Post-captain , post captain , or postcaptain is an obsolete alternative form of the rank of captain in the Royal Navy .
114-775: Captain Maurice Suckling (4 May 1726 – 14 July 1778) was a British Royal Navy officer of the eighteenth century, most notable for starting the naval career of his nephew Horatio Nelson and for serving as Comptroller of the Navy from 1775 until his death. Suckling joined the Royal Navy in 1739 and saw service in the English Channel and Mediterranean Sea during the War of the Austrian Succession . With
228-610: A cruiser base, for vessels patrolling the North Sea and the eastern reaches of the Channel. Construction of amenities in and around the dockyard continued into the eighteenth century. The first dry-dock was not completed until 1708; a second was added in 1720. Access to the two dry docks was by way of a tidal basin , tellingly known as the Mud Dock; there was a small shipbuilding slip to its north and in c.1730 an ordnance wharf
342-570: A guard ship . Suckling left his ship in 1773 and was initially rebuffed in his attempts to gain fresh employment with the navy because of the ongoing peace, but in 1775 First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich , appointed him Comptroller of the Navy. Suckling was competent in his new role and oversaw the Royal Navy's mobilisation when the American Revolutionary War began. In 1776 he
456-644: A line of battle with Dreadnought taking the vanguard . Suckling began the battle at 3:20pm by engaging the French flag ship, the 74-gun ship of the line Intrépide . Dreadnought destroyed so many of Intrépide ' s spars that the French ship was unable to stop herself from falling afoul of the ship following behind her, the 50-gun fourth-rate Greenwich . This put the French squadron into confusion as their ships began to get caught up in one another. The British took advantage of this, attacking them with little return fire. The action continued for around two and
570-410: A training ship . Then, in 1892, the building as a whole was repurposed and reopened as a Royal Naval Gunnery School, providing specialist training in naval artillery . A training battery of 9-pounder guns was provided a few miles along the coast with a rifle range alongside. The school soon outgrew its accommodation; in 1908 it moved to new purpose-built accommodation alongside HMS Pembroke and
684-466: A 225-year period, including the following: In the early 20th century, the Admiralty decided that shipbuilding should cease at Sheerness to allow the yard to focus on a new specialised role: refitting torpedo boats and torpedo boat destroyers . Dry docks 4 and 5 were accordingly lengthened in 1906 to enable them to accommodate the latter, and in 1912 the roof over the old shipbuilding dock (No.2 Dock)
798-576: A central hub, which was occupied by a six-storey hexagonal office block; but it was Rennie's 1813 plan that gained approval. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars , the old Sheerness Dockyard was closed in 1815 and work began to Rennie's meticulous designs. The principal architect was Surveyor of Buildings to the Navy Board, Edward Holl , assisted by William Miller. After Holl's death in 1823, George L. Taylor (an established architect with
912-519: A friendship that would endure throughout their respective careers. Having continued with Fox in Chichester , on 8 March 1745 Suckling took his examination for promotion to the rank of lieutenant at Port Mahon. He was at this stage not actually eligible to take the examination, by the rules needing to be a year older and to have another seven months of sea service. Fox was one of the four captains sitting to examine Suckling, and likely because of this
1026-516: A further line of fortification was constructed, connecting de Gomme's defences at the northern end with those south of Blue Town. All along the foreshore, a series of guns were placed; and in 1850 a new gun battery was installed in the Centre Bastion, designed to work in tandem with the new Grain Tower gun emplacement on the opposite side of the river. Ten years later, work began on replacing
1140-550: A half hours. At this point the French commodore , Guy François Coëtnempren de Kersaint , called for one of his frigates to tow Intrépide out of the battle. The French squadron, having received heavy casualties, retreated back into Cape Français. Forrest's ships, their rigging and masts heavily damaged, were unable to chase them. This ended the Battle of Cap-Français , the only full-scale battle of Suckling's career. The British lost twenty-four men killed and eighty-five wounded in
