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Devonport Naval Heritage Centre, Devonport Naval Heritage Centre, Vivid Approach, Devonport, Plymouth (2026)

07/05/2025

A VE Day Snapshot.

With the 80th anniversary of VE Day almost upon us, I thought I would publish the relevant page and photos from the Mount Wise, Admiralty House Diaries which are held in the Devonport Naval Heritage Centre archives. The diaries are a wonderful primary history source as they are essentially superior scrap books noting the day to day business at Admiralty House, illustrated with photos and little details, such as menus and seating plans for VIP dinners. The DNHC hold the diaries from the 1930s to 1980s in its archives.

The photos I attach, show the visit by the Lord Mayor of London to Mount Wise, the Plymouth Victory in Europe parade and finally, the first matelot to be demobbed and thanked personally for his service by CinC Plymouth.

It is extraordinary that after almost 6 years of war the announcement of Victory in Europe merits only 2 lines in the diaries on May 8th 1945.

Don’t forget our Saturday opening this month is 10th May.

22/04/2025

We were delighted to host Abimbola and members of her local Church, and their families last Tuesday, 15th April. They all had a great time at the Devonport Naval Heritage Centre, checking out the hats in the dressing up box, looking down The Hamoaze through our real periscope and learning about the history of Devonport Naval Base and its ships and people. Abimbola was really keen to ensure that that her group, some of who were new to Plymouth, understand the history of our great city, which is so important in integrating fully into life here. Come again soon.

15/04/2025

Visit by the Lord Mayor of Plymouth
We were honoured and delighted on Tuesday 25th March to host the Lord Mayor of Plymouth, Councillor Tina Tuohy, for a visit to the Devonport Naval Heritage Centre. She very much enjoyed our various galleries and meeting the volunteer team. She timed her visit to perfection as we had just about finished preparations for reopening to the public the next day, which was another success with almost 50 visitors enjoying our collection. More details of the visit are on the Royal Navy website : “A must-see place”: Mayor’s seal of approval for Devonport Naval Base’s reopened museum .

15/04/2025

It was a delight last Wednesday, on our first open day of the year, to welcome Frank and Lin Moulder of the HMS Gloucester Survivors’ Association, who wished to make a generous donation of £500 to the Heritage Centre. Sadly, with the passage of time, the Association is a shadow of its formal self and the HC has already benefitted from the donation of the Association’s extraordinary archive of photos, letters, diaries and first hand accounts of life in the Devonport built cruiser and, after her sinking off Crete in May 1941, life in German Prisoner of War Camps. If you visit the DNHC, make sure you spend some time with the Gloucester exhibit, the ship’s story combined with the photos, letters and notebooks of her crew, make this exhibit feel more personal than most. Thanks again for this generous gift, we will ensure it goes to good use. We will remember the “Fighting G”.

Don't forget, if you cannot make a Wednesday open day, our monthly Saturday opening is this coming Saturday 12th April.

23/03/2025

Grand re-opening 26th March!

22/03/2025

DNHC REOPENING WEDNESDAY 26th MARCH

Apologies for posting again so soon, but I wanted to share the great work by Ginge Crook, Peter Bernandes and the Joint Services Sub Aqua Club in building a fantastic stand which properly shows off the bell of HMS Coronation which foundered off Rame Head in 1691.
We have number of other fascinating items from the wreck site loaned by the JSSAC on display in our "Age of Sail" gallery which are not to be missed. If you want to know more about the Coronation, there is a great page of The Ship’s Project Website: https://shipsproject.org/Wrecks/Wk_Coronation.html

Also our new medical display/sick bay is coming together, the hospital bed looks great with the vintage RN bedspread which has come all the way from Scotland.

Don’t forget we are open for all visitors from next Wednesday 26th March. I attach a flyer DNHC followers might wish to print off and post to highlight our reopening.

16/03/2025

HMS LAPWING – LAST DEVONPORT MANNED SHIP TO BE SUNK BY THE GERMANS IN WW2

In the Coffee lounge of the Senior Rates Mess, HMS Drake, are 2 large wooden boards, each stretching the length of either side of the room, commemorating all the ships manned by the Devonport Division lost in both World Wars. I was there last week, with our resident photographer, Karl Johnson, to photograph the boards for the Heritage Centre. On the board for 1939-45, I counted 250 ships and submarines, such is the “Price of Admiralty”. One of those ships, HMS Lapwing, was lost 80 years ago this month on 20th March 1945, she was the last Devonport manned ship to be lost before VE Day.

Lapwing was a modified Black Swan class sloop, completed in March 1944. She was almost 300’ in length and displaced just short of 2000t when fully loaded. She was armed with 3x twin 4” guns, 10x 20mm Oerlikon cannons and carried a depth charge outfit of 110 charges. Her Pennant Number was U62, although on some early photos, it appears as UP 62, owing to an error at the ship yard when building.

