Nick.Bayes
The old and the new Portsmouth Dockyards
Spinnaker Tower, HMS Warrior and High Speed Launch 102
www.spinnakertower.co.uk/about/history-construction/
Emirates Spinnaker Tower was built as part of the centrepiece of the Renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour Project and has become Portsmouth’s most prominent landmark. Visible beyond 23 miles away; it dramatically overlooks the Portsmouth harbour, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, City centre and all of Portsmouth and its neighbouring towns and suburbs.
HMS Warrior 1860
As you arrive at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the stunning sleek, black lines of Britain's first iron-hulled, armoured warship, take your breath away.
Warrior, launched in 1860, was the pride of Queen Victoria's fleet. Powered by steam and sail, she was the largest, fastest and most powerful ship of her day and had a profound effect on naval architecture. Warrior was, in her time, the ultimate deterrent. Yet within a few years she was obsolete.
Restored and back at home in Portsmouth, Warrior now serves as a ship museum, monument, visitor attraction!
High Speed Launch 102: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/525/hsl-102
HSL 102, the only survivor of the 100 class in the UK, was launched in 1936 and was one of the very first, fast offshore rescue boats in service with the Royal Air Force. She was one of the most technologically advanced production craft of the day, the brainchild of Hubert Scott-Paine. From his powerboat racing days, he developed the concept of fast planing 'hard chine' powerboats. He realised that boats which travelled over the surface of the water could travel more quickly and more efficiently than those which travelled through.
Of mahogany double-diagonal construction, she was powered by three Napier Sea Lion petrol engines. During the Battle of Britain, she was mostly based at Blyth, Northumberland. Her war service also included periods based on the Firth of Forth at Calshot. In two months in 1941, she rescued thirty-eight aircrew from the North Sea, including the crews of two German bombers. As a result, she was inspected by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in July 1941.
When working off Calshot, she was damaged by a Messerschmitt 109 and her radio operator was killed. In 1943, she transferred to the Royal Navy for target towing, and paid off in 1946. She became a houseboat in Mill Creek at Darmouth and was in a sorry state when acquired for restoration. The extensive work needed was carried out by Powerboat Restorations at Fawley between 1993 and 1996. Three six-cylinder 420-bhp Cummins diesels were installed, giving a top speed of about 38knots.
On 5 July 1996, HSL 102 was relaunched at Fawley by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and was subsequently based at Lymington, Hampshire. In late 2009, she moved to Portsmouth following her acquisition by the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust, with the help of a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Source: Paul Brown, Historic Ships The Survivors (Amberley, 2010), updated Mar 2011.
The old and the new Portsmouth Dockyards
Spinnaker Tower, HMS Warrior and High Speed Launch 102
www.spinnakertower.co.uk/about/history-construction/
Emirates Spinnaker Tower was built as part of the centrepiece of the Renaissance of Portsmouth Harbour Project and has become Portsmouth’s most prominent landmark. Visible beyond 23 miles away; it dramatically overlooks the Portsmouth harbour, Gunwharf Quays, Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, City centre and all of Portsmouth and its neighbouring towns and suburbs.
HMS Warrior 1860
As you arrive at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, the stunning sleek, black lines of Britain's first iron-hulled, armoured warship, take your breath away.
Warrior, launched in 1860, was the pride of Queen Victoria's fleet. Powered by steam and sail, she was the largest, fastest and most powerful ship of her day and had a profound effect on naval architecture. Warrior was, in her time, the ultimate deterrent. Yet within a few years she was obsolete.
Restored and back at home in Portsmouth, Warrior now serves as a ship museum, monument, visitor attraction!
High Speed Launch 102: www.nationalhistoricships.org.uk/register/525/hsl-102
HSL 102, the only survivor of the 100 class in the UK, was launched in 1936 and was one of the very first, fast offshore rescue boats in service with the Royal Air Force. She was one of the most technologically advanced production craft of the day, the brainchild of Hubert Scott-Paine. From his powerboat racing days, he developed the concept of fast planing 'hard chine' powerboats. He realised that boats which travelled over the surface of the water could travel more quickly and more efficiently than those which travelled through.
Of mahogany double-diagonal construction, she was powered by three Napier Sea Lion petrol engines. During the Battle of Britain, she was mostly based at Blyth, Northumberland. Her war service also included periods based on the Firth of Forth at Calshot. In two months in 1941, she rescued thirty-eight aircrew from the North Sea, including the crews of two German bombers. As a result, she was inspected by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in July 1941.
When working off Calshot, she was damaged by a Messerschmitt 109 and her radio operator was killed. In 1943, she transferred to the Royal Navy for target towing, and paid off in 1946. She became a houseboat in Mill Creek at Darmouth and was in a sorry state when acquired for restoration. The extensive work needed was carried out by Powerboat Restorations at Fawley between 1993 and 1996. Three six-cylinder 420-bhp Cummins diesels were installed, giving a top speed of about 38knots.
On 5 July 1996, HSL 102 was relaunched at Fawley by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, and was subsequently based at Lymington, Hampshire. In late 2009, she moved to Portsmouth following her acquisition by the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust, with the help of a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Source: Paul Brown, Historic Ships The Survivors (Amberley, 2010), updated Mar 2011.