1254-485: A high-ranking admiral would have two post-captains on his flagship. The junior would serve as the flag captain and retain responsibility for the day-to-day operation of the vessel. The senior would be the fleet captain , or " captain of the fleet ", and would serve as the admiral's chief-of-staff. These two captains would be listed in the ship's roll as the "second captain" and "first captain", respectively. After 1795, when they were first introduced on Royal Navy uniforms,
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#17327808751561368-662: A main east-west road in the Dockyard, at the far end of which stood the Dockyard Chapel (1828). Behind the Quadrangular Storehouse, and equal to it in length, the Smithery was built (begun in 1822). Further north, another suppling kiln and a smaller saw-pit building (1828) served the other docks (Nos. 4 & 5); there was also a pitch house (1829) nearby, designed by Taylor. Further south, behind
1482-467: A midshipman. Suckling, who had told tales of his naval exploits to Horatio while on half pay, accepted him at the direct request of Nelson's father Edmund and did not himself think that it was the right choice, saying: What has poor Horatio done, who is so weak, that he should be sent to rough it out at sea? But let him come, and the first time we go into action a cannon ball may knock off his head and provide for him at once. Despite this attitude Suckling
1596-490: A nearby water supply and the likelihood of contracting ague from the surrounding marshland all led to a lack of workers and caused construction delays. Nevertheless by 1672 the yard was likewise largely structurally complete. The following year saw the first officers appointed to certain key positions in the yard: John Shish as Master Shipwright , Samuel Hunter as Clerk of the Cheque and John Daniell as Storekeeper. In 1677
1710-482: A number of dockyard-related buildings were constructed within the walls of the fort. Beyond the gatehouse was an avenue, with a double row of houses for the senior officers of the yard on one side, and a large quadrangular naval store yard on the other. Within the fort, the Navy's buildings occupied a sizeable area close to the gatehouse, while the Ordnance Board had its own store yard and associated buildings to
1824-509: A practice in London responsible for some of London's most fashionable squares) took over as principal. The plan was for an entirely new dockyard, at 56 acres more than double the size of the old one. The site's quicksand and mud banks provided a substantial civil engineering challenge; thousands of wooden piles had to be put in place to support the inverted arch foundations of the docks, wharves, basins and buildings. A scale-model created at
1938-470: A proper dockyard to be built on the site. Samuel Pepys , who was Clerk of the Acts of the Navy Board, issued authorisation for the works to begin and later recorded visiting Sheerness to measure out the site for the new dockyard. The plan was for a rectangular compound, containing a mast house, a store shed and a smith's forge, together with houses for the carpenter and the storekeeper, and two gated slips on
2052-554: A school for apprentices was established at Sheerness in 1842. Fifty years later it was given its own purpose-built accommodation. It was (again in common with equivalent institutions elsewhere) renamed as the Dockyard Technical College in 1952, before closing a few years later along with the rest of the yard. In February 1958 it was announced in Parliament that Sheerness Dockyard would close. The garrison
2166-457: A semi-circular gun battery to the north; while to the south a line of fortification was constructed, which cut off the northernmost part of Sheerness behind a flooded ditch . Enclosed by walls to the west and east, the garrisoned fort took up most of the area to the north of the ditch leaving just a small parcel of land on the Medway side, between the western wall of the fort and the river, for
2280-493: A serious impediment at times of war; and for this reason, warships based in the Nore would tend if possible to avoid entering the river, and would try to do all but the most serious repairs while afloat and at anchor. At the same time, those who were responsible for supplying warships with their weapons , victuals and equipment were obliged to ferry items to and from The Nore using small boats. In order to operate more effectively,
2394-549: A single culvert to the pump house in the south of the yard. Behind the three larger dry docks (Nos.1-3) were a pair of suppling kilns (1828), beyond which a long two-storey building (known today as the Archway Block, 1830) was built to Holl's design; it consisted of five interlinked blocks, each of five bays, housing saw pits and seasoning stores on the ground floor, with mould lofts , joiners ' shops and other stores accommodated above. Its eponymous archway spanned
