HMS ''Saker'', also known as HMS ''Saker I'', HMS ''Saker II'' and HMS ''Saker III'', has historically been the ship to which Royal Naval personnel serving in the
United States of America are assigned. Consequently, it is a
stone frigate, and has existed at several different locations since the Second World War.
The first mention of the ship is at
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Dartmouth ( ) is an urban community and former city located in the Halifax Regional Municipality of Nova Scotia, Canada. Dartmouth is located on the eastern shore of Halifax Harbour. Dartmouth has been nicknamed the City of Lakes, after the larg ...
, as a
Royal Naval Air Station.
Before the war, it was a Royal Canadian Air Force station known as .
It was commissioned under the name ''Saker'' (or possibly ''Saker II'') on 1 October 1941, and paid off on 1 August 1942, being relieved by HMS ''Canada'' once more.
''Saker II'' was commissioned as an accounting base at
Connecticut Avenue, Washington D.C., on 1 December 1941, and became ''Saker'' on 1 November 1942. It had a satellite unit - known originally as - which acted as shore based transit accommodation of the
Royal Navy located just outside
New York City.
It was used by crews picking up ships allocated to the Royal Navy under the provisions of
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
and by crews sent to collect ships that had been undergoing long term repair, refitting or construction at United States dockyards, and was also used as a base for 'unattached' personnel.
In 1943 it was recorded at
Lewiston, Maine, where until 1945 it used the facilities at
Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Lewiston, located at Lewiston, Maine, is a closed facility of the United States Navy, and was established as one of five air facilities to support Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine, during World War II.
History
A munic ...
for operations.
From September 1943 through to July 1944, ''Saker'' was also used as the name for British personnel at
NAS Squantum, and as the name for personnel at
NAS Brunswick from August 1943 to August 1945.
The Chaplain of ''Saker'' in 1945 was K. Boulton Jones, who performed an all-British memorial ceremony for
President Roosevelt at St Mark's Church, Adelaide, Brooklyn, on 15 April of that year.
From October 1945, it was based in New York City - and in March 1946 moved to
37 Wall Street
37 Wall Street is a luxury apartment building on Wall Street in the heart of the Financial District in Lower Manhattan, New York City.
History
It was designed by Francis Kimball and constructed during 1906–1907 for The Trust Company of Am ...
.
In December 1946, it was combined with the
British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
Delegation to the US, and was moved to
Washington, D.C., then
Crystal City, Arlington, Virginia.
The last building known as ''Saker'' closed in 1976, and all the personnel moved back to Washington.
HMS ''Saker'' went on to become the collective title for Royal Navy personnel serving in the United States of America, the current commander of HMS ''Saker'' - technically ''Saker III'' is the Assistant Naval Attaché of the
British Defence Staff – US at the British Embassy in
Washington, D.C.
See also
*
List of Royal Navy shore establishments
References
* ''The Captain Class Frigates in the Second World War'' by Donald Collingwood. published by Leo Cooper (1998), .
External links
Assistant Naval Attaché BDS-US{{DEFAULTSORT:Saker
Royal Navy shore establishments