Portland Harbour
Portland Harbour is beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England. Construction of the harbour began in 1849; when completed in 1872, its surface area made it the largest human-made harbour in the world, and it remains one of the largest in the world today. It is naturally sheltered by Portland to the south, Chesil Beach to the west and mainland Dorset to the north. It consists of four breakwaters: two southern and two northern. These have a total length of and enclose approximately of water.
Portland Harbour was built by the Admiralty as a facility for the Royal Navy ; on 11 December 1923 it was formally designated HM Naval Base 'Portland', and continued to serve as such until closure in 1995.
History
Creation of harbour of refuge (1844–1872)
The original harbour was naturally sheltered by the south coast of England, Chesil Beach and the Isle of Portland, providing refuge for ships against weather in all directions except east. The harbour had already been used by ships for centuries when, in the 16th century, King Henry VIII built Portland Castle and Sandsfoot Castle to defend the anchorage. Prompted by the expansion of the French naval port of Cherbourg, just across the English Channel, the Royal Navy established a base at Portland in 1845; a scheme for the harbour to be transformed into a refuge had been granted parliamentary approval the year before. Portland was the first naval anchorage specifically designed for the new steam navy. Similar harbours of refuge would be built at Alderney, Dover, Holyhead, and later at Peterhead.Construction of the two breakwaters began in 1849 when HRH Prince Albert laid the foundation stone on 25 July. Designed by engineer James Meadows Rendel, the work was carried out under civil engineer John Towlerton Leather, with Rendel as engineer in chief, and John Coode as resident engineer. During 1848, HM Prison Portland was established to provide convict labour to quarry the stone needed to construct the breakwaters and the harbour defences. Known as the Admiralty Quarries, they provided 10,000 tons of stone per week. The breakwaters were declared complete by HRH Edward the Prince of Wales on 10 August 1872. A major government project, the construction work had become Dorset's greatest tourist attraction of its time.
Construction of harbour defences
The initial southern breakwaters were built between 1849 and 1872; meanwhile, various defences were created to defend the harbour. The Verne Citadel, designed by Captain Crosman R.E., was built at Verne Hill between 1860 and 1881: the 56 acre fortress was designed for 1000 troops and had gun emplacements facing seawards on three sides. Below the eastern side of the citadel, East Weare Battery was built during the 1860s, along with the detention barracks East Weare Camp. On the end of the inner breakwater was the Inner Pierhead Fort, and on the outer breakwater the circular Breakwater Fort. On Weymouth's side of the harbour, the Nothe Fort was built at the end of the Nothe Peninsula, and completed in 1872. In 1892, the Verne High Angle Battery was built in a disused quarry near the Verne Citadel, but was decommissioned in 1906.As part of further defence works against the threat of torpedo attack, the harbour's two northern breakwaters were built between 1893 and 1906. In 1902, additional defences were constructed, including Upton Fort at Osmington and Blacknor Fort on the western side of Portland. By 1903, the East Weares Rifle Range served the navy and other military on the eastern side of the island. In 1905, the Portland Breakwater Lighthouse was erected on the southern end of northeast breakwater, where it continues to operate today.
Establishment of Royal Navy at Portland
The harbour was envisaged primarily as a coaling station for the Royal Navy, being conveniently equidistant from the Royal Navy's two principal bases at Portsmouth and Devonport; however it was also where the Channel Squadron was based, newly re-formed in 1858.In the 20th century, Portland became increasingly renowned for its training and research facilities.