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#17327808751562508-424: A week, overseeing both the growth of the navy and the creation of a fleet of 416 troop transports to convey the army across to America. His hard work was done in tandem with that of Rear-Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser , his predecessor as Comptroller of the Navy and the incumbent First Naval Lord . Suckling continued to receive personal advancement during this period, being elected unopposed as member of parliament for
2622-679: Is most remembered as the man who was instrumental in beginning and supporting Nelson's naval career as he grew to become a national hero. Even after Suckling's death his relationships with officers such as Parker resulted in preferment for Nelson. Nelson would go on to remember his uncle's conduct at Cape Français, recollecting it prior to fighting the Battle of Trafalgar exactly forty-eight years later. Sugden emphasises Suckling's importance to Nelson, saying that he had "managed his career, planned every move and cleared away every obstacle". Nelson said after Suckling's death that: I feel myself to my country his heir...And it shall, I am bold to say, never lack
2736-644: The Admiralty -controlled constituency of Portsmouth on 18 May 1776; he never voted or made a speech during his tenure in the House of Commons . Suckling was also able to use his position to again assist his nephews, appointing Maurice a clerk in the Navy Office in November 1775 and on 9 April 1777 serving as an examining captain on Horatio's lieutenancy examination. Nelson was, as Suckling had been, underage for
2850-716: The Basque Roads , and to destroy fortifications on the Île-d'Aix . The squadron found no ships to attack but between 21 and 22 June Nassau and five other ships were sent on to Aix. Despite interference from French prames based in the Charente they succeeded in their task with only minor losses. Suckling left Nassau in February 1762 to recommission the 66-gun ship of the line HMS Lancaster , returning to his former ship on 22 February. Suckling then stayed in Nassau until
2964-675: The Henrician defences of the Thames): Sheerness. In March 1665, following a declaration of war against the Netherlands , Peter Pett (the Resident Commissioner at Chatham) had a wooden storehouse built within a compound on the promontory of Sheerness, for the better provisioning of the warships anchored at The Nore. Soon afterwards, war-damaged ships began to be dispatched to Sheerness for repair, and Pett
3078-619: The Jamaica Station but Suckling and Dreadnought continued on. The ship spent most of her service in harbour at Port Royal as the area was a backwater in the Seven Years' War. Suckling was able, however, to occasionally take his ship on patrols around the coast of Santo Domingo . On 21 October 1757, Dreadnought and two other 60-gun ships of the line undertook an operation to intercept a French convoy leaving Cape Français . Dreadnought first spotted sails at 7am, and at midday
3192-467: The Napoleonic Wars of the following century. In addition, a defensive straight canal had been dug south of Mile Town in 1782, two miles in length, stretching from the Medway to the Thames. Very unusually, at Sheerness the Navy Board provided accommodation for the civilian workers of the dockyard and their families (in the hope of attracting people to work there). There being no established settlement in
3306-617: The Navy Board began to explore options for developing a new dockyard at the mouth of the Medway, able to be accessed by ships directly from the North Sea and Thames Estuary . Possible locations were explored on both the Isle of Grain and the Isle of Sheppey ; the Board decided on a location at the north-west tip of Sheppey alongside a derelict 16th-century blockhouse (built to supplement
3420-433: The 1970s, along with Nos.1-3 Dry Docks, and to the east the former Garrison area was completely levelled. A high priority was placed on finding new employment for the local workforce. From 1974-1994 Olau Line operated a ferry service out of the northern part of the former Dockyard from Sheerness to Flushing . The rest of the site continued to be developed as a commercial port with much land reclamation taking place along
3534-528: The 24-gun frigate HMS Seahorse on 27 October. Seahorse was commanded by another friend and old Dreadnought shipmate, Captain George Farmer . Suckling left Triumph on 1 December when his standard three-year appointment came to an end. Suckling returned to half pay; he was still in his prime, a handsome and slim man despite some gout in his right hand and a thinning hairline. As a senior captain there were limited positions available for him within