The Sloop’s short, but busy, operational life began with Operation Neptune (Naval part of D Day) in June 1944. From October, she began Russian Convoy duties, which would continue until she was lost. On March 11th 1945 she joined convoy JW65, as close es**rt, joining 2 destroyers and 7 corvettes.

As the convoy approached the Kola Inlet on 20th March, Lapwing was hit by a homing torpedo fired by U968. She immediately broke in two, fortunately the stern section remained afloat for 20 minutes which allowed some survivors to be rescued. In total, 61 survivors were rescued by HMS Savage, 158 of her ship’s company were lost in the freezing waters.

Their names are commemorated on the Naval Memorial on Plymouth Hoe. Lapwing has her own memorial stone in Saffron Walden, the town which adopted her after raising £120,000 during warship week. The memorial is in the Close Garden, while Lapwing’s crest can still be seen in the town hall.

Lest we forget in our own uncertain times.

Don’t forget the DNHC reopens to all on Wednesday 26th March.

15/02/2025

BEDSPREAD WANTED!

One of our great volunteers, Tony Saunders is currently putting together a new exhibit for the DNHC for 2025. That is to highlight medicine in the Royal Navy and particularly Stonehouse Royal Navy Hospital.
One thing that is currently missing is an old fashioned Royal Navy bedspread of the type which was in use until the 1970s, to put on our RNH bed.

If you have one and would like to loan or donate to the DNHC please let us know via [email protected].

11/02/2025

DEVONPORT 201 – “DAZZLE”

Being 2025, it might be now 201 years since the name change by Royal decree to Devonport, but that is not stopping the Devonport 200 team in the Market Hall from continuing the celebrations with “DAZZLE” - a spectacular four night light festival that marks 200 years of Devonport's history, shining a light on its past, present, and future. “Dazzle” is named after the dazzle camouflage schemes used on ships in both world wars, the festival runs from 27th February to 2nd March with full details at the D200 website: Dazzle - Devonport 200 .

As part of the “Dazzle” festivities the Devonport Naval Heritage Centre will hold a special open evening on Saturday 1st March from 1730 – 2000.

If you are enjoying Saturday’s Dazzle do pop in and say hello.

Picture shows HMS Tamar wearing a contemporary a Dazzle paint scheme.

07/02/2025

Devonport’s First Battleship

128 years ago on 15th February, in Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee year of 1897, HMS Ocean, the first Battleship to be built at Devonport, was laid down. In order to build this behemoth of almost 14,000 tons and 390ft long, No 3 slip had to be extended and its old roof taken off. Instructions were given that she be completed within 20 months, in an unofficial shipbuilding race AKA “The Canopus Stakes”, between Portsmouth and Chatham building Ocean’s sisters, Canopus and Goliath respectively. Unfortunately Devonport suffered a setback when some frames failed. This caused 90ft of the fore part of the ship, from stem to turret, to collapse. An investigation showed the cause to be a labourer who had removed some bolts, without understanding their purpose, to assist him move some plates through the ship. Further delays occurred owing to shortages of drillers and riveters, a strike, and a failure to deliver principal castings, such stern post and shaft brackets, on time. Consequently she remained on the slip for 17 months, twice as long as expected and was not completed until February 1900, a total of 36 months from start to finish.
Ocean initially commissioned for the Mediterranean, but sailed for China in 1901 as a consequence of the Boxer Rebellion. She returned to Devonport in August 1905. 1906-1913 saw her mainly in the Home Fleet, with a spell back in the Mediterranean. In 1914, she was sent to the East Indies, but with the outbreak of war, she moved to operations in the Persian Gulf, before being sent to the Dardanelles in 1915. On the 18th March, Ocean attempted to tow the battleship Irresistible, crippled by a mine, when the tow was abandoned, she also struck a mine and was hit by shore guns. Her crew were taken off by destroyers and she sank in Morto Bay. A Pre-Dreadnought battleship, Ocean’s vital statistics were as follows:
Displacement: 12,950t, Length: 390ft, Speed: 18kn, Complement: 750, Armament: 4x 12” and 12x 6” guns.
Compare the above with Devonport’s most famous battleship, completed only 15 years after Ocean, HMS Warspite, which displaced 33,000t and was armed with 8x 15” guns and could touch 25kn! That’s progress.

22/01/2025

Volunteer Profile No 5

For this month’s profile of a DNHC volunteer, we are highlighting Peter Dunlop, Lead Volunteer, retired RN Warfare Officer/Civil Servant and operator of old technology from wind up gramophones to his 68 year old MG Magnette car.
Name - Peter Dunlop

Your Role - Lead Volunteer. I manage the volunteers and ensure the Heritage Centre is a place of enjoyment and education for all visitors (and volunteers). I am also the point of contact with Naval Base staff.