Fuelling facilities
Coaling facilities were initially integrated into the design of the inner breakwater. A new coaling pier was built between 1890 and 1896, and expanded coaling facilities were still being added in 1906. During the 20th century the harbour increasingly became a naval oiling depot and, beginning in the early 1900s, the tidal creek the Mere began to be filled in for a vast tank farm.Naval base
Over time, Portland was successively the base for the Channel and Home Fleets, as well as part of the Reserve Fleet, and it also served as a depot for submarines. In the early years of the 20th century it served as base for the Navy's first Torpedo Boat Destroyers.Naval Dockyard facilities
In the 1850s it had been proposed that a full Royal Navy Dockyard be established, with three dry docks, three shipbuilding slips, a fitting-out basin and associated factory facilities. These plans were not carried through, however a floating dry dock was introduced in 1914, enabling Portland to function as a repair and refit facility, and by 1914 Portland was officially listed as a Naval Dockyard. Onshore amenities included a range of storehouses, workshops and office buildings.Support facilities
Support facilities for the fleet were also added over time, including a canteen and recreation ground. The nearby Royal Naval Hospital in Castletown served the naval base from 1904, until 1957 when it was handed over to the NHS.Research facilities
The development of both the torpedo and the submarine led to Portland Harbour becoming a centre for research into underwater warfare, beginning with the establishment of Whitehead Torpedo Works at Wyke Regis in 1891. A purpose-built pier projecting into the harbour from the factory was used for torpedo testing and practice firing. The factory closed in 1997 and was cleared to make way for a housing development named Whitehead Drive, which includes a memorial stone and plaque to commemorate the factory.Training facilities
In 1862 was moored at Portland to serve as a training ship for naval cadets. She was replaced by in 1866. Boscawen was herself replaced in 1873 by HMS Trafalgar, which took on the same name. In 1882 an onshore training complex was built, above the dockyard on Portland Bill. As the Royal Navy grew in size towards the end of the 19th century, additional accommodation was required for boys' training, which saw the arrival of in 1898 and in 1904; they were named Boscawen II and Boscawen III respectively. The training establishment closed in 1906; while Boscawen was sold, Boscawen II and Boscawen III were transferred to Harwich and subsequently attached to.World War I to World War II (1914–1945)
The increasing threat of conflict with Germany before the Great War erupted saw the arrival of the Dreadnoughts in Portland, while seaplanes began to operate in Portland's skies. King George V watched aerial displays from the royal yacht in the harbour in May 1912. This occasion saw a biplane demonstrate the first British flight from a moving ship, and afterwards the king took the first ever royal trip in a submarine.In 1914, the Grand Fleet assembled in Portland Harbour before sailing to Scapa Flow. As a measure against submarine attack, the battleship was scuttled across the harbour's southern entrance in 1914.
Anti-submarine School and ASDIC Research & Development
In 1917 the RNAS seaplane base at Portland was commissioned as. Under its command, a 'listening school' was established to help develop hydrophone underwater listening devices and other anti-submarine measures, and to train personnel in their use. The school initially operated from temporary accommodation in Weymouth, before moving in 1918 to a site at East Weare, just south of the Dockyard. Meanwhile, the experimental work was carried out within the dockyard itself: namely in a pair of sheds on the inner breakwater and in what had been the Admiralty Slaughter Houses, which were swiftly converted into workshops. The dockyard swimming pool was also put to use, as a testing tank.Sarepta was decommissioned in December 1919, but the anti-submarine work continued, overseen from the cruiser, which became lead ship of a small anti-submarine flotilla, made up of R-class destroyers and P-class patrol boats, fitted with ASDIC for training and for experimental testing.
In 1924, however, Portland's Anti-Submarine School was itself commissioned as HMS Osprey, becoming an independent shore command.. Its facilities included laboratories and workshops, a large water tank for conducting experiments and an inshore testing site for trials of ASDIC on the inner breakwater.
World War II
From 1940, the harbour came under fierce German air attack, with Portland suffering 48 air attacks, in which 532 bombs were dropped, over the course of the war. In July 1940, the anti-aircraft ship was attacked by Stuka dive-bombers and sank in the harbour. The second of only two Victoria Crosses awarded for action in the United Kingdom was posthumously bestowed on Jack Foreman Mantle, who died at his post on the ship. Although mortally wounded he continued to fire his gun against the attackers until he died. Mantle is buried in Portland's Royal Naval Cemetery, which overlooks the harbour. In 1940–41, the Portland Naval Communication Headquarters was constructed, built into the hillside at the rear of the dockyard.In January 1941 Osprey moved out of Portland to the relative safety of Dunoon on the west coast of Scotland; the experimental section operated as a sub-division of Osprey, known as HM Anti-Submarine Experimental Establishment, in Fairlie, North Ayrshire. In the meantime the Portland was redesignated to serve as a Coastal Forces base, commissioned under the name HMS Attack.
On 1 May 1944, the harbour was commissioned as USNAAB Portland-Weymouth. Both Portland and Weymouth were major embarkation points for American troops during D-Day, particularly the US 1st Division who embarked for Omaha Beach in June 1944. The King, Prime Minister Churchill and Free French leader General de Gaulle came to see the great D-Day preparations at Portland; activity in the harbour was continuous. After the war, Portland's role in the liberation of Europe was marked by a ceremony in August 1945, when the American Ambassador John G. Winant unveiled a stone in Victoria Gardens commemorating the passing by the spot of 418,585 troops and 144,093 vehicles the previous June.
During both World Wars 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.