Maurice Suckling - Misplaced Pages Continue
3648-476: The 50-gun fourth-rate HMS Gloucester as the ship's first lieutenant , which the naval historian David Syrett suggests was another appointment brought about by Suckling's patrons. The captain of Gloucester was his relative Townshend. Suckling's position in Gloucester meant that he avoided the unemployment that came to many naval officers when the Royal Navy began to decommission warships in response to
3762-651: The 70-gun ship of the line HMS Nassau on 16 January 1761. Employed in the Bay of Biscay , Nassau mostly saw service implementing blockades , with there being little serious opposition for the British after the Battle of Quiberon Bay . In June Suckling's ship reinforced the British squadron that had recently captured Belle Île , and she was then detached in a squadron under Captain Sir Thomas Stanhope . Stanhope's orders were to engage any French shipping left in
3876-493: The British found that the French squadron sent to escort the convoy had come out to engage them. It was an unexpectedly powerful squadron, consisting of seven warships, including four ships of the line. The senior British officer, Captain Arthur Forrest , met with his captains. When he suggested that the French were looking for a battle, Suckling replied "I think it would be a pity to disappoint them". The three ships formed
3990-620: The Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet ). Before the rebuilding of Sheerness was complete, the Admiralty was beginning to invest in steam propulsion for warships, with the opening of its first Steam Factory at Woolwich Dockyard in 1831. This marked the start of an era of fast-paced technological change, and in the 1840s massive expansion took place at Portsmouth and Devonport to provide new basins and docks, which were served by factories, foundries, boiler-makers, fitting-shops and other facilities for mechanical engineering. The Royal Navy
4104-502: The Dock adjoining to the Fort, there are six old men of war . These are divided into small tenements, forty, fifty or sixty in a ship, with little chimneys and windows, and each of these contained a family. In one of them where we called, a man and his wife and six little children lived; and yet all the ship was sweet and tolerably clean, sweeter than most sailing ships I have been in'. In 1802
4218-480: The Duke of Clarence, newly appointed to the office of Lord High Admiral , had ordered its construction on land purchased from the Board of Ordnance. The Duke himself did not make use of it (despite persistent rumours that he planned to move in); instead, Vice-Admiral Sir John Beresford took up residence and it went on to accommodate him and his successors as Commander-in-Chief, The Nore until 1907 (after which it housed
4332-579: The Line . It was the first area of the yard to be completed and was formally opened by the Duke of Clarence (later King William IV ) on 5 September 1823. (The next areas to be completed were the Small Basin and the Boat Basin, with its smaller pair of docks; construction of major buildings continuing for several years afterwards.) As part of Rennie's co-ordinated plan, all the dry docks were connected by
4446-512: The Navy Board, initially in peace and then during the American Revolutionary War . Despite his deep commitment to public duty he found it time-consuming and arduous work. During his tenure the mobilisation of the navy for war saw the number of ships under his purview expand from 110 in October 1775 to 306 in July 1778. Suckling attended the majority of meetings called by the Navy Board, often six days
4560-512: The Navy Board, responsible for all Royal Navy warship construction and upkeep as well as troop transports and dockyards. The position was highly prestigious as well as important and why Suckling, a relatively unknown candidate, was chosen by Sandwich is not known. The naval experience that Suckling brought to the position was of great value to Sandwich, who went about reforming naval administration with particular emphasis on making Royal Navy shipyards more productive. Suckling proved adept as head of
4674-516: The Royal Navy began mobilising in the expectation of war against Spain, he was given command of the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Raisonnable , which was fitting out at Chatham, on 17 November. Suckling's sister Catherine had died on 26 December 1767, leaving behind three sons; William , Maurice, and Horatio Nelson . Suckling and his brother subsequently took an interest in promoting the careers of their nephews, and when Suckling took command of Raisonnable he brought Horatio with him, appointing him
