| HMS St George | |
|---|---|
| Douglas, Isle of Man | |
  HMS St George | |
| Coordinates | 54°08′42″N4°28′55″W / 54.145°N 4.482°W |
| Type | Military base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | Royal Navy |
| Site history | |
| Built | September 1939 |
| In use | 1939–1945 |
HMS St George was a training facility of the Royal Navy which was located in Douglas, Isle of Man. It was the Navy's only Continuous Service Training Establishment. [1]
HMS St George opened in September 1939. The facility was divided in various component parts, classroom training taking place at the newly opened Ballakermeen High School with the cadets billeted at Cunningham's Holiday Camp which had been requisitioned for the duration and was located in the Little Switzerland area of Douglas. [2] The holiday camp had previously served as a Prisoner of War Camp during the First World War. It occupied approximately 5 acres (2 hectares) and consisted of two parts bisected by Victoria Road. [3]
The Commanding Officer of HMS St George when it was commissioned was Captain F.S. Bell with Captain A.J. Lowe being officer in charge of Ballakermeen School. [4] A staff of over 300 officers would provide cadets with practical and technical training. Classroom work at Ballakermeen was supplemented by instructional films and technical experiments. Separate classrooms were allocated for cadets of different branches of the service, each class consisting of approximately 25–30 cadets. [5]
During the course of the war, 8,677 [6] cadets passed their training at HMS St George. [7] [8]
HMS St George was paid off on Thursday 20 December 1945, with the officers and ratings leaving the Isle of Man and relocating to HMS Ganges, Shotley.
Ramsey is a coastal town in the north of the Isle of Man. It is the second largest town on the island after Douglas. Its population is 7,845 according to the 2016 Census. It has one of the biggest harbours on the island, and has a prominent derelict pier, called the Queen's Pier. It was formerly one of the main points of communication with Scotland. Ramsey has also been a route for several invasions by the Vikings and Scots.
Jurby is one of the seventeen parishes of the Isle of Man. It is located in the north-west of the island in the sheading of Michael.
Royal Air Force Andreas or more simply RAF Andreas is a former Royal Air Force station in the Isle of Man which was operational between 1941 and 1946. It was built in fields between Andreas and Bride in the north of the island. As was common practice, the station was named after the parish in which it was situated.
Royal Air Force Jurby, or more simply RAF Jurby, is a former Royal Air Force station built in the north west of the Isle of Man. It was opened in 1939 on 400 acres (1.6 km2) of land acquired by the Air Ministry in 1937, under the control of No. 29 Group, RAF. During the Second World War the station was used for training as No. 5 Armament Training Station, No. 5 Air Observer School, No. 5 Bombing & Gunnery School and the No. 5 Air Navigation & Bombing School. In addition RAF Jurby also played host to a variety of operational squadrons.
Hall Caine Airport, also referred to as Close Lake Airfield, was an airfield on the Isle of Man located near the town of Ramsey. It was named after the author Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine CH, KBE by his sons Gordon Hall Caine and Derwent Hall Caine, who initiated the project, and was the first airport in the British Isles to be named after a person.
Rhencullen including Birkin's Bend is adjacent to the 17th milestone of the TT course, on the primary A3 Castletown to Ramsey road in the Isle of Man.
Ramsey Grammar School is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school located in Ramsey, on the Isle of Man.
RAF Jurby Head is a former Royal Air Force air weapons range, on the north west coast of the Isle of Man. The range operated between 1939 and 1993.
SS (RMS) Fenella (I), No.76303, was an Iron twin-screw steamer operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, and was the first ship in the company's history to bear the name.
Ballakermeen High School is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school based on a single site in Douglas, on the Isle of Man. It is the second largest Isle of Man Government building after Noble's Hospital in Strang. On the start of the 2022/2023 academic year, a new head teacher was appointed, Mr Graeme Corrin, replacing Mrs Adrienne Burnnet, who was Head Teacher for 21 years.
SS (RMS) Victoria was a packet steamer originally owned and operated by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway Company, who sold her to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company in 1928 for the sum of £25,000.
St Patrick's Church is a parish church of the Church of England in Jurby parish, near the northwest coast of the Isle of Man. Scotland and Ireland can be seen across the Irish Sea on a moderately clear day. The church also has views down the west coast to Peel, across the northern plain of the island, and to the central hills.
The Isle of Man Football Association Cup is the foremost football cup competition for teams playing on the Isle of Man. The tournament, founded in 1889, features the twenty six teams from the Isle of Man Premier League and Division 2. The tournament is overseen by the Isle of Man Football Association.
The Foxdale Mines is a collective term for a series of mines and shafts which were situated in a highly mineralised zone on the Isle of Man, running east to west, from Elerslie mine in Crosby to Niarbyl on the coast near Dalby. In the 19th century the mines were widely regarded as amongst the richest ore mines in the British Isles.
Juan Noa was the pen-name of John Henry Cleator, a Manx dialect poet and playwright active from the 1920s to the 1960s in the Isle of Man.
HMS Valkyrie was a shore establishment or "stone frigate" of the Royal Navy located in Douglas, Isle of Man. The establishment was split into two component parts, Valkyrie I and Valkyrie II.
The RAF Training Flying Control Centre was an early form of Aircraft Area Control Centre, the first of its kind in the world. It was situated at Ramsey Grammar School, Isle of Man.
Arthur Binns Crookall JP, MLC, CP, was a philanthropist, Mayor of the Borough of Douglas, a member of both branches of Tynwald, Chairman of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and Chairman of the Isle of Man Railway Company who at his death was one of the wealthiest people on the Isle of Man.
54 Air-Sea Rescue Marine Craft Unit was a Royal Air Force Air-Sea Rescue Unit based on the Isle of Man which operated watercraft in support of RAF operations. The unit was active from the outbreak of the Second World War until the 1960s and consisted of RAF rescue launches being based around the Island at its principle ports; Douglas, Castletown, Peel and Ramsey.
Rear Admiral James Carine, was a senior Royal Navy officer who served as Chief of Staff to Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command (1989–1991).
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