HMS ''Badger'' was a

shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. "Stone frigate" is an informal term that has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French in 1803–04. ...

of 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 ...

on the east coast of the United Kingdom. She was commissioned on 13 September 1939 was the flagship of the headquarters of the

Flag Officer A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark the position from which the officer exercises command. The term is used differently in different countries: *In many countries ...

in Charge (FOIC), Harwich who was responsible to

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 T ...

, and was decommissioned on 21 October 1946, although the Operations Room remained as the Emergency Port Control for the Harwich area. The site was Parkeston Quay, now

Harwich International Port Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly kn ...

, and the bunker lies under Hamilton House, currently an

occupational health Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...

centre, close to the entrance to Harwich International Port, a few miles west of Harwich.

Second World War

The Parkeston Quay site had been used during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

by the Royal Navy (see

Harwich Force The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war. History After the outbreak of the First World War, a ...

), and an Admiralty Research Laboratory had been constructed there. The port was again requisitioned from the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) at the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In its early days ''Badger'' provided a base for

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

, but by the end of 1940 it also serviced a destroyer

flotilla A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same clas ...

, a submarine squadron and a

Coastal Forces Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Fo ...

motor torpedo boat base, becoming the largest base for small craft in the United Kingdom. Badger was the name of the Harwich-Parkeston shore base, but for traditionalist purposes was also applied to a harbour craft—initially the requisitioned LNER ferry ''Epping'', but later the large 4-masted sailing ship ''Westwood''. which was kept permanently moored, as personnel-accommodation ship, at the east end of Parkeston Quay. HMS ''Badger'' had in excess of 1,300 shore staff, with up to 4,000 more men on warships under the authority of its FOIC (a rear-admiral or vice-admiral). His authority extending from the River Blackwater to Dunwich, and across to Holland. About 600 men of this command lost their lives, mainly at sea due to air and

E-boat E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

attacks (such as on the destroyers '' Wren'' and ''

Exmoor Exmoor is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simonsbath ...

'') or mines (''

Gipsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

'' and '' Grenville''). Its facilities included oil tanks, signals office (with WT/RT) station, a bomb disposal unit, a salvage and rescue tugs base, engineering sheds for warships (though there was no dockyard), minefield control posts (with small radar station), harbour entrance signal/control station, officers' club (at Michaelstowe Hall), and ratings club (at Parkeston). Various sub-bases originally part of it were progressively split off under their own officers, such as HMS Epping for minesweepers, HMS Beehive (

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northea ...

) for MTBs and HMS Bunting (

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

) for auxiliary patrol. The successive FOICs were Harris, Goolden, Rogers, Baillie-Grohman and Watson. The base was visited by

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, King George VI,

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands Wilhelmina (; Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria; 31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. Her reign saw World Wa ...

and Admiral Sir Jack Tovey. Its minesweepers were prominent in early efforts to find and destroy German magnetic mines. In April 1940 its submarines were active off Denmark and Norway, and later patrolled off the Dutch coast. In May 1940 it played important roles in the Dutch and Dunkirk evacuations, and the refugees landed there included the

Dutch royal family The monarchy of the Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy. As such, the role and position of the monarch are governed by the Constitution of the Netherlands. Consequently, a large portion of it is devoted to the monarch. Roughly a third of ...

). It was then designated as an anti-invasion base. By the end of 1940 its main warship unit was 16th Destroyer Flotilla, made up of V & W class and

Hunt-class destroyer The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. They ...

s. In the autumn of 1940 it was one of half a dozen east coast naval bases unsuccessfully targeted by the

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

. In 1942, six destroyers went from there to intercept the Germans '' Scharnhorst, Gneisenau'' and '' Prinz Eugen''. HMS ''Worcester'' came back with many dead-along with many other Harwich naval fatalities buried at

RNTE Shotley Royal Naval Training Establishment Shotley, known in the Royal Navy as , was a naval training establishment at Shotley, near Ipswich in Suffolk. Starting in 1905, it trained boys for naval service until 1973 (The school-leaving age was raised ...

. In 1944 it was responsible for Force L and other follow-up forces for the D-Day invasion, though the initial contingents for these were loaded over at Felixstowe. In 1945 Brauning, the German admiral commanding in the Occupied Netherlands, and other German officers, were landed there having come into Felixstowe on two E-boats. At various times ships and crews of many Allied nations were attached to the base, including Poles, French, Dutchmen and Belgians. At the end of the war it was designated as an anchorage for the Reserve Fleet. (References—J P Foynes: The Battle of the East Coast 1939-1945—published 1994—by far the most detailed and researched account of the base, based on official Admiralty records and veteran's interviews). After a short period accommodated in the Station Hotel at Parkeston Quay, the accommodation and administration moved in 1940 to Hamilton House, the former

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

customs house A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

. A bunker was built under Hamilton House, and this opened in 1941 as an underground operations room. Anti-aircraft sea-forts (known as

HM Fort Roughs HM Fort Roughs was one of several World War II installations that were designed by Guy Maunsell and known collectively as ''His Majesty's Forts'' or as '' Maunsell Sea Forts''; its purpose was to guard the port of Harwich, Essex, and more ...

), located 10 miles offshore, were kept supplied from HMS ''Badger''. An alternative deceptive site for Parkeston Quay was sited at

East Mersea East Mersea is a scattered village and civil parish on Mersea Island in the English county of Essex. It was historically referred to as ''Mersea'' in the Domesday book St Edmund's Church The Grade I listed parish Church of St Edmund King and M ...

, but the port area suffered extensive damage from air attacks during the course of

Post-war service

HMS ''Badger'' was decommissioned on 21 October 1946, but the operations room was retained. When the

Royal Naval Auxiliary Service The Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) was a uniformed, unarmed, civilian volunteer service, administered and trained by the Royal Navy to operate in the ports and anchorages of the United Kingdom in an emergency. Although the abbreviated title w ...

(RNXS) was formed in 1964 the bunker was refurbished and re-opened as the emergency port control for Parkeston, Harwich, the

Port of Felixstowe The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk, is the United Kingdom's busiest containerization, container port, dealing with 48% of Britain's containerised trade. In 2017, it was ranked as 43rd List of busiest container ports, busiest contain ...

, the

Port of Ipswich The Port of Ipswich can be dated to c.625. The name Ipswich was originally Gippeswyc, referring to the River Gyppes with a suffix derived from the Scandinavian term vik, which had evolved from meaning bay or inlet to mean landing-place, followin ...

and the

River Orwell The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England from Ipswich to Felixstowe. Above Ipswich, the river is known as the River Gipping, but its name changes to the Orwell at Stoke Bridge, where the river becomes tidal. It broadens in ...

. Several of these centres around the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

were intended to direct shipping in the event of a nuclear attack. The RNXS bunker remained operational until 1992.

References

External links

Pill Box Study Group website - Parkeston Quay
{{DEFAULTSORT:Badger Royal Navy shore establishments Royal Navy bases in England Buildings and structures in Essex Coastal Essex Harwich Military installations established in 1939 Military installations closed in 1946 1939 establishments in England 1946 disestablishments in England