HMS ''Eaglet'' is a Royal Navy Reserve unit based in Liverpool. She is the main occupant of the

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 ...

Regional Headquarters in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

. The base (often also colloquially referred to as HMS Eaglet) is also the home to a number of units, including:

Royal Marines Reserve The Royal Marines Reserve (RMR) is the volunteer reserve force used to augment the regular Royal Marines. The RMR consists of some 600 trained ranks distributed among the four units within the UK. About 10 percent of the force are working with ...

Merseyside, Naval Regional Command Northern England, Liverpool URNU, , , Sea Cadet Corps, and the Liverpool Royal Navy and Royal Marines Careers Office.

History

The Mersey Division of the RNVR was established in Customs House, Liverpool under the command of Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 2nd Earl of Lathom in 1904, before moving to , a 50-gun

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

Brunswick Dock :''Brunswick Dock is also the name of a dock in London, which became part of the East India Docks.'' Brunswick Dock is a dock on the River Mersey, in England, and part of the Port of Liverpool. It is situated in the southern dock system, conne ...

, in 1911. Mersey Division was mobilised in 1914 to form part of the

Royal Naval Division The 63rd (Royal Naval) Division was a United Kingdom infantry division of the First World War. It was originally formed as the Royal Naval Division at the outbreak of the war, from Royal Navy and Royal Marine reservists and volunteers, who w ...

, serving at

Gallipoli The Gallipoli Peninsula (; ; ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles strait to the east. Gallipoli is the Italian form of the Greek name (), meaning ' ...

, the battles of

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

, Passchendaele and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...

. To avoid confusion with a newer , the frigate was renamed HMS ''Eaglet'' in 1918. The ship was destroyed in a fire in 1926, and replaced by the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

sloop , which was renamed ''Eaglet''. The new ''Eaglet'' was berthed at Salthouse Dock. During 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 ...

, ''Eaglet'' became the

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of navy, naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically ...

of Commander-in-Chief

Western Approaches The Western Approaches is an approximately rectangular area of the Atlantic Ocean lying immediately to the west of Ireland and parts of Great Britain. Its north and south boundaries are defined by the corresponding extremities of Britain. The c ...

. In 1971, the sloop was

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. This concept often includes the recovery of energy from waste materials. The recyclability of a material depends on i ...

and HMS ''Eaglet'' moved ashore to a new HQ at Prince's Dock. In 1993, ''Eaglet'' received the freedom of the city of Liverpool. The current

stone frigate 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 First French ...

is based on Brunswick Dock in

, opened by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh, is a substantive title that has been created four times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not pr ...

in 1998.

Current units

The following are based at the location: * Headquarters, Naval Regional Command Northern England ** Naval Regional Commander, Northern England and Isle of Man * Headquarters, Royal Marine Reserve Merseyside * Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit * s: ** – serving Manchester and Salford University Royal Naval Unit ** – serving Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit

Famous attendees

Ian Edward Fraser Ian Edward Fraser, (18 December 1920 – 1 September 2008) was an English diving pioneer, sailor and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth force ...

, VC RNR

Citations

References

* *Evans, B. (2003). HMS Eaglet; The Story Of The Royal Naval Reserves On Merseyside. Countyvise Publishing. .

External links

*HMS Eaglet, Royal Nav

*RMR Merseyside, Royal Nav

Royal Navy shore establishments Military installations established in 1904 Buildings and structures in Liverpool Military history of Liverpool {{UK-navy-stub