Visit Veterans UK to find out how to request a summary of a service record. There was an annual intake of some 300 boys between 15 and 16 years old in two intakes September and January. dailyinfo[10]=' 837119 Gunner Alexander BROOKS Military Medal "A" Bty. dailyinfo[5]=' CH/316(S) Private Jack WILSON Chatham Bn. (Hill House would serve as the dockyard's Pay Office for the next 180 years; the Royal Marine Barracks were later built on its site). Diamond, one of the Navy's Daring Class Destroyers which was in Dry Dock in one of the Basins. dailyinfo[24]=' 2503969 Sapper Joseph WATERS Canadian Railway Troops who died 24/04/1921 BUTTE (MOUNT MORIAH) CEMETERY United States of America ' Published 15 June 2021. Both my Grandad and my Dad worked there. Recommended Posts. dailyinfo[13]=' Gefreiter Richard STROEBER 12./R.I.R.22 German Army who died 13/04/1918 ERQUINGHEM-LYS CHURCHYARD EXTENSION France ' Two years later the project was largely complete, with facilities provided alongside for gun mounting and mast rigging, as well as a victualling depot and a coaling area. dailyinfo[9]=' 3094 Rifleman James William NEWELL 2nd Bn. The dockyard, always pulled together and pulled out all the stops to get things done, especially for the navy. 307th Bde. Chatham Dockyard ledgers: employees, apprentices, etc . In 1758, there were 43 pairs of. In the interwar years, eight S-class submarines as well as X1 were built at Chatham but this was a period of decline. Mon Mar 30 20:01:32 2009, BBC Kent website, The Great Hall, Mount Pleasant Rd, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ. I remember arriving at Chatham Dockyard in the Spring of 1954 to join H.M.S. //-->, By Chatham Dockyard ledgers: employees, apprentices, etc . I have a copy of his Army Form 103 Casualty Form that traces his movement from CCS in Gallipoli to RNH Malta (although Im not sure which one but probably Bighi) back to UK but after that Ive drawn a blank. 'Everything had to be done by 4pm on Fridays', which made Fridays quite manic and stressful at times, they said. The senior official of a Royal Navy dockyard was the commissioner, who was supported by other senior officers including: . [24] By 1861, No 1 Dock had been filled in and a machine shop constructed in its place for heating, bending and planing armour plate for HMS Achilles which was being built alongside. dailyinfo[29]=' 4547 Lance Corporal Albert FERGUSSON 1st Bn. The boys even achieved ISMs, Imperial Service Medals - but what really stays in their memories, they say, is the 'camaraderie' and the laughter. Extended in connection with preparations for HMS, No 1 Machine Shop 1861. [35] During World War I, twelve submarines were built here, but when hostilities ceased, uncompleted boats were scrapped and five years passed before a further ship was launched. Apprenticeships in HM Royal Naval Dockyard, Chatham. Of his cartoon he adds: I hope it brings a little humour to what was the sad demise of a truly much-loved local radio station.. These records are not available to view online so to see them you willhave to either visit us in Kew or, if you can locate document references, order copies. For Joe, the group is special as they share stories from a 'bygone age that no longer exists'. I'd hold it anywhere, even in my own home. We worked together from 7am to 4.30pm and earned 2, 13 shillings and two pence a week.". Captain Sir Thomas Bourchier, 20 September 1846 5 May 1849, Rear-Admiral A.L. PDF This list of apprentices, both craft and technician, was extracted from Proposals were made for a fourth Basin of 57 acres (230,000m2), together with additional large docks of up to 800ft (240m), to cover the remaining land on St Mary's Island; but these were soon superseded by plans to build an entirely new dockyard at Rosyth. As far as I can find, no Naval hospital muster lists (ADM 102) survive at TNA Kew for the 1914-1919 period. [48], Chatham Dockyard has become a popular location for filming, due to its varied and interesting areas such as the cobbled streets, church and over 100 buildings dating from the Georgian and Victorian periods. How the military presence developed after 1820, showing how the need for housing gave birth to New Brompton, and showing roads and railways. Money was only made available for one such installation, however, and Chatham (as the principal building yard at this time) was chosen as its location. The Establishment grew, and by 1856 the Artillery had moved out; Brompton Barracks remains in service as headquarters of the Royal Engineers. When the . Chatham Naval Dockyard, Kent | Educational Images | Historic England dailyinfo[1]=' 61365 Private James LAVIN 1st Garrison Bn. For records of workers from the last 100 years you should start your search at one of the dockyard historical trusts or societies or at a local county or metropolitan archive. [39] Redundancy notices were served, but then abruptly withdrawn following the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands; the dockyard was heavily involved