Global InformationHMNB Devonport information
HMNB Devonport | |
|---|---|
| Plymouth, Devon in England | |
 Aerial view of HMNB Devonport: the South Yard (in the foreground) dates from 1692, since when the dockyard has expanded northwards (towards the top of the picture). | |
  HMNB Devonport Location in Devon | |
| Coordinates | 50°22′58.8″N 04°10′58.8″W / 50.383000°N 4.183000°W |
| Type | Naval base |
| Area | 263 hectares (650 acres) |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence (Navy Command) |
| Operator | Royal Navy |
| Controlled by | Naval Base Commander, Devonport |
| Condition | Operational |
| Website | Official website |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1691 |
| In use | 1691 – present |
| Events | Plymouth Blitz (1941) |
| Garrison information | |
| Garrison | Devonport Flotilla |
His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. The largest naval base in Western Europe,[1] HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth, England.
The base began as a Royal Navy Dockyard in the late 17th century, designed and built on open ground by Edmund Dummer as an integrated facility for the repair and maintenance of warships, centred on his pioneering stone dry dock (one of the earliest stepped docks in the world).[2] Over the next two centuries it expanded, reaching its present extent in the 20th century.[3] Historically, the yard was also used for shipbuilding: over 300 naval vessels were built there, the last being HMS Scylla (launched in 1968).[4]
The yard was known as HM Dockyard, Plymouth until 1843, when it was renamed HM Dockyard, Devonport. (In the late 20th century, here as elsewhere, the term 'Naval Base' replaced 'Dockyard' in the official naval designation.)[5]
Today HMNB Devonport serves as the home port of the Devonport Flotilla. FOST, the training hub of the front-line Fleet, is also based there, as is the Royal Navy's Amphibious Centre of Excellence (at RM Tamar).[1] Although shipbuilding ceased at Devonport in the late 1960s, ship repair and maintenance work has continued; the now privatised maintenance facilities are operated under the name Devonport Royal Dockyard by Babcock International Group, who took over the previous owner Devonport Management Limited (DML) in 2007 (DML had been running the Dockyard since privatisation in 1987).[6] Babcock owns around a third of the overall area of the base (having been sold the freehold in 2011).[3]
Accommodation and support services are provided within the base for naval personnel. The Royal Naval Barracks, dating from 1889, were first commissioned as HMS Vivid, before being renamed HMS Drake in 1934. Since the early 21st century the name HMS Drake (and its command structure) has been extended to cover the entire Naval Base,[7][8][9] while HMS Vivid is Plymouth's Royal Naval Reserve unit (which has its headquarters within the base).[10]
- ^ a b "HMNB Devonport".
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
1DockListingwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "BBC – Plymouth's proud naval history". 28 September 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
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HEwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "HMNB Devonport". Archived from the original on 8 January 2007.
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Handbook2010was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Gun salute tribute for Queen in Plymouth". BBC News. 9 September 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2023.
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HMSVividRNRwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).