Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French. The command of this first stone frigate was given to Commodore Hood's first lieutenant, James Wilkes Maurice, who, with cannon taken off the Commodore's ship, manned it with a crew of 120 until its capture by the French in the Battle of Diamond Rock in 1805.
Until the late 19th century, the Royal Navy housed training and other support facilities in hulks—old wooden ships of the line—moored in ports as receiving ships, depot ships, or floating barracks. The Admiralty regarded shore accommodation as expensive and liable to lead to indiscipline. These floating establishments kept their names while the actual vessels housing them changed. For example, the gunnery training school at Portsmouth occupied three ships between its foundation in 1830 and its move ashore in 1891 but all were named (or renamed) HMS Excellent.
As ships began to use increasingly complex technology during the late 19th century, these facilities became too large to continue afloat and were moved to shore establishments while keeping their names. An early "stone frigate" was the engineering training college HMS Marlborough, moved ashore to Portsmouth in 1880. The gunnery school continued to be named HMS Excellent after its move ashore to Whale Island in 1891. By World War I there were about 25 "stone frigates" in the United Kingdom.
Under section 67 of the Naval Discipline Act 1866, the provisions of the act only applied to officers and men of the Royal Navy borne on the books of a warship. When shore establishments began to become more common it was necessary to allocate the title of the establishment to an actual vessel which became the nominal depot ship for the men allocated to the establishment and thus ensured they were subject to the provisions of the Act.[1]
The use of stone frigates continues in the Royal Navy and some other navies of the Commonwealth of Nations, including the Royal Canadian Navy, the Indian Navy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Royal New Zealand Navy.
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The Stone Frigate, storehouse at the Kingston Royal Naval Dockyard, Point Frederick Peninsula, now called 'The Stone Frigate' located at Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, designed by Archibald Fraser, 1819-24. [2] It was constructed by Captain Robert Barrie to store gear and rigging of the British fleet from the War of 1812 which had been dismantled and housed in Navy Bay pursuant to the Rush-Bagot Treaty of 1817.[3] Closed in 1835, the dockyard reopened in 1837 in response to rebellions in the Canadas. Captain Williams Sandom and a party of sailors resided in the Stone Frigate warehouse close to the St. Lawrence pier in Navy Bay. By the 1860s, only the Stone Frigate storehouse and one wharf were kept in repair. [4]
The former warehouse was converted into a dormitory and classrooms when the college was established in 1876.[5][6]
In 1941, the Royal Military College of Canada cadets were housed in the Stone Frigate while student officers taking Canadian junior war staff courses, field security courses and radio technician`s courses were quartered in Fort Frederick (Kingston). [7]
Known within Royal Military College of Canada as "The Boat", the Stone Frigate houses 1 Squadron who in turn call themselves the Stone Frigate Military Academy. Renovations to the Stone Frigate began in the summer of 2003; some interior refinishing had taken place in the mid 1960s, however the overall interior condition of the building was poor. Interior stone walls were restored and cleaned and new structural supports and interior walls were constructed. Windows, doors, and mechanical and electrical services were installed and an annex extension was built. The Department of National Defence officially re-opened the renovated Stone Frigate building in early April 2004. The Stone Frigate is on the Registry of Historic Places of Canada.[8]
A plaque erected in 1957 describes the Stone Frigate "Once part of a large and active naval dockyard, this substantial stone building was erected as a warehouse for naval stores. Although initially planned in 1816, it was not completed until four years later when the need for storage facilities to hold gear and rigging from British warships dismantled in compliance with the Rush-Bagot Agreement had become acute. After the Rebellion of 1837 the building briefly functioned as a barracks for the naval detachment charged with patrolling the lakes. It was then apparently used as a storehouse again. By 1876 the structure, now known as the Stone Frigate, had been refitted to house the newly-established Royal Military College of Canada, an institution it continues to serve." [9]
Pipe Major Donald M. Carrigan composed the `Stone Frigate` Reel in honour of the Stone Frigate at the Royal Military College of Canada c. 1983. [10]