in preparing ships for the South Atlantic, and in repairing damaged vessels on their return. Chatham's establishment as a naval dockyard was precipitated by the use of the Medway as a safe anchorage by the ships of what became (under King Henry VIII) England's permanent Royal Navy. I am 82 years of age and was a Naval Shipwright Apprentice (Dockyard number 21413) in Chatham Dockyard from 1941 until 1945. [55], The Captain of the Dockyard's House and flagstaff, Double Ropewalk and Black Yarn House to right, The Victorian Steam Yard was built around three large Basins (wet docks), constructed between 1865 and 1885 along the line of St Mary's Creek (separating St Mary's Island from the mainland). St Marys Island was just waste land, marsh, nothing, now look at it, he said. Dockyard Church 1806. Did you or your family, work there on the ships? This role ceased in 1801, however, when the entire Dept establishment moved to Parkhurst Barracks on the Isle of Wight (where the recruits were less prone to find ways of deserting). The largest groups were the fitters and turners and the electricians followed by the shipwrights. Anchor Wharf Store Houses 17781805 (at nearly 700 feet [210m] long) are the largest storehouses ever built for the navy. The Pay Office was moved here in 1750 from Hill House. Chatham Dockyard | Military Wiki | Fandom Some post-1920s service records for dockyards personnel are held by the Ministry of Defence. The Dockyard apprenticeships were some of the best in the UK. DavidWent to Navy Days, both as a toddler with my parents and later as 8-10 yr old with school friends. Additionally required were the blockmakers, caulkers, pitch-heaters, blacksmiths, joiners and carpenters, sail makers, riggers, and ropemakers (274), as well as bricklayers, labourers and others. Tank Corps who died 28/04/1918 MARISSEL FRENCH NATIONAL CEMETERY France ' When young Robert started there in 1958, the docks employed 6000 people on a two-mile long site encompassing hundreds of workshops, offices and storehouses as well as its own police . The first was by exam and accounted for about 125 apprentices and what was called the . Three decades after the last tradesmen laid down their tools, three ex-workers tell their story. The subalterns were given one room each, the captains two, and field officers four. Remembering the Royal Dockyard at Chatham The site was expanded and rebuilt in the 1860s; in 1905 the Royal Marines took over Melville Barracks, which stood between Dock Road and Brompton Hill (it had formerly served as Chatham's Royal Naval Hospital). Remembered Today: seaJane. I am 82 years of age and was a Naval Shipwright Apprentice (Dockyard number 21413) in Chatham Dockyard from 1941 until 1945. Also, after a reunion in 1993 at Gravesend Rowing Club, Terry said the whereabouts of two of the attendees, John Doggett and Ted Leftley, is now unknown. Before 1832 dockyards were run entirely by naval officers who were civilian employees of the Navy Board, not Admiralty sea officers. [25] For the time being, however, marine steam engines were not manufactured on site but were ordered from Thames-based private contractors (along with other associated equipment). These were designed by Captain, No 7 Slip is one of the earliest examples of a modern metal, No 2 Dry Dock 1856 was built on the site of "The Old Single Dock" where HMS, No 3 Dry Dock 1820, the first to be constructed of stone, was designed by, No 4 Dry Dock 1840 was built on the site of one of a parallel pair of docks built in 1686 (the second of which was converted into the adjacent slipway, No. When Royal Dockyard Chatham closed in 1984 the Ministry of Defence removed all records still held on site. Nobody ever had it as good as we did - and nobody will ever have it as good as we did.". Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust holds very few records for either Naval or Dockyard Personnel. As a result, it was acknowledged by 1771 that Chatham had no future as a front-line fleet base;[20] nevertheless, following a visit by the Admiralty Board in 1773, the decision was taken to invest further in Chatham, and to develop it as a building yard rather than a refitting base. The first battleship to be built on the new No 8 Slip was HMS Africa, launched in 1905; however it also proved to be the last, as it was announced (controversially) that Chatham Dockyard would be unable to accommodate Dreadnoughts. [17], By this time the establishment, including the gun wharf, stretched one mile (1.6km) in length, and included an area of in excess of 95 acres (380,000m2). Another member of the group, Brian Booker, 76, moved to Plymouth from Chatham in the South East and joined the dockyard in 1984, working there for six years before taking early retirement to care for his wife. The majority of its buildings are still standing, several of them occupied by the Universities at Medway. [42], The easternmost basin (Basin No 3) was handed over to the Medway Ports authority and is now a commercial port (Chatham Docks).