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| Portland and Weymouth |
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| Source: Various (please see
Site Credits) |
Click any picture to enlarge
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| The bay that is
now Portland Harbour has a long story to tell from the days
when Roman and Saxon ships must have sheltered from the howling
westerly gales to the present commercial and leisure activities.
The Spanish Armada passed nearby and a great battle was fought
off Portland Bill. Local vessels took part and captured galleons
were towed across the bay to Weymouth. During the Civil War
parliamentary warships lay in Portland Roads and, shortly after,
Admiral Blake fought a battle with the Dutch Admiral Van Tromp |
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| Rough weather during construction |
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For centuries sailing
ships had sheltered in Portland Roads from westerly gales in
the lee of the great sweep of Chesil Beach and as early as 1794
thoughts were turned to enclosing the bay as a harbour of refuge.
Parliament approved in 1844 and Prince Albert, consort to Queen
Victoria, laid the first stone of the breakwaters in 1848. His
son Edward, Prince of Wales, declared the harbour open in 1872.
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| The early harbour
had only two breakwater arms stretching out into mid bay. With
the development of the torpedo came the need to protect ships
from more than just the weather and two further arms were added
at the turn of the century - to completely enclose the bay and
make the largest deep-water harbour in Europe. |
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| Building the Breakwaters |
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| Oil Farm |
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The advance in technology
fuelled the development of the harbour. The days of sail were
over and fossil fuels were to power modern warships, firstly
coal and then oil. No longer could ships keep at sea indefinitely
for as long as their victuals would last. Steamships had to
refuel at short intervals and Portland, half-way up channel,
with its "quick-in-and-out" facility, was an ideal place. Thus
the harbour became a coaling and later oiling depot for the
Royal Navy and a base with dockyard, hospital and shore training
establishments. |
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| The coming of the
torpedo played a major part in the history of Portland Harbour
and introduced the era of underwater warfare. Robert Whitehead,
the first successful commercial manufacturer of torpedoes built
his factory at Ferrybridge on the north side of the harbour
in 1891 and soon special ranges to develop and test torpedoes
became a feature. The advent of the weapon spurred the development
of the submarine and then the technology to detect and destroy
them. Thus the harbour became the centre for research into underwater
warfare. |
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| Torpedo Range and Fleet at anchor |
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| Review of the Fleet |
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Great fleets came and went. For some time Portland
was the base for the Channel and then the Home Fleets and
a depot for submarines. Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII
and George VI all reviewed their fleets here. Young seamen
were trained in the old frigates anchored in the harbour,
successively named HMS Boscawen.
During both World War I and II the bay was filled
with neutral ships at anchor waiting to be searched for materials
that might be useful to the enemy. The ships were directed
in by the local fleet of peacetime holiday paddle steamers
requisitioned into the navy and painted grey, their crews
enlisted into the RNVR.
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Violent action came in 1940 after
the fall of France. Portland was now in the front line and the
recipient of fierce German air attack. The anti-aircraft ship
HMS Foylebank was sunk in the harbour in July after a mass attack
by Stuka dive bombers, one of her crew, Leading Seaman Jack
Mantle, receiving the Victoria Cross. |
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| Foylebank shrouded in smoke and sinking |
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| Vehicles being loaded in Portland into
LSTs |
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Perhaps the most memorable event in the history
of the harbour came in 1944 when it became the embarkation
port for thousands of Americans of the US 1st Division on
their way to Omaha beach on D-Day - "Bloody Omaha".
After the war Portland, with its quick in and
out facility, became responsible for sea training for the
navy. With the advent of the helicopter and its importance
as an antisubmarine weapon an airfield was built at Chesil
to work up ship's helicopter flights. It was also a preferred
base for ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary who carried the
supplies of the fleet.
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| With the reduction
of the Royal Navy in the 1990s there was not enough money in
the defence budget to maintain more than a few bases so the
naval facilities at Portland were dispersed and the harbour
became a civilian concern. "Portland Port", a commercial company,
took over responsibility with the aim of developing the ship
repair, leisure and tourism potential. One of the first arrivals
at the new set up was a prison ship. |
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| The Verne, showing surrounding ditch,
prison ship and helicopter base in the background |
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© Copyright 2003 · Cyberport Project Ltd · All Rights Reserved · Site design by CoDesign |
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