Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy dockyard on the River Medway in Kent, England, where warships were built, fitted out and refitted for more than four centuries. Its establishment as a naval dockyard is generally dated to 1567, and it grew from a riverside storehouse and anchorage into one of the largest shipbuilding and repair sites in the country. Over 414 years it provided more than 500 ships for the Royal Navy, from sailing ships of the line such as HMS Victory, launched in 1765, through HMS Achilles, the first iron-hulled battleship launched in a royal dockyard, to the submarines that were its main product in the twentieth century, ending with the Oberon class boats Ocelot for the Royal Navy and Okanagan for Canada. The yard closed on 31 March 1984, and its Georgian core is now Chatham Historic Dockyard, a visitor attraction run by a charitable trust.
Facts
Founded Year SignificanceFirst Royal Dockyard to build submarines, 50 boats between 1908 and 1945 2 Connections
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Source Chatham Dockyard (Wikipedia)
Source Arethusa-class cruiser (1913) (Wikipedia)
Source Astraea-class cruiser (Wikipedia)
Source British S-class submarine (1931) (Wikipedia)
Source HMS Ocelot (S17) (Wikipedia)
Source Chatham Dockyard (Wikipedia)
Source Chatham Dockyard (Wikipedia)
Source London-class battleship (Wikipedia)
Source Oberon-class submarine (Wikipedia)
Source Chatham Dockyard (Wikipedia)
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Source Chatham Dockyard (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent
Sources
1. Chatham Dockyard (Wikipedia)
History, The early dockyard
1567 is generally seen as the date of Chatham's establishment as a Royal Naval Dockyard
History, Closure
Nonetheless, the dockyard closed, as planned, on 31 March 1984.
Lead
Chatham Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the River Medway in Kent
Has Vehicles: Leda-class frigate, Mechanisation
Among the vessels built in this Dockyard which still exist are HMS Victory (launched in 1765 and now preserved at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard) and HMS Unicorn (a Leda-class frigate), launched in 1824
Has Vehicles: T-class submarine, Last years of building, wartime submarines
Production ramped up during World War II with HMS's Umpire, Una, Splendid, Sportsman, Shalimar, Tradewind, Trenchant, Turpin, Thermopylae and Acheron being constructed.
Has Vehicles: Amphion-class submarine, Last years of building, wartime submarines
Production ramped up during World War II with HMS's Umpire, Una, Splendid, Sportsman, Shalimar, Tradewind, Trenchant, Turpin, Thermopylae and Acheron being constructed.
Has Vehicles: HMS Victory, Consolidation, surviving vessels
Among the vessels built in this Dockyard which still exist are HMS Victory (launched in 1765
View the Source2. Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust: History of the Dockyard
Chatham Historic Dockyard TrustClosure of Chatham Dockyard 1984
The naval dockyard was operational up until 1984.
Submarines
Chatham was the first Royal Dockyard to build submarines and went on to specialise in both building and maintenance.
View the Source Oberon-class submarine (Wikipedia)
Has Vehicles: Oberon-class submarine, Design and constructionQuote, Has Vehicles: Oberon-class submarine, Design and construction
the three Canadian submarines at Chatham Dockyard
British S-class submarine (1931) (Wikipedia)
Has Vehicles: British S-class submarine (1931), General characteristics, First groupQuote, Has Vehicles: British S-class submarine (1931), General characteristics, First group
All four were built at Chatham Dockyard, between 1930 and 1932.
Arethusa-class cruiser (1913) (Wikipedia)
Has Vehicles: Arethusa-class cruiser (1913), ShipsQuote, Has Vehicles: Arethusa-class cruiser (1913), Ships
Arethusa, built by Chatham Dockyard, laid down 28 October 1912, launched 25 October 1913, and completed August 1914.
London-class battleship (Wikipedia)
Has Vehicles: London-class battleship, LeadQuote, Has Vehicles: London-class battleship, Lead
The five ships were built between 1898 and 1904 at the Portsmouth, Devonport, and Chatham Dockyards.
HMS Ocelot (S17) (Wikipedia)
Has Vehicles: HMS Ocelot (S17), Design and construction, builderQuote, Has Vehicles: HMS Ocelot (S17), Design and construction, builder
Ocelot was laid down by Chatham Dockyard on 17 November 1960, and launched on 5 May 1962.
Astraea-class cruiser (Wikipedia)
Has Vehicles: Astraea-class cruiser, Design and constructionQuote, Has Vehicles: Astraea-class cruiser, Design and construction
The ships were built at several of the principal navy dockyards: three at Devonport, two at Pembroke, and one each at Sheerness, Chatham and Portsmouth.
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