Dockyard Timeline

Prince Charles opened “Mary Rose” Museum in No. 5 Boathouse (see 1882).

In October it was reported that the complement of the RMAS (Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service) at Portsmouth was: Officers - 110 in various departments of Deck, Engineering, Diving and Electrical including 14... more information

16th June. Arrival of HMS “Warrior”, (1860) ironclad, and the only surviving British battleship. She had suffered years of neglect since being laid up in 1883 for use as part of HMS �... more information

19th October. HMS Swiftsure became the First Nuclear Submarine to be dry docked at Portsmouth in C Lock. The Lock and dock side were specially adapted to cater for the... more information

No. 7 Dock filled in.

May. The last Steam driven vessel in the RMAS in this country is paid off. YC484 was a Dumb class mooring and salvage vessel built at Bolsons shipyard in Poole... more information

May saw the closure of the Royal Naval Armaments Depot at Priddy’s Hard, ending 250 years of service. The 25 acre site was offered to the Gosport Bough Council.

2nd August. Iraq invades Kuwait. 6-7th September. Parliament is recalled from the Summer recess; MPs back government’s anti-Iraq stand in the Gulf.

26th March. H.M. submarine Upholder was dry docked in C Lock. She was the first of the class that consisted of four boats. They were conventional submarines designated Type 2400.... more information

19th May. The FMRO holds its first families day that proved to be a tremendous success with all the workers and their families.

In November, the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust announce Plans to spend over £2,000,000 on The Porters Lodge, a new Visitors Centre and No 7 Boathouse.

25th March. The new Victory building was opened. This was the Headquarters of the Second Sea Lord and his Staff who had been moved from London and integrated with CINCNAVHOME.

31st July. HMS Daedalus, the Royal Naval Air Station at Lee-on-the-Solent, closes. It started life in 1917 during the First World War when the Royal Naval Air Service was in its... more information

Portsmouth Naval Base hosts the IFOS (International Festival of the Sea).

2nd May. Bow section of the new Type 45 destroyer Diamond leaves Portsmouth for BAE (Systems, Surface Fleet Solutions), Govan, Scotland. The 50 metre section left VT Shipbuilding Complex,Portsmouth on the ... more information

3rd July. The contract for building the two new super carriers, to be called Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales was signed today on board the aircraft carrier HMS Ark... more information

2nd & 3rd February. It was announced in the News that the wreck of 100 gun ship-of-the-line, HMS Victory, had been found by the Florida-based firm of Odyssey Marine Exploration. This 100... more information

​A 170 year old figurehead of naval hero Admiral Lord Nelson had it’s right eye removed during a makeover. The alteration has been made to the bust in the dockyard... more information

It was announced that ship building in the Dockyard will end. BAE Systems said they would relocate to Scotland. Almost 1,000 jobs were put at risk but workers still managed to... more information

Work by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) to ready Portsmouth Naval Base for the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers is well underway. As part of the project... more information

HMS Queen Elizabeth was commissioned by Her Majesty into the Royal Navy fleet on 7th December 2017.

PRDHT is pleased to announce that, following support from a number of widely respected local and national organisations, we have received a grant of £7,000.00 from the National Heritage Lottery Fund... more information