Pembroke Dockyard

Summary

Pembroke Dockyard, originally called Pater Yard, is a former Royal Navy Dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales.

Pembroke Dockyard
Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales
The former Dockyard viewed from the Defensible Barracks
Coordinates51°41′43″N 4°57′17″W / 51.6952°N 4.9548°W / 51.6952; -4.9548
TypeDockyard
Site history
Built1814 (1814)
FateClosed 1926

History edit

It was founded in 1814, although not formally authorized until the Prince Regent signed the necessary Order in Council on 31 October 1815, and was known as Pater Yard until 1817. The Mayor of Pembroke had requested the change "in deference to the town of Pembroke some two miles (3.2 km) distant".[1]

The site selected for the dockyard was greenfield land and the closest accommodations were in Pembroke. Office space was provided by the old frigate Lapwing after she was beached. The Royal Marine garrison was housed in the hulked 74-gun ship, HMS Dragon, after she was run aground in 1832. Many of the workmen commuted by boat from nearby communities until Pembroke Dock town was built up.[2] In 1860 the dockyard's policing was transferred to the new No. 4 Division of the Metropolitan Police, which remained in that role until the 1920s.[3]

After the end of the First World War, the dockyard was closed by the cash-strapped Admiralty as redundant in 1926. The Royal Air Force, however, built RAF Pembroke Dock on the site during the 1930s to house its flying boats, demolishing many of the existing buildings to make room for the necessary hangars and other facilities.[4]

Administration of the dockyard edit

The admiral-superintendent[5] was the Royal Navy officer in command of a larger Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham all had admiral-superintendents, as did some other dockyards in the United Kingdom and abroad at certain times. The admiral-superintendent usually held the rank of rear-admiral. His deputy was the captain of the dockyard (or captain of the port from 1969).

Some smaller dockyards, such as Sheerness and Pembroke,[6] had a captain-superintendent [7] instead, whose deputy was styled commander of the dockyard. The appointment of a commodore-superintendent [8] was also made from time to time in certain yards.

The appointment of admiral-superintendents (or their junior equivalents) dates from 1832 when the Admiralty took charge of the Royal Dockyards. Prior to this larger dockyards were overseen by a commissioner who represented the Navy Board.

Resident Commissioner of the Navy, Pater Yard (1830-1832) edit

Included:[9]

Captain-Superintendent, Pembroke Dockyard (1857-1906) edit

Included:[10]

  • Captain George Ramsay: July 1857-September 1862
  • Captain William Loring: September 1862-March 1866
  • Captain Robert Hall: March 1866-March 1871
  • Captain William Armytage: February 1871-January 1872
  • Captain Richard W. Courtenay: January 1872-March 1875
  • Captain Richard Vesey Hamilton: March 1875-October 1877
  • Captain George H. Parkin: October 1877-October 1882
  • Captain Alfred J. Chatfield: October 1882-January 1886
  • Captain Edward Kelly: January 1886-June 1887
  • Commodore George Digby Morant: June 1887-January 1889
  • Captain Samuel Long: January 1889-August 1891
  • Captain Walter Stewart: August 1891-January 1893
  • Captain Charles C.Penrose Fitzgerald: January 1893-March 1895
  • Captain William H. Hall: March 1895
  • Captain Charles J. Balfour: March 1895-October 1896
  • Captain Burges Watson: October 1896-October 1899
  • Captain Charles J. Barlow: October 1899-October 1902
  • Captain Gerald Walter Russell: October 1902-October 1904
  • Captain John Denison: October 1904-October 1906

Rear-Admiral Superintendent, Pembroke Dockyard (1906-1915) edit

  • Rear-Admiral Henry C. Kingsford: October 1906-December 1908
  • Rear-Admiral Godfrey H.B. Mundy: December 1908-December 1911
  • Rear-Admiral Alfred E.A. Grant: December 1911-September 1915

Captain-Superintendent, Pembroke Dockyard (1915-1926) edit

  • Captain Frederick D. Gilpin Brown: September 1915-April 1918
  • Captain John G. Armstrong: April 1918-February 1920
  • Captain David Murray Anderson: February 1920-April 1922
  • Captain the Hon. Arthur B. S. Dutton: April 1922-July 1924
  • Captain Leonard A. B. Donaldson: July 1924 – 1926

Gallery of listed buildings on the site edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Phillips, pp. 12–16
  2. ^ Phillips, pp. 17–20, 40
  3. ^ "British Police History - Royal Marine Police".
  4. ^ Phillips, pp. 46–48
  5. ^ "Royal Naval dockyard staff". nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives, UK, 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  6. ^ Carradice, Phil (2013). The Ships of Pembroke Dockyard. Stroud, Gloucs.: Amberley.
  7. ^ "Royal Naval dockyard staff". nationalarchives.gov.uk. The National Archives, UK, 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  8. ^ Stewart, William (2009). Admirals of the World: A Biographical Dictionary, 1500 to the Present. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. p. 47. ISBN 9780786438099.
  9. ^ Harrison, Simon (2010–2018). "Resident Commissioner at Pater Yard". threedecks.org. S. Harrison. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  10. ^ Mackie, Colin. "Royal Navy Appointments from 1865" (PDF). gulabin.com. Colin Mackie, p.116, December 2017. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  11. ^ Listed building entry (Min Gate)
  12. ^ Listed building entry (Capt Supt House)
  13. ^ Listed building entry (1 The Terrace)
  14. ^ Listed building entry (No.2)
  15. ^ Listed building entry (No.3)
  16. ^ Listed building entry (No.4)
  17. ^ Listed building entry (No.5)
  18. ^ Listed building entry (Office & Surgery)
  19. ^ Listed building entry (Guard House)
  20. ^ Listed building entry (Dockyard Offices)
  21. ^ Listed building entry (Storehouse)
  22. ^ Listed building entry (Chapel)

References edit

  • Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)