The Royal Naval Barracks, Chatham, also known as HMS ''Pembroke'', was a UK

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

barracks Barracks are usually a group of long buildings built to house military personnel or laborers. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word "barraca" ("soldier's tent"), but today barracks are u ...

that was built between the Victorian Steam Yard and

Brompton Barracks The Royal School of Military Engineering (RSME) Group provides a wide range of training for the British Army and Defence. This includes; Combat Engineers, Carpenters, Chartered Engineers, Musicians, Band Masters, Sniffer Dogs, Veterinary Techni ...

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.

Background

During the

Age of Sail The Age of Sail is a period that lasted at the latest from the mid-16th (or mid- 15th) to the mid- 19th centuries, in which the dominance of sailing ships in global trade and warfare culminated, particularly marked by the introduction of naval ...

, the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

manned its ships either by

recruitment Recruitment is the overall process of identifying, sourcing, screening, shortlisting, and interviewing candidates for jobs (either permanent or temporary) within an organization. Recruitment also is the processes involved in choosing individual ...

impressment Impressment, colloquially "the press" or the "press gang", is the taking of men into a military or naval force by compulsion, with or without notice. European navies of several nations used forced recruitment by various means. The large size of ...

; crew were retained for as long as they were needed and then usually dismissed when their ship was

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in ...

at the end of a voyage or campaign. The introduction of Long Term Service in 1853, however, prompted the Navy to look at providing more permanent quarters for seamen in home waters. At first, they were almost invariably housed in hulks; it was only towards the end of the century that purpose-built barracks began to be constructed at each of the three principal

Royal Navy Dockyards Royal Navy Dockyards (more usually termed Royal 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 c ...

Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...

, Devonport and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. These barracks were designed to provide not just accommodation but also recreation and training facilities for men who were waiting to be appointed to ships.

History

Designed by Henry Pilkington, construction of the Royal Naval Barracks began in 1897 and was completed by December 1902. By the beginning of the First World War, Chatham was one of the Royal Navy's three ‘manning ports’ – together with Plymouth and Portsmouth—manned by men allocated to the Chatham Division. This role continued until the advent of central manning in 1956. In September 1917, the barracks

Drill Hall A drill hall is a place such as a building or a hangar where soldiers practise and perform military drills. Description In the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, the term was used for the whole headquarters building of a military reserve unit, ...

(which was being used as overflow accommodation) suffered a direct hit from two bombs, which killed over 130 men. In 1942,

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

made a visit to Medway and HMS ''Pembroke'', the Royal Naval Barracks. After the war Chatham became home to the

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

, or standby fleet. In 1957, the barracks and gunnery school were closed due to the local port divisions being replaced; however in 1959 the barracks re-opened as the Royal Naval Supply School, who trained staff in supply and secretarial work. When the

Commander-in-Chief, The Nore The Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, was an operational commander of the Royal Navy. His subordinate units, establishments, and staff were sometimes informally known as the Nore Station or Nore Command. The Nore is a sandbank at the mouth of the Th ...

, the regional operational commander appointment, was discontinued in March 1961, the barracks were being used as an accommodation centre for the re-fitting crews of the dockyard. The Drill Shed and Canteen were being used by the Dockyard. In 1970, all Naval establishments in Chatham were to be combined and known as HM Navy Base, under one officer '

Flag Officer, Medway and Port Admiral 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 (at its most extensive, in the early 20th century, ...

'. With the closure of the Dockyard and Naval Base in 1984, HMS ''Pembroke'' was also decommissioned; the barracks gates were finally closed on 31 March 1984.

List of Commodores-in-Command

Post holders included: * Captain Ernest Rice: July 1891 – July 1893 * Captain Swinton C. Holland: July 1893 – July 1896 * Captain Robert F. Hammick: July 1896 – October 1898 * Captain Angus Macleod: October 1898 – May 1901 * Captain Reginald C. Prothero: May 1901 – October 1902 * Captain Lewis E. Wintz: October 1902 – July 1904 * Commodore Frederick G.Stopford: July 1904 – May 1907 * Commodore Edward E. Bradford: May 1907 – December 1908 * Commodore Ernest C.T. Troubridge: December 1908 – February 1910 * Commodore Cecil F. Thursby: February 1910 – August 1911 * Commodore Seymour E. Erskine: August 1911 – April 1913 * Commodore Ernest F. A. Gaunt: April 1913 – August 1915 * Rear-Admiral Seymour E.Erskine: August 1915 – July 1918 * Commodore Harry L. de E. Skipwith: July 1918 – August 1920 * Commodore Gerald W.Vivian: August 1920 – June 1921 * Commodore Louis C.S.Woollcombe: June 1921 – May 1922 * Commodore Alexander V.Campbell: May 1922 – November 1923 * Commodore Eric J.A.Fullerton: November 1923 – December 1925 * Commodore Geoffrey Hopwood: December 1925 – December 1927 * Commodore Hugh S. Shipway: December 1927 – November 1929 * Commodore Arthur L. Snagge: November 1929 – July 1931 * Commodore Andrew B. Cunningham: July 1931 – December 1932 * Commodore Robert C. Davenport: January 1933 – July 1935 * Commodore John C. Tovey: January 1935 – July 1937 * Commodore Stuart S. Bonham-Carter: July 1937 – March 1939 * Commodore Robert L. Burnett: March 1939 – November 1940 * Commodore R. S. Gresham Nicholson: November 1940 – August 1943 * Commodore Angus M. B. Cunninghame Graham: August 1943 – January 1945 * Commodore Marcel H.A. Kelsey: January 1945 – February 1946 * Rear-Admiral Basil C. B. Brooke: February 1946 – February 1948 * Commodore John A.S. Eccles: February 1948 – October 1949 * Commodore Peter G.L. Cazalet: October 1949 – October 1950 * Commodore Gerald V. Gladstone: October 1950 – May 1952 * Commdore Geoffrey Thistleton-Smith: May 1952 – November 1953 (later V.Adm.) * Commodore Peter L. Collard: November 1953 – November 1955 * Commodore Hugh C.B. Coleridge: November 1955 – May 1957 * Commodore John F.D. Bush: May 1957 – March 1959 * Commodore Lionel W.L. Argles: March 1959 – March 1961

References

Sources

* {{cite book , last1=Coad , first1=Jonathan , title=Support for the Fleet: Architecture and Engineering of the Royal Navy's Bases 1700–1914 , date=2013 , publisher=

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, location=Swindon, UK , isbn=978-18480-2-055-9 Royal Navy shore establishments Chatham, Kent Military installations closed in 1984

External links

Information about the memorial to the victims of the Drill Shed Bombing
(which occurred at Chatham on the night of 3 September 1917) from the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

website