The seventeenth

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 ...

vessel to be named HMS ''Dolphin'' was the Royal Naval

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 ...

sited at

Fort Blockhouse Fort Blockhouse is a former military establishment in Gosport, Hampshire, England, and the final version of a complicated site. At its greatest extent in the 19th century, the structure was part of a set of fortifications which encircled much ...

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

. ''Dolphin'' was the home of the

Royal Navy Submarine Service The Royal Navy Submarine Service is one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. It is sometimes known as the Silent Service, as submarines are generally required to operate undetected. The service operates six fleet submarines ( SSNs), ...

from 1904 to 1999, and location of the Royal Navy Submarine School.

Closure of submarine base

The blockhouse and fortifications of the site had been constructed from the 14th century onwards, but in the late nineteenth century, it was deemed surplus by the Royal Commission, and was handed over to the Royal Navy in 1904. The navy set about expanding the site by added new blocks and accommodation for various ranks, and the base became an independent command in August 1912. Originally it was known simply as ''Haslar Submarine Base'', but was renamed as ''HMS Dolphin'' sometime after 1907, when the last ship to be called HMS Dolphin was brought to the site to provide extra accommodation. Heavy bombing 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 ...

on Gosport and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, saw the submarine training school moved to Blyth in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

as HMS Elfin. HMS ''Dolphin'' closed as a

submarine base A submarine base is a military base that shelters submarines and their personnel. Examples of present-day submarine bases include HMNB Clyde, Île Longue (the base for France's Force océanique stratégique), Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, N ...

on 30 September 1998, although the last RN submarine permanently based at Gosport was HMS ''Opossum'' which had left five years earlier in 1993. The Royal Navy Submarine School (RNSMS) remained at ''Dolphin'' until 23 December 1999 when it closed prior to relocation to HMS ''Raleigh'' at

Torpoint Torpoint () is a town and civil parish on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar. Torpoint had a populatio ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. The RNSMS staff marched into HMS ''Raleigh'' and were welcomed on board by Commodore Lockwood on 31 January 2000. The RNSMS is located in the Dolphin and Astute blocks at ''Raleigh'', although the

Submarine Escape Training Tank A Submarine Escape Training Tower is a facility used for training submariners in methods of emergency escape from a disabled submarine underwater. It is a deep tank filled with water with at least one underwater entrance at depth simulating an ai ...

(SETT), a deep tank of water used to instruct all RN submariners in pressurised escape, remained active at the same site, now renamed Fort Blockhouse, until early 2020, when it was replaced with a newer training facility at HM Naval Base Clyde.

Submarine museum

The

Royal Navy Submarine Museum The Royal Navy Submarine Museum at Gosport is a maritime museum tracing the international history of submarine development from the age of Alexander the Great to the present day, and particularly the history of the Royal Navy Submarine Service fr ...

is still sited nearby on Haslar Jetty Road next to Fort Blockhouse and

Royal Naval Hospital Haslar The Royal Hospital Haslar in Gosport, Hampshire, which was also known as the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar, was one of Britain's leading Royal Naval Hospitals (and latterly a tri-service MOD hospital) for over 250 years. Built in the 1740s, it w ...

Notable Personnel

Jimmy Scoular James Scoular (11 January 1925 – 19 March 1998) was a Scottish football player and manager. Known as a tough, combative player with precise passing skills, Scoular made over 600 appearances in the Football League with Portsmouth, Newcastle Un ...

, served at the base as an engineer *

Sandy Woodward Admiral Sir John Forster "Sandy" Woodward, (1 May 1932 – 4 August 2013) was a senior Royal Navy officer who commanded the Task Force of the Falklands War. Early life Woodward was born on 1 May 1932 at Marazion, near Penzance, Cornwall, to a ...

, served at the base in the early 1960s * Captain ''Tubby'' Crawford, flag officer at the base in the early 1960s

References

Sources

External links

Royal Navy Submarine School (RNSMS)

Royal Navy Submarine Museum
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