Naval History of Portsea

Five centuries of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth

The naval history of Portsea is inseparable from the history of the Royal Navy itself. From the moment Henry VII established a dry dock here in 1495, the fortunes of Portsea and the navy have been intertwined. Every major naval conflict fought by Britain over the past five centuries has had its Portsmouth dimension, whether in the building and repair of warships, the embarking of crews and supplies, or the reception of returning fleets.

During the Tudor period, the dockyard was expanded to meet the needs of Henry VIII's navy, and the ill-fated Mary Rose sailed from here. The Stuart period saw the fortification of the town and dockyard against potential attack. The great wars of the eighteenth century, against France and Spain, brought enormous expansion. The dockyard grew in area, workforce and output, producing and maintaining the ships of the line that fought at the battles of the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar.

The nineteenth century brought revolutionary change as wooden sailing ships gave way to iron-hulled steamships. The dockyard adapted, building new engineering works, dry docks and fitting-out facilities for the ironclad age. HMS Warrior, the first iron-hulled armoured warship, though built on the Thames, symbolised the new era.

The two world wars placed immense demands on the dockyard. During both conflicts, the yard worked at full capacity repairing battle damage, refitting vessels and supporting the fleet. The D-Day invasion of 1944 was launched in large part from Portsmouth and the surrounding waters.

The post-war contraction of the Royal Navy reduced the working dockyard, but the naval presence remains. The heritage area has given the site a new purpose, and the story of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth continues to unfold.