| HMNB Portsmouth | |
|---|---|
| Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK | |
Ships berthed at HMNB Portsmouth. Left to right, HMS Endurance, HMS Liverpool and HMS Ark Royal. |
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| Type | Military base |
| In use | 15th Century–present |
| Controlled by | Royal Navy |
| Garrison | Portsmouth Flotilla |
| Commanders | Commodore Tony Radakin (since October 2011). |
Her Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth naval base is part of the city of Portsmouth, located on the eastern shore of Portsmouth Harbour north of the Solent and Isle of Wight.
The base is home to the oldest surviving dry dock in the world, as well as being the base port for two thirds of the Royal Navy's surface fleet. The base is home to a number of commercial shore activities including shipbuilding and ship repair (operated by BAE Systems); naval logistics, accommodation and messing; and personnel support functions (e.g. medical and dental; education; pastoral and welfare) provided by Defence Equipment and Support.
The base is the oldest in the Royal Navy, has been a vital part of its history and the defence of the British Isles for centuries and was at its height the largest industrial site in the world.[1] The Naval Base is also home to the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, which allows members of the public to visit important maritime attractions such as the Mary Rose, HMS Victory and HMS Warrior.
The base commander since October 2011 is Commodore Tony Radakin.
The harbour is under the control of the Queen's Harbour Master, currently Commander Nigel Hare, who is the regulatory authority of the Dockyard Port of Portsmouth, an area of approximately 50 square miles (130 km2) that encompasses Portsmouth Harbour and the Eastern Solent. Shipping movements are handled by a team of admiralty pilots headed by the Chief Admiralty Pilot, Anthony Bannister.
Portsmouth naval base is home to two thirds of the Royal Navy's surface ships, including the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious. The naval base employs up to 17,200 people. In addition, Portsmouth is building part of, and wil be the home port of, the two new Royal Navy aircraft carriers ordered in 2008, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. This has secured the base's future for the next forty years and will revitalise shipbuilding in the city.[2]
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It plays host to a large part of the surface fleet of the Royal Navy including Invincible-class aircraft carriers, Type 42 destroyers, Type 45 destroyers, the majority of the Type 23 frigates, fishery protection vessels and a squadron of mine counter-measures vessels (minesweepers and mine hunters). Most of the vessels based in Portsmouth form part of the Portsmouth Flotilla, under the Fleet First reorganisation which saw the three (Portsmouth, Devonport and Faslane) port flotillas replace the frigate and destroyer squadrons and other groupings.
In total some 17,300 people work in the base. Until recently it was the base of the Second Sea Lord who flies his flag in HMS Victory, which is the oldest commissioned warship in the world (although it was originally built at Chatham Dockyard). The Second Sea Lord is now at Henry Leach Building on Whale Island, which is the headquarters of the Commander in Chief Fleet.
In addition to Victory, a portion of the base serves as a maritime museum (now called Portsmouth Historic Dockyard) and plays host to:
Along with Chatham, Woolwich, Plymouth and Deptford, it has been one of the main dockyards for the Royal Navy throughout its history. The Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust was established in 1994 to foster and promote the history and industrial archaeology of this great organisation and a more detailed history may be found at: Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust.
The oldest dry docks in the world were built by Henry VII in 1495. The first warship built here was the Sweepstake of 1497; of more significance were the carracks Mary Rose of 1509 and Peter Pomegranate of 1510—both were rebuilt here in 1536. The wreck of the Mary Rose (which capsized in 1545, but was raised in 1982) is on display in a purpose built museum. A fourth Tudor warship was the galleasse Jennett, built in 1539 and enlarged as a galleon in 1558; no further new naval vessels were built here until 1648, but ships from Portsmouth were a key part of the fleet that drove off the Spanish Armada in 1588.
