 HMS Resolution, one of the first ships to join the establishment | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Imperieuse |
| Commissioned | 12 May 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 1 June 1948 |
| Fate | Decommissioned and operational elements dispersed |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Training establishment |
HMS Imperieuse was the name given to a floating training establishment of the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
There had been a previous floating establishment known as HMS Imperieuse. This was the old ironclad HMS Audacious, which had borne the name whilst serving as a repair and store ship alternately at Scapa Flow and Rosyth between 1914 and 1920. [1] The second establishment was commissioned as HMS Imperieuse I on 12 May 1944 as the base of the Naval Officer in Charge at Gareloch, and a stokers' training establishment. [2] Also established that day was HMS Imperieuse II, which was the name given to two obsolete Revenge-class battleships, HMS Resolution and HMS Revenge. They had previously been laid up at Southampton as stokers' training ship under the name HMS Shrapnel II. [2]
The two ships spent a brief period at Gareloch before it was decided by the Admiralty to move the establishment to Devonport. The ships reverted to being Revenge and Resolution for the tow, and arrived at Devonport on 11 December 1944. [2] They were commissioned that day as HMS Imperieuse, but retained their individual names. [2] They were later joined by a number of other ships that had been reduced from active duty. These included the battlecruiser HMS Renown, the battleship HMS Valiant, the aircraft carrier HMS Unicorn and the light cruiser HMS Newfoundland. [2] These were all jointly commissioned as HMS Imperieuse on 21 June 1946, but the ships retained their individual names. [2]
The ships were reduced to the reserve by October 1947, with the exception of HMS Newfoundland which was transferred for refitting to become flagship of the 4th Cruiser Squadron. [2] The facility's role was transferred to HMS Raleigh on 10 March 1948 and HMS Imperieuse was paid off on 1 June 1948. [2]
HMS Newfoundland was a Fiji-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy. Named after the Dominion of Newfoundland, she participated in the Second World War and was later sold to the Peruvian Navy and renamed BAP Almirante Grau.
Six ships and a training establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Imperieuse:
Three ships and one shore establishment of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Collingwood, after Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood, 1st Baron Collingwood:
Five ships and one shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Dauntless:
Five ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Calliope after the muse Calliope in Greek mythology:
Nineteen ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Drake after Sir Francis Drake or after the drake:
Five ships and a number of shore establishments of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Daedalus, after the mythical Daedalus:
HMS Ariadne was a Diadem-class protected cruiser of the Royal Navy, which was launched in 1898, In March 1913, she was converted to a stokers' training ship and in 1917 was converted to a minelayer and assigned to the Nore Command. She was torpedoed and sunk off Beachy Head by the German submarine UC-65 on 26 July 1917.
HMS Flora was an Astraea-class cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 21 November 1893. She was constructed under the Naval Defence Act 1889 along with several other Astraea-class cruisers. Flora was decommissioned in 1922.
HMS Cricket was the name given to a Royal Navy shore establishment on the River Hamble from 1943 to 1946. This name was previously used by the Insect-class gunboat Cricket (1915) that was scrapped in 1942.
HMS Fisgard was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy active at different periods and locations between 1848 and 1983. She was used to train artificers and engineers for the Navy.
HMS Ganges was a training ship and later stone frigate of the Royal Navy. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. She was based alternately in Falmouth, Harwich and Shotley. She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976.
HMS Dryad was the name ship of the Dryad-class torpedo gunboats. She was launched at Chatham Dockyard on 22 November 1893, the first of the class to be completed. She served as a minesweeper during World War I and was broken up in 1920.
HMS Spartan was an Apollo-class cruiser of the Royal Navy constructed in 1891. The design was a variant of the Marathon-class cruiser. The ships had quick firing guns which were effective as a broadside, but less so when attempting to fire fore or aft.
HMS Mariner was the name-ship of the Royal Navy Mariner-class composite screw gunvessel of 8 guns.
HMS Racer was a Royal Navy Mariner-class composite screw gunvessel of 8 guns.
HMS Artifex was a repair ship of the Royal Navy from late in the Second World War and into the Cold War. Launched as the Cunard liner RMS Aurania she was requisitioned on the outbreak of war to serve as an armed merchant cruiser. Damaged by a U-boat while sailing with an Atlantic convoy, she was purchased outright and converted to a floating workshop, spending the rest of her life as a support ship for the navy.
The Astraea class was an eight ship class of protected cruisers built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s. The ships served on a number of foreign stations during their careers, particularly in the waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, and around the Cape of Good Hope. Already obsolete by the outbreak of the First World War, most continued to see service in a variety of roles, though rarely in a front line capacity. By the end of the war the majority were being used as training or depot ships, and they were soon sold out of the service and scrapped. However, one ship, HMS Hermione, was bought by the Marine Society and used as a training ship until 1940.
HMS Bonaventure was an Astraea-class second class cruiser of the Royal Navy, ordered as part of the eight-ship Astraea class under the Naval Defence Act of 1889. She was commissioned for service in 1895, and survived to serve in the First World War.
50°22′59″N4°10′59″W / 50.383°N 4.183°W