When did you join the volunteers and why? - August 2022. I have always been a naval history enthusiast. I had just retired and wanted to have a little structure in my new life; I thought helping out at the DNHC would fit the bill and it would be satisfying to give something back as a volunteer. Having spent my working life in the RN and Civil Service, it has kept me in contact with goings on and people in the Naval Base.

What did you do before you became a volunteer? - 29 years as warfare officer in the RN. 4 years managing a team training the Omani Navy to operate new- build corvettes. Finally, 8 years working as Port Safety Officer to the Queen’s (now King’s) Harbour Master here in Plymouth. During my RN, time I was mainly Portsmouth based but I enjoyed 2 Devonport based ships – HMS Sirius and HMS Ambuscade. It was my time with QHM, when I learnt to fully appreciate the delights and special qualities of Devonport and Plymouth Sound.

What do you enjoy most about being a DNHC volunteer? - Being part of an institution which very nearly closed in 2022, but came through that crisis and is now experiencing rising numbers of hugely enthusiastic visitors from near and far. Since reopening, I have only seen one on line review that was less than 5 stars and that was from a would-be visitor from Birmingham who could not find us on his Sat-Nav and so gave up and went home!

What is your favourite artefact and why? - A highly detailed model of the Devonport built frigate – HMS Danae. The detail on this model, by David Brown, of a Leander Class frigate is second to none, but what makes it special to me is that the model maker included all the additions and improvements made to the Leanders over the 70s and 80s, this includes the stern section of HMS Sirius(in which I served (’84-’85), with a detailed type 2031 towed array sonar. This was cutting edge technology in the Cold War North Atlantic, which allowed the RN to track Soviet submarines at extreme range in the mid 1980s, when I was a young bridge watchkeeping officer.

Anything you would like to add, not covered by the standard questions? - Although the DNHC is entirely volunteer run and is not the slickest museum you might come across, that is made up for in spades, by the deep knowledge and enthusiasm of the volunteers, which, often gives the better visitor experience, when compared to some professionally run museums. Finally, with major expenses (building maintenance and power) covered by the Naval Base, all donations go directly to cover running costs, which allows the DNHC to be fully independent when exhibiting and interpreting Devonport’s history. I think this example of a Tripadvisor review sums it all up: “A thoroughly fascinating place crammed full of memorabilia and ephemera about the Royal Navy and the dockyard at Devonport. It's a surprisingly large place, with exhibits over several floors and across different buildings. What it lacks in slick modern presentation it more than makes up with heart and enthusiastic volunteers who are more than happy to talk and explain the exhibits”.

The photos show Peter, under training in HMS Bristol in the South Atlantic in 1982, with a very dodgy beard, as Officer of the Watch in HMS Sirius in 1984 and 40 years later at the opening of a new DNHC Gallery with the previous Captain of the Base, David Preece.

07/01/2025

Back to the Beginning

For January’s Devonport anniversary, I want to go back to almost the beginning of
the story, or 18 th January 1691, when Elias Waffe was appointed the first Master
Shipwright of the new Dock at Froward Point on the Hamoaze, at an annual salary of
£100. He remained in post for the next 8 years and was soon joined by a Clerk of
Survey and the first Commissioner, Captain Henry Greenhill RN, who was paid the
princely sum of £400 per annum. In January 1692, all the new Dockyard workmen
were mustered for the first time and numbered just 74. Work on the new Dockyard
continued and the new wet basin and dry dock were completed before the year was
out. The new dock (no 1 dock) built of Portland stone and basin were a great
advance on anything previously built in the Britain. 2 sets of gates were fitted, one at
the riverside of the basin and the second between the basin and the dock. By
closing or opening the gates at various states of the tides it was possible to flood or
drain the dock as required. In the same year, the new dockyard was inspected by
William III and Parliament voted to provide £23,406 to finish the current works,
including dwelling houses for the officers, storehouses, workshops all enclosed by a
wall . The Officers’ residence was originally called the “Walk” and later called the
“Terrace”. The Terrace, with its dwellings for 13 officers, caused it to be over 400ft
long and it dominated the yard for almost 250 years. Sadly much of the Terrace was
lost in the bombing of April 1941, 2 of the northern most dwellings survived, one of
those Bonaventure House, is now home to the Heritage Centre’s archives and
research team. The pictures show:
- The plan for the dry dock, the Terrace can be clearly seen looming over it.
- The original plan for the Terrace.
- The remains of the Terrace today.
- Original plan for wet basin and dry dock

Devonport Naval Heritage Centre

07/05/2025

22/04/2025

15/04/2025

15/04/2025

23/03/2025

22/03/2025

16/03/2025

15/02/2025

11/02/2025

07/02/2025

22/01/2025

07/01/2025

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