- HMS Badger (shore establishment)
HMS "Badger" was commissioned on
13 September 1939 as the headquarters of theFlag Officer In Charge,Harwich and was decommissioned on21 October 1946 , although the Operations Room remained as the Emergency Port Control for the Harwich area. The site was Parkeston Quay, nowHarwich International Port , and the bunker lies under Hamilton House, currently anoccupational health centre, close to the entrance to Harwich International Port, a few miles west of Harwich.Wartime Service
The Parkeston Quay site had been used during
World War One by the Royal Navy, and anAdmiralty Research Laboratory had been constructed there. The port was again requesitioned from theLNER at the beginning ofWorld War Two . In its early days "Badger" provided a base for minesweepers, but by the end of1940 it also serviced adestroyer flotilla , asubmarine squadron and a Coastal ForcesMotor Torpedo Boat base, becoming the largest base for small craft in the United Kingdom.After a short period accommodated in the Station Hotel at Parkeston Quay, the accommodation and administration moved in
1940 to Hamilton House, the former Georgiancustoms house . A bunker was built under Hamilton House, and this opened in1941 as an underground operations room.Anti-aircraft sea-forts (known asHM Fort Roughs ), located 10 miles offshore, were kept supplied from HMS "Badger".cite web|url=http://www.harwich-society.co.uk:80/old/info_rough_towers.htm|title=The Rough Towers at HarwichSociety.co.uk|accessdate=2008-07-18] An alternative deceptive site for Parkeston Quay was sited atEast Mersea , but the port area suffered extensive damage from air attacks during the course ofWorld War Two [cite web|url=http://www.harwich.co.uk/port_history.htm|title=Harwich Interational Port Information|accessdate=2008-07-18]Post-War Service
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