HMS DOLPHIN

[seaJane]

This is the current view from the window of my temporary (post-fire) accommodation. In the middle ground to the right is Fort Blockhouse / HMS DOLPHIN. Would I be right in thinking that the wooden structures visible at sea level on this side of the peninsula are the Great War submarine pens?

 

Southsea Common in the background with the Naval War Memorial at the right; the green-capped cupola near the left-hand edge is atop the tower of Portsmouth Cathedral. Also visible are the old Round Tower and Square Tower.

[KizmeRD]

I don’r ever recall Dolphin having submarine pens, which in any case, to be any use, would have had to have been bombproof, meaning thick concrete construction, not wood.  I can only see the wooden piles of the jetty on the northern side of the site  -is that what you are referring to?

MB

[seaJane]

I don't think DOLPHIN ever had concrete pens (my fault, inaccurate terminology). I do mean the network of wooden walkways - not sure I would call those a jetty, either. I can't stand up for long enough to angle the camera better.

[KizmeRD]

Pretty sure that your walkway was in fact the main jetty, were submarines moored alongside. They were often rafted out several boats deep.

MB

 

PS The only actual wartime submarine pens I know about are the ones constructed on the arm of the Camber, at Dover Eastern Docks (sadly no longer existing).

[michaeldr]

from http://www.gosportheritage.co.uk/remembering-land-sea/

It's a different angle but nevertheless it may be of help as it is claimed to be 1914-1918

[seaJane]

1 hour ago, KizmeRD said:

Pretty sure that your walkway was in fact the main jetty, were submarines moored alongside. They were often rafted out several boats deep.

Ah, thanks.

 

21 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

It's a different angle but nevertheless it may be of help as it is claimed to be 1914-1918

QED - looks pretty much as KizmeRD suggested. Where these flats are now must be on the left side?

Thank you both very much.

Edited 16 October , 2021 by seaJane

[KizmeRD]

I am nevertheless SO VERY jealous of the view you have.

Enjoy it while it lasts!
 

MB

[seaJane]

I am! Just sorry we probably won't still be here when the swifts and swallows come back* - that would be something to see from up here.

(*Skindles post incoming.)

 

[Talesofaseadog]

I worked in Dolphin in 1968 and this was how it was then.

A different angle but it was just a wooden jetty with cranes on. (I even learnt to drive them)

Doubtful if these were submarine pens but happy to be proven wrong.

Tony

Edited 16 October , 2021 by Talesofaseadog

[seaJane]

Thanks for the picture anyway!

[aim]

On 16/10/2021 at 15:53, michaeldr said:

from http://www.gosportheritage.co.uk/remembering-land-sea/

It's a different angle but nevertheless it may be of help as it is claimed to be 1914-1918

How many submarines did we have then?

aim.

[michaeldr]

How many when?

'Jane's Fighting Ships of World War I' published in 1919, gives the figures: 127 (100 completed, 27 building). However there is a footnote with various qualifications

[michaeldr]

Jane,

See mention of (Ferro-Concrete) "Depot for Submarine Boats 1906/7 Jetty" which might give a clue as to where they were in 1914-1918

Edited 19 October , 2021 by michaeldr

[seaJane]

Thank you!

Non-GW note: I see on @michaeldr's image the ?building name/?depot ship HAZARD. Surgeon Will Maillard was serving aboard her when he was awarded the only VC (so far) to a member of the RN Medical Service in 1898 (Mediterranean station, part of the international protectorate forces round Crete).

She had rather the wrong sort of eventful life from 1912 onwards ...

sJ

[KizmeRD]

History of Fort Blockhouse (HMS Dolphin site)

in 1873 Fort Blockhouse was the home of the Royal Engineers' Submarine Miners' School. The wooden jetty (the one seaJane can view from her new office window), later became known as 'the Petrol Jetty' and was originally constructed by the Sappers during their time there.
In 1904 the fort was deemed to be 'surplus to requirements', and it was handed over to the Navy.
HMS Hazard was the Royal Navy’s were first submarine depot ship (a converted 'Dryad' class Torpedo Gunboat launched in 1862 based in Portsmouth), she acted as mother hen to five of the early Holland class submarines in service from 1902 (the First Submarine Flotilla), after which HMS Dolphin (a screw sloop launched in 1882) took over the role of submarine depot ship (and was berthed alongside the jetty at Fort Blockhouse). Eventually, a few short years prior to the outbreak of the Great War, Fort Blockhouse Submarine Base formally adopted the name HMS Dolphin.

Several of the blocks at HMS Dolphin/Fort Blockhouse site are named after other submarine depot ships, including Pandora, Pactolus, Bonaventure, Arrogant, Thames, Mercury, Vulcan and Maidstone.

MB

Edited 19 October , 2021 by KizmeRD

[KizmeRD]

On 18/10/2021 at 19:25, aim said:

How many submarines did we have then?

aim.

As @michaeldr says, how many submarines when? The photo dates from 1910, so there were fewer submarines in the navy than we had in 1919.

At the start of the war in 1914 the Royal Navy had 77 submarines.

MB