel was converted for use as a fishing boat off the northeast coast of England. In 1984, she was re-engined with two 4-cylinder 72hp tractor engines, and a large trawler wheelhouse was added.

In 1986, Howard Fawsitt purchased the lifeboat, then named Tyne Star, after it had been brought to Poole for sale. He kept her at Starcross in South Devon, where she served as a family pleasure boat, cruising the coastal waters of southwest England and the Isle of Wight.

In early 2013, a Preservation Group was formed to acquire and fully restore Louise Stephens. Her final passage before restoration commenced on 10 April 2013, when she was brought under her own power from Portnahaven, Islay, to Ardrossan on the Scottish mainland. At Clyde Marina, she was removed from the water and transported to Lowestoft.

With the vessel now safely returned, evaluation and planning for future restoration work and use have begun. Louise Stephens is listed on the core collection of the National Historic Ships register.