Report - HMS Ganges, Shotley - Jan '11

Badger · Aug 30, 2011

Visited this back in January after a friend (who is involved in sea cadets) pointed it out and said it was well worth a visit.

Bit of history:

The name HMS Ganges came into service in 1779 when 3 vessels were presented to the navy by the Honourable East India company.

In 1866 HMS Ganges became the boys' training ship anchored in Falmouth harbour where she remained until August 1899. In November 1899 HMS Ganges was transferred to Harwich harbour. HMS Ganges remained in Harwich harbour as a boys' training ship and in 1905 the boys moved ashore for their training, which continued at Shotley until 1976.

When the boys first moved ashore the numbers under training were in the region of 500. As the establishment developed so the number of boys increased so that at the end of the 1940's those under training numbered 2000. Approximately 200 joining every five weeks.

Originally training was restricted to seamanship but in 1911 this was extended to include signals training and, in the late 1950's further extended to other branches of the Royal Navy.

When we visited, unfortunately due to the work of metal thieves, the place was pretty well locked down except for a few of the small outter bunkers/tunnels. Alot of the main buildings were all boarded up with the exception on a few with what appeared to be a nice big secca 4x4 outside them

Gutted that we missed out on the swimming pool.