HMS Fisgard (shore establishment)

HMS "Fisgard" was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy active at different periods and locations between 1848 and 1983. She was used to train artificers and engineers for the Navy.

History

The first "Fisgard"

HMS "Fisgard" was a 46-gun fifth rate "Leda" class frigate. She had been a depot ship and harbour flagship for Woolwich since 1848, and was used to train engineers and support those working onshore. The facility closed in 1872 and "Fisgard" herself was broken up in 1879.

"Fisgard" revived

The idea for a specialised department to train engineers for an increasingly mechanised and professionalised navy came from the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John Fisher. By early 1903 he had become concerned that the Imperial German Navy represented a threat to the interests of the Royal Navy, which might be in danger of being overtaken in seagoing technical expertise. He initiated a programme whereby engineers and artificers could be trained for service in the navy, and within two years the navy had established training centres in the major naval bases of Chatham, Plymouth Dockyard and Portsmouth. The Portsmouth base was established in a number of Victorian hulks, initially the old battleship HMS "Audacious". This centre was named HMS "Fisgard" in 1904, in recognition of the previous engineer training establishment at Woolwich. "Audacious" was joined by HMS "Invincible", named HMS "Fisgard II" in 1906, HMS "Hindustan", named HMS "Fisgard III" in 1905 and HMS "Sultan", named HMS "Fisgard IV" in 1906. The hulks were commissioned on 1 January 1906 under the joint name of HMS "Fisgard".

"Audacious" left the establishment in 1914 to serve as a repair workshop at Scapa Flow, having been named "Imperieuse". "Invincible" also left in 1914 for the same purpose but sank en route whilst under tow. "Audacious" was replaced as "Fisgard" by HMS "Spartiate" which took the name on 17 July 1915. "Invincible" was replaced as "Fisgard II" by HMS "Hercules" which also took the name on 17 July 1915. They were joined in 1919 by HMS "Terrible", and when "Hindostan" left in 1920 "Terrible" became "Fisgard III" in her place.

Move to Chatham and the Second World War

The experiment proved a success and by the early 1920s the training of Artificer Apprentices had been expanded with an electrical and ordnance branch. The entire operation was concentrated in "Fisgard" at Portsmouth, before being moved to Chatham in 1930. The decision was made to move ashore and by July 1932 all of the hulks had been sold off with the exception of "Fisgard IV", the old HMS "Sultan". She was renamed HMS "Sultan" and retained as a depot ship. The establishment remained ashore at Chatham until 1939, when the pressures of the Second World War brought more apprentices into the service. At the same time the risk of German bombs led to the decision to disperse the base's resources. Two new training establishments were established, one at Rosyth, Scotland and another at Torpoint, Cornwall in October 1940. The Scottish branch was named HMS "Caledonia" and the Cornish one retained the name HMS "Fisgard". "Sultan" remained as the depot ship until being sold on 13 August 1946.

Postwar

After the end of the war and by the late 1940s the artificer training was concentrated back into "Fisgard", taking on the shipwright and Fleet Air Arm apprentices of all specialisations. It was commissioned as an independent command on 1 December 1946. During the 1980s, further training was carried out by the apprentices at either HMS "Caledonia" (Rosyth) (then later at HMS "Sultan", Gosport) for Marine Engineering specialisation, HMS "Collingwood" (Fareham) for Weapons Electrical specialisation or HMS "Daedalus" (Lee on Solent) for Air Electrical Engineering specialisation. The base continued in service until 21 December 1983, when it was absorbed into HMS "Raleigh" , which retained a Fisgard squadron to train artificers and engineers until the decision was taken to end the separate role of artificers. The Artificer Apprentices museum is also situated here.

References

*Colledge
*Warlow, Ben, "Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy", Liskeard : Maritime, 2000. ISBN 9780907771739
* [http://www.fisgardassociation.org/frameset.htm History of HMS Fisgard]