HMS ''President'' is a "

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 ...

", or shore establishment of the

Royal Naval Reserve The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original ...

, based on the northern bank of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

near

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

Wapping Wapping () is an area in the borough of Tower Hamlets in London, England. It is in East London and part of the East End. Wapping is on the north bank of the River Thames between Tower Bridge to the west, and Shadwell to the east. This posit ...

and is in the

London Borough of Tower Hamlets The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London boroughs, borough in London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and ...

Present day

The division consists of over 300 officers and ratings, making it the largest in the country. The division draws recruits from the city, as well as further afield. There is also a satellite unit in Chatham, the Medway Division.

History

There had been a drill ship moored in London since 1 April 1862. This was the 58-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 ...

, berthed at the

West India Docks The West India Docks are a series of three docks, quaysides, and warehouses built to import goods from, and export goods and occasionally passengers to, the British West Indies. Located on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first dock opened in 18 ...

and training ship of the local Royal Naval Reserve. They were joined in 1872 by the Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers. This ship was named ''Old President'' on 25 March 1903, and was sold for scrapping on 7 July 1903. This ship had been constructed in 1829 on the exact lines of the American 'monster frigate' USS ''President'' which was captured by the Royal Navy at the close of the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, and the name was deliberately retained in memory both of this capture, and also the 1806 capture of the which had served as from 1806 to 1815. All the ''Old President's'' successors in the London RNR role have also been renamed HMS ''President'', including , , the sloop HMS ''Saxifrage'', and the present shore training establishment in

St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks is a former dock in the St Katherine and Wapping ward of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies in the East End of London, East End on the north bank of the River Thames, immediately downstream of the Tower of London an ...

. With the passing of the Naval Forces Act by

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

on 30 June 1903, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was created. The London Division was established on 10 November 1903 and held its first drill night at the Fishmongers' Hall. It then moved to the

sloop-of-war During the 18th and 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship of the Royal Navy with a single gun deck that carried up to 18 guns. The rating system of the Royal Navy covered all vessels with 20 or more guns; thus, the term encompassed all u ...

then moored in the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after th ...

. The ''Gannet'' had been renamed HMS ''President'' on 16 May 1903. She served for nine years as the centre's home, until being

paid off Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship i ...

on 31 March 1911, and is now preserved in

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former Royal Navy Dockyard, royal/naval dockyard at Chatham, Medway, Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km2) and was o ...

. She was replaced by HMS ''Buzzard'', which had been serving as a training ship at Blackfriars since 19 May 1904. She took the name HMS ''President'' on 1 April 1911. This ''President'' served until 23 January 1918, when she was lent to

The Marine Society The Marine Society is a British charity, the world's first established for seafarers. In 1756, at the beginning of the Seven Years' War against France, Austria, and Saxony (and subsequently the Mughal Empire, Spain, Russia and Sweden) Britain urg ...

, finally being sold on 6 September 1921. It was intended to replace her with the sloop , but she was wrecked on her way to being fitted out. She was instead replaced by her sister HMS ''Saxifrage'', which was renamed HMS ''President'' on 9 September 1921. She was moored at King's Reach on 19 June 1922. She was joined in 1938 by , which served as a drill hall and gave extra space for activities. HMS ''President'' was taken over in 1939 for the training of DEMS gunners and sailors. The Reserve division had been closed by April 1940. The division was reformed in October 1946 and continued to serve as the London base.

Later history

''President'' took a number of roles and duties, one of which was to serve as the accounting base for Admiralty personnel. The Royal Navy section was transferred to a new section named HMS ''St Vincent'' on 15 September 1983. ''St Vincent'' was located in a building that had been purchased in 1954 as accommodation for WRNS. It was commissioned as an independent command in 1985 and was paid off on 31 March 1992. In the mid-1980s the was attached to the base. In 1988 both HMS ''President'' and HMS ''Chrysanthemum'' were sold and the division moved ashore, into a purpose-built training centre next to

overlooking

. This had formerly been the site of the P&O London ferry terminal. HMS ''Humber'' was transferred away from the base in 1994.

