| HMS Forward | |
|---|---|
| Newhaven, East Sussex | |
  HMS Forward | |
| Coordinates | 50°48′19″N0°03′28″E / 50.805253°N 0.057715°E |
| Type | Royal Naval Headquarters |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by |  United Kingdom |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1940-1945 |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Royal Navy |
HMS Forward was a shore establishment of the British Royal Navy during World War II. It was based at South Heighton, just outside Newhaven, East Sussex.
Based in a former Guinness Trust Holiday Home, [1] Forward served as the command centre for all Royal Naval establishments in the area and was responsible for:
In 1941 a complex of tunnels were constructed 20 m (66 ft) underground to house a centre which plotted all shipping traffic in the English Channel between Dungeness and Selsey Bill, in conjunction with the coastal radar chain. [3]
Forward was decommissioned on 31 August 1945. [1]
Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its 520-hectare (1,300-acre) surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains one of the largest in the world today. It is naturally sheltered by Portland to the south, Chesil Beach to the west and mainland Dorset to the north. It consists of four breakwaters: two southern and two northern. These have a total length of 4.57 km (2.84 mi) and enclose approximately 1,000 ha of water.
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is located on the eastern shore of Portsmouth Harbour, north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight. For centuries it was officially known as HM Dockyard, Portsmouth: as a Royal Dockyard, Portsmouth functioned primarily as a state-owned facility for building, repairing and maintaining warships; for a time it was the largest industrial site in the world.
HMS President is a retired Flower-class Q-ship that was launched in 1918. She was renamed HMS President in 1922 and moored permanently on the Thames as a Royal Navy Reserve drill ship. In 1982 she was sold to private owners and, having changed hands twice, served as a venue for conferences and functions as well as the offices for a number of media companies. She has been moved to Chatham on the Medway in Kent since 2016, but is due to return to the capital. She had the suffix "(1918)" added to her name in order to distinguish her from HMS President, the Royal Naval Reserve base in St Katharine Docks. She is one of the last three surviving Royal Navy warships of the First World War. She is also the sole representative of the first type of purpose built anti-submarine vessels, and is the ancestor of World War II convoy escort sloops, which evolved into modern anti-submarine frigates.
South Heighton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is seven miles (12 km) south of Lewes. In the 1890s the village's population grew from less than 100 to over 500 after a cement manufacturing plant opened nearby. The village is now associated with the urbanised area of Newhaven.
HMS Example is an Archer-class patrol and training vessel of the Royal Navy, based at HMS Calliope in Gateshead, England. Example was originally built for the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service, and was transferred to the Royal Navy when the RNXS disbanded in 1994. On transfer, she retained her name, and became the first ship in the Royal Navy to bear that name.
HMS Sultan is a shore base of the Royal Navy in Gosport, Hampshire, England. It is the primary engineering training establishment for the Royal Navy and home to the Network Rail Advanced Apprenticeship Scheme and the EDF Energy engineering maintenance apprenticeship.
HMS Collingwood is a stone frigate of the Royal Navy, in Fareham, England. It is the lead establishment of the Maritime Warfare School and the largest naval training organisation in Western Europe. The Maritime Warfare School is a federated training establishment incorporating HMS Excellent, the Defence Diving School, the RN Physical Training School, the School of Hydrography and Meteorology in Plymouth and the Royal Marines School of Music in Portsmouth Naval Base.
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Forces" cap tally were taken out of reserve in 1968. The division received more gallantry awards than any other branch of the Royal Navy during that period.
HMS Ferret was a shore establishment and naval base of the Royal Navy during the Second World War, located in Derry. It was given a ship's name as a stone frigate.
HMS Royal Arthur was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy, initially at Ingoldmells near Skegness, and later at Corsham, Wiltshire. During the Second World War, the former holiday camp at Ingoldmells was used to mainly train 'Hostilities Only' communications branch ratings and officers.
Royal Naval Air Station Dale is a former Royal Naval Air Station, located 10 miles (16 km) South West of Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was operational between 1942 and 1948, being used by both the Royal Air Force (1942–1943) and the Royal Navy (1943–1948).
Four ships and two shore establishments of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Forward:
The Commander-in-Chief, Portsmouth, was a senior commander of the Royal Navy for hundreds of years. The commanders-in-chief were based at premises in High Street, Portsmouth from the 1790s until the end of Sir Thomas Williams's tenure, his successor, Sir Philip Durham, being the first to move into Admiralty House at the Royal Navy Dockyard, where subsequent holders of the office were based until 1969. Prior to World War I the officer holder was sometimes referred to in official dispatches as the Commander-in-Chief, Spithead.
Vice Admiral Sir William Geoffrey Arthur Robson, was a Royal Navy officer whose last Service appointment was Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic.
Royal Air Force Worthy Down, or simply RAF Worthy Down, was a Royal Air Force station built in 1918, 3.5 miles (6 km) north of Winchester, Hampshire, England. After it was transferred to Royal Navy control in 1939 as Royal Naval Air Station Worthy Down, the airfield remained in use throughout the Second World War and then housed a RN Air Electrical School, HMS Ariel, from 1952. The airfield was in use until 1960. The site is now Worthy Down Camp.
HMS Aggressive was a shore establishment of the British Royal Navy during World War II, based at Newhaven, East Sussex.
HMS Newt was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy during World War II, based at Newhaven, East Sussex.
His Majesty’s Ship Caledonia is a military establishment of the Royal Navy based next to the former Royal Naval Dockyard, Rosyth in Scotland.
 | This United Kingdom navy-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
