Devonport Naval Heritage Centre, formerly known as the Plymouth Naval Base Museum is a maritime museum in Plymouth, Devon. It is housed in a number of historic buildings within the South Yard of HM Naval Base, Devonport (one of the three main bases of the Royal Navy). Its mission statement is "To present the story of support to the Royal Navy at Plymouth since the days of Edward I." [1]
The museum was established in the Grade II listed former Dockyard Fire Station building in 1969, following an appeal from the office of the Admiral-superintendent for items of memorabilia. It has since expanded into the Grade II* listed Pay Office, while the Scrieve Board (a Grade II* listed 18th-century slip cover) currently serves as a museum store. [2]
The Dockyard Fire Station contains the Age of Sail Gallery. [3]
The Pay Office contains galleries covering the transition from sail to steam, and through two World Wars, to the era of nuclear propulsion: [3]
It also contains exhibitions and displays about: [3]
In 2020 the museum's collection of thirteen historic Royal Naval figureheads was transferred to the Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery and (after extensive restoration work had been carried out) they were put on display in a new gallery there called 'The Box'. [4]
The nuclear-powered submarine HMS Courageous, used in the Falklands War, is managed by the Heritage Centre as a museum ship (though it is currently 'closed to the general public until further notice'). [5]
As of 2023 the museum is open March-October every Wednesday from 10am-4pm (and also on occasional Saturdays). There is no entry charge (though donations are requested); and, since the museum no longer lies within a restricted part of the yard, there is no requirement for visitors to book in advance. [6]
Discussions were underway in 2014 around removing the museum from the Dockyard and displaying some of its collections within an expanded Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery. [7]
More recently, in 2018, the National Museum of the Royal Navy announced a 12-year project to try to establish a 'full-time visitor attraction' in Devonport, to be based within the South Yard and focused around the decommissioned submarine HMS Courageous. [8]
Devonport, formerly named Plymouth Dock or just Dock, is a district of Plymouth in the English county of Devon, although it was, at one time, the more important settlement. It became a county borough in 1889. Devonport was originally one of the "Three Towns" ; these merged in 1914 to form what would become in 1928 the City of Plymouth. It is represented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Plymouth Sutton and Devonport constituency. Its elected Member of Parliament (MP) is Luke Pollard, who is a member of the Labour Party. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 14,788.
The sixth HMS Bulwark of the Royal Navy was a 22,000 tonne Centaur-class light fleet aircraft carrier. Initially commissioned as a light aircraft carrier in 1954, the ship was converted into a commando carrier in 1958 and recommissioned as such in 1960. Bulwark remained in this capacity until 1979 following failed efforts to sell the ship, Bulwark re-entered service as an anti-submarine warfare carrier and remained as such until being decommissioned in 1981. The ship was scrapped in 1984.
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent. Established in Chatham in the mid-16th century, the dockyard subsequently expanded into neighbouring Gillingham.
Squid was a British World War II ship-mounted anti-submarine weapon. It consisted of a three-barrelled mortar which launched depth charges. It replaced the Hedgehog system, and was in turn replaced by the Limbo system.
Royal Navy Dockyards were state-owned harbour facilities where ships of the Royal Navy were built, based, repaired and refitted. Until the mid-19th century the Royal Dockyards were the largest industrial complexes in Britain.
The Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET) was the admiral responsible for the operations of the ships, submarines and aircraft of the British Royal Navy from 1971 until April 2012. The post was subordinate to the First Sea Lord, the professional head of the Naval Service. In its last years, as the Navy shrank, more administrative responsibilities were added.
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.
The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England.
Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was formerly the Royal Naval Dockyard Rosyth. Its primary role now is the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines. It is also the integration site for the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth class as well as the Type 31 Frigate.
The National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, formerly known as the Royal Naval Museum, is a museum of the history of the Royal Navy located in the Portsmouth Historic Dockyard section of HMNB Portsmouth, Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The museum is part of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Defence. It received 1,081,909 visitors in 2017.
The Royal William Victualling Yard in Stonehouse, a suburb of Plymouth, England, was the major victualling depot of the Royal Navy and an important adjunct of Devonport Dockyard. It was designed by the architect Sir John Rennie and was named after King William IV. It was built between 1826 and 1835 and occupies a site of approximately 16 acres (65,000 m2) being half of Western Kings, north of Devil's Point.
HMS Courageous (S50) is a decommissioned Churchill-class nuclear fleet submarine in service with the Royal Navy from 1971. She is now a museum ship managed by the Devonport Naval Heritage Centre.
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. The largest naval base in Western Europe, HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth, England.
Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at the mouth of the River Medway in Kent. It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960.
The Naval Museum of Halifax is a Canadian Forces museum located at CFB Halifax in the former official residence of the Commander-in-Chief of the North America Station (1819–1905). Also known as the "Admiralty House", the residence is a National Historic Site of Canada located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The museum collects, preserves and displays the artifacts and history of the Royal Canadian Navy.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is an area of HM Naval Base Portsmouth which is open to the public; it contains several historic buildings and ships. It is managed by the National Museum of the Royal Navy as an umbrella organization representing five charities: the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust, the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth, the Mary Rose Trust, the Warrior Preservation Trust Ltd and the HMS Victory Preservation Company. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard Ltd was created to promote and manage the tourism element of the Royal Navy Dockyard, with the relevant trusts maintaining and interpreting their own attractions. It also promotes other nearby navy-related tourist attractions.
In 1989 the Royal Navy was under the direction of the Navy Department in the UK Ministry of Defence. It had two main commands, CINCFLEET and Naval Home Command.
The Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham, also known as HMSPembroke, was a UK naval barracks that was built between the Victorian Steam Yard and Brompton Barracks from 1897 to 1902. It was built on the site of a prison built in 1853 to house over 1,000 convicts, with the intention that they would be used to build the Dockyard extension.
HMS Cadmus was a wooden screw corvette launched on 20 May 1856 at Chatham Dockyard. On 4 January 1865, she ran aground at Chatham, Kent. She was refloated. Cadmus struck rocks at Salcombe on 5 June 1869 and was severely damaged. She was consequently beached. She was taken in to Plymouth the next day. She was broken up in 1879 at Devonport.