Locations

HMS ''President'' has also sited some departments at a number of different locations onshore in the city of London. These have included: *Royal Victoria Yard,

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

(1918 – 21 April 1958) * PLA building (November 1946 – 1973) *Furze House (21 April 1958 – 1976) *Thomas More Street (1970s) *E. Smithfield (1978–1979) *Lavington Street (1979–1982) *St Katharine's Way (1 February 1988 – present) There was also a branch, HMS ''Co President'', established at

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is sited on the River Severn, northwest of Wolverhampton, west of Telford, southeast of Wrexham and north of Hereford. At the 2021 United ...

between 1944 and 1947.

Subdivisions

As the unit developed, new departments were established and spun off, often taking up residency in buildings across the city. They retained the name ''President'', but adopting a specific identifying numeral after it. They were:

HMS ''President I''

Located both in London and Shrewsbury it was established as an accounting base, in operation between 1918 and 1928. It took over the accounting from the

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

based HMS ''Iolaire'', which had closed on 19 May 1919. It was at the Royal Victoria Yard in 1939, and moved to Shrewsbury in September 1940. It returned to London on 6 July 1945, setting up operations at Chelsea Court. It took over some Naval Party accounts from HMS ''Odyssey'' when that office closed on 31 January 1946. The department remained operational between 1947 and 1957, seeing the merging into it of HMS ''President III'' and HMS ''Pembroke III''.

HMS ''President II''

This was another accounting base, based at times at Chatham, Crystal Palace,

Chingford Chingford is a suburban town in east London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. The centre of Chingford is north-east of Charing Cross, with Waltham Abbey to the north, Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill to the east, Walt ...

and Shrewsbury, and extant between 1916 and at least 1947. Also at

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town and civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest Containerization, containe ...

in 1917. (Possibly also at Calshot and

Bembridge Bembridge is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish located on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight. It had a population of 3,848 according to the 2001 census of the United Kingdom, leading to the implausible claim by so ...

during 1917.)

HMS ''President III''

A third accounting base, this time alternately based at

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, Windsor and London. It covered the accounts of the active services of the Royal Fleet Reserve, the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve and the Royal Naval Reserve from 1916 onwards, also extending to covering demobilisation accounts from December 1918 onwards. The Defensively Equipped Merchant Ship accounts were transferred to HMS ''Vivid'' on 1 October 1919. In August 1935, ''President III'' also took over the accounts of the Mobile Naval Defence Base Organisation. It was re-established on 28 August 1939 in Bristol to train those allocated for service on the Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships. It was later transferred to locations across Windsor and London. By 31 May 1944 the command held over 30,500 accounts. The ledgers were closed after the war on 1 July 1946, and the accounts covered by ''President III'' and ''Pembroke III'' were merged into ''President I''.

HMS ''President IV''

This was the London accounting base, in operation between 1918 and 1926, handling the accounts of the commands of the Coastguard ships and the Reserves.

HMS ''President V''

Another London accounting base, initially set up in 1918 it covered a wide variety of accounts but was

on 30 September 1919 and the accounts were transferred to HMS ''Pembroke''. It was recommissioned on 1 November 1941 as a training establishment for Accountant Branch Ratings. It closed on 14 July 1944 and its operations were moved to HMS ''Demetrius''.

HMS ''President VI''

Also established in 1918, it handled transport service accounts, and from February 1919 was the base for the

Murmansk Murmansk () is a port city and the administrative center of Murmansk Oblast in the far Far North (Russia), northwest part of Russia. It is the world's largest city north of the Arctic Circle and sits on both slopes and banks of a modest fjord, Ko ...

tugs, whilst handling the accounts of officers assigned to Northern Russia. These accounts were transferred to HMS ''Lobster'' in July 1919.

References

* Warlow, Ben, ''Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy'', Liskeard : Maritime, 2000. *
HMS ''President'' at the Royal Navy website
* http://www.hmspresident.com

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:President Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets 1903 establishments in England Royal Navy bases in England Royal Navy shore establishments Wapping