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HMS ''Cricket'' was the name given to a
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
shore establishment A stone frigate is a naval establishment on land. 'Stone frigate' is an informal term which has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy (RN), after its use of Diamond Rock, an island off Martinique, as a ' sloop of war' to harass the French in ...
on the
River Hamble The River Hamble in south Hampshire, England, source (river), rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for through Botley, Hampshire, Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The ...
from 1943 to 1946. This name was previously used by the that was scrapped in 1942. HMS ''Cricket'' was commissioned on 15 July 1943.Local Heritage Initiative website Initially it was a "
Royal Marine The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...
Landing Craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...
Crew Training Base". It was established as an independent command with accounts being handled by . The base was later used to assemble troops and
landing craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...
in the build-up to
D-day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
. From 23 May 1944, during the final preparations for D-Day, the base was completely sealed. During the base's operation, she was assigned a number of depot ships. The first was the ''Nab Happy Lass'', from the time of commissioning until 30 April 1945. She was replaced by harbour launch 30455 until May that year, and was then succeeded by the petrol powered harbour launch 436622 until March 1946. It was decided to close HMS ''Cricket'' after the end of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, a decision taken on 1 March 1946. The last arrivals were on 20 May 1946 and ''Cricket'' was probably decommissioned on 15 July 1946, three years after commissioning. Its buildings were used for temporary post-war accommodation for the civilian population of
Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...
. River Hamble Country Park now occupies this site. Itchen South scouts operate a scout campsite, named Cricket Camp, on part of the land.Cricket Camp
Itchen South District Scouts. Retrieved 2019-09-24.


References

* Warlow, Ben, ''Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy'', Liskeard : Maritime, 2000. *


External links



{{DEFAULTSORT:Cricket Royal Navy bases in Hampshire