Naval shipbuilding at Portsmouth recommenced under the English Commonwealth, the first ship being the eponymous Fourth-rate frigate Portsmouth launched in 1650. In 1689, Parliament ordered one new dry dock and two new wet docks (or non-tidal basins) to be built at Portsmouth and work began in 1691 around the area of what is now No. 1 Basin. It was built to new designs developed by Edmund Dummer, surveyor to the Navy Board. He substituted brick and stone for wood and increased the number of altars or steps. The stepped sides allowed shorter timbers to be used for shoring and made it much easier for shipwrights to reach the underside of the vessel. As with all future extensions, the new works were built on reclaimed land and the civil engineering involved was on an unprecedented scale. The great stone dock as it was called (extensively rebuilt in 1769 as No.5 dock) was evacuated with chain pumps powered by horses. A building slip was constructed where the Mary Rose is now in No. 3 dock.[3]
During this period, this (like the other dockyards underwent reforms proposed by Sir Samuel Bentham, Inspector-General of Naval Works. Among his innovations were Portsmouth Block Mills, an early example of truly industrial scale production.
From here Nelson, embarking on HMS Victory, left Britain for the final time before his death at the Battle of Trafalgar.
HMS Warrior, the first ocean going Ironclad—built at Blackwall on the River Thames in 1860—is moored in the dockyard.
In 1900 the Third class cruiser HMS Pandora was launched, followed by the armoured cruiser HMS Kent in 1901 and her sistership HMS Suffolk in 1903. Two battleships of the pre-Dreadnought King Edward VII Class were launched in 1904—HMS Britannia and HMS New Zealand. The first modern battleship HMS Dreadnought was built in 1905-06, taking one day more than a year. Further dreadnoughts followed—HMS Bellerophon in 1907, HMS St. Vincent in 1908, HMS Orion in 1910, HMS King George V in 1911, HMS Iron Duke in 1912 and HMS Queen Elizabeth in 1913.
The largest vessel launched at Portsmouth during WWI was the 27,500-ton battleship HMS Royal Sovereign in 1915. The only other launchings during the war were the submarines HMS J1 and HMS J2 in 1915, and the submarines HMS K1, HMS K2 and HMS K5 in 1916. The Belfast-built HMS M33, a WWI monitor, has been on display at Portsmouth since 1999 after being refurbished at Hartlepool.
The majority of warships launched at Portsmouth following the end of the War were cruisers—HMS Effingham in 1921, HMS Suffolk in 1926, HMS London in 1927, HMS Dorsetshire in 1929, HMS Neptune in 1933, and HMS Amphion and HMS Aurora (12) in 1934. There were also four destroyers—HMS Comet and her sister HMS Crusader (H60) in 1931, and the leaders HMS Duncan in 1932 and HMS Exmouth in 1934. The only other vessels launched between the wars were the mining tenders HMS Nightingale in 1931 and HMS Skylark in 1932.
The destroyer flotillas (the capital ships having been evacuated to Scapa Flow) were essential to the defence of the English Channel particularly during Operation Dynamo and against any potential German Invasion and the base itself served a major refit and repair role. The German military realised this importance and the city and base in particularly was heavily bombed as a result.
Portsmouth and the Naval Base itself were the headquarters and main departure point for the military and naval units destined for Sword Beach on the Normandy coast as a part of Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944. Troops destined for each of the landing beaches left from Portsmouth aboard vessels such as the armed merchant cruisers HMCS Prince Henry and HMCS Prince David, escorted by the destroyers HMCS Algonquin and HMCS Sioux. The majority of the naval support for the operation left from Portsmouth, including the Mulberry Harbours.
In 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. In response a task force of British military and merchant ships was dispatched from Portsmouth Naval Base (and other naval bases) to the islands in the South Atlantic to reclaim them for the United Kingdom.
The task force consisted of the following ships:
Following some losses, the majority of these ships returned to Portsmouth later that year.
In the summer of 2005 Portsmouth Naval Base and the Solent played host to two special events organised as part of the Trafalgar 200 commemorations recognising the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. These were the International Fleet Review and the International Festival of the Sea.
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