 Pilots and observers of the Fleet Air Arm on the parade ground of HMS St Vincent in 1943 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | HMS St Vincent |
| Commissioned: | 1 June 1927 |
| Decommissioned: | 2 April 1969 |
| Fate: | Decommissioned and duties dispersed to other establishments |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Stone frigate |
HMS St Vincent was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy, located in Gosport, .
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years War against the Kingdom of France. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century; the oldest of the UK's armed services, it is known as the Senior Service.
Gosport is a town in Hampshire on the south coast of England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,622. It is situated on a peninsula on the eastern side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite the city of Portsmouth, to which it is linked by the Gosport Ferry. Gosport lies south-east of Fareham, to which it is linked by a bus line and a road. The Rowner area of the peninsula was settled by the Anglo-Saxons, and is mentioned in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle as Rughenor. Both Rowner and Alverstoke, the name coming from the point where the River Alver entered the Solent at Stokes Bay, were included in the Domesday Book. Rowner was the earliest known settlement of the peninsula, with many Mesolithic finds and a hunting camp being found, and tumuli on the peninsula investigated. Bronze Age items found in a 1960s construction in HMS Sultan included a hoard of axe heads and torcs. A three-celled dwelling unearthed during construction of the Rowner naval Estate in the 1970s points to a settled landscape. Next to the River Alver which passes the southern and western edge of Rowner is a Norman motte and bailey, the first fortification of the peninsula, giving a vantage point over the Solent, Stokes Bay, Lee-on-the-Solent and the Isle of Wight. The former Rowner naval married quarters estate, now mostly demolished, and HMS Sultan were built on a former military airfield, known first as RAF Gosport and later as HMS Siskin, which gives its name to the local infant and junior schools. The barracks at Browndown were used in the ITV series Bad Lads' Army.
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The name was given to the Forton Barracks site in Gosport in 1927, after the one that been set up aboard the old first rate HMS St Vincent in 1862. The new HMS St Vincent was commissioned on 1 June 1927, originally like its predecessor as a training establishment for boys and juniors. On the outbreak of the Second World War, the boys were evacuated to the Isle of Man, where they merged with those evacuated from HMS Caledonia to form HMS St George, which was formally established in 1939. HMS St Vincent meanwhile became a training establishment for officers of the Fleet Air Arm and an overflow for the Royal Navy barracks. A signal school was also established. A torpedo training section was opened on 22 July 1940.
Forton Barracks was a military installation occupied by the Royal Marines near Gosport in Hampshire.
HMS St Vincent was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1810 at Devonport Dockyard and launched on 11 March 1815.
The Isle of Man, sometimes referred to simply as Mann, is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann and is represented by a lieutenant governor. Defence is the responsibility of the United Kingdom.
St Vincent reverted to being a boy's training establishment after the end of the war, and reopened as such on 1 December 1945. It continued to function as such until 1968, when it was decided to close St Vincent. The official closing ceremony was held on 8 December 1968, with the white ensign being lowered for the last time on 2 April 1969. The base was then handed over to the land agent the following day, 3 April 1969. [1]
St Vincent College now stands on the site.