Maurice Suckling - Misplaced Pages Continue
4788-498: The Victualling Store reverted to providing barracks accommodation. In 1937, the same building again found a new use, this time being commissioned as a boys' training establishment: HMS Wildfire . It remained in commission until 1950; after closure, the 'Wildfire Building' (as it had come to be known) again reverted to providing accommodation until shortly before the closure of the Dockyard. As at other Royal Dockyards,
4902-451: The War of the Austrian Succession and Seven Years' War, Syrett argues that the majority of Suckling's career was "uneventful and perhaps even lacklustre". While he found success as Comptroller of the Navy that, Syrett suggests, might have seen him become "one of the great naval administrators of the Royal Navy", the overwhelming reason for Suckling's enduring fame lies with Horatio Nelson. Suckling
5016-466: The clergy. Suckling did however have the support of considerable patronage from the powerful Walpole, and because of this he was able to find a place within the Royal Navy . At the age of thirteen, on 25 November 1739, Suckling was appointed an ordinary seaman on board the 50-gun fourth-rate HMS Newcastle at Sheerness Dockyard . While some records suppose that he was supported in his joining of
5130-539: The coast of the Carolinas , with occasional diversions taking him as far north as Boston . On 11 September 1755 Suckling was with his ship at Halifax , Nova Scotia , when Vice-Admiral Edward Boscawen translated him into command of the 64-gun ship of the line HMS Lys , which had recently been captured from the French just before the start of the Seven Years' War . Lys was only armed en flute , and Suckling
5244-570: The decommissioning of the ship. On 13 May Suckling was instead given command of the 74-gun ship of the line HMS Triumph , continuing to support Nelson by taking him with him to his new ship. Triumph was employed as a guard ship, and during Suckling's tenure she would spend time at Blackstakes , Sheerness, and Chatham. On 26 June Suckling was also appointed senior officer for his part of the Thames Estuary; he filled most of his time with paperwork regarding topics including naval discipline and
5358-465: The deficiencies in Suckling's report were ignored and he passed. Suckling was immediately promoted and appointed to serve as fourth lieutenant of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Burford . While sailing off Villefranche on 7 February 1746, he was transferred to the 80-gun ship of the line HMS Russell also as fourth lieutenant. On 9 June the following year he moved again, joining the 80-gun ship of
5472-670: The deployment of marine detachments. Aware that the monotony of service on board a guard ship would not provide the practical experience necessary for Nelson's naval career, Suckling organised for a Hibbert, Purrier and Horton ship captain who had served under him in Dreadnought to take Nelson to the West Indies. Nelson left on 25 July and throughout the trip was kept on the books of Triumph , which ship he re-joined on 17 July 1772. Suckling continued on in Triumph , his duties at
5586-404: The dockyard to occupy. A gateway through this wall, accessed from the dockyard, provided the main entrance to the fort; the gatehouse was a prominent feature and contained a chapel on its first floor. By the beginning of August the new fort was substantially structurally complete and it was equipped with thirty guns. Work then began on the dockyard. A scarcity of available housing, the absence of
5700-524: The end of the Seven Years' War, paying off his ship at the Nore in February 1763. Suckling's fortune to find employment at the end of the War of the Austrian Succession did not now repeat itself, and he went ashore on half pay , probably living at his home in Woodton , Norfolk . After seven years in such a position Suckling's services were called upon again for the Falklands Crisis in 1770. As
5814-408: The end of the century the old Working Mast House had become a Shipwright's Machine Shop, nestled among foundries and factories. In 1824, the Admiralty declared that Sheerness would continue to serve primarily as a refitting base, leaving Chatham Dockyard to focus on shipbuilding. Provision of a single covered slip, however, indicates that (as in the old yard) some shipbuilding was also envisaged. In
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#17327808751565928-585: The end of the war. Gloucester sailed to join the West Indies Station on 15 May 1749, and Suckling spent the next three years of his career based in the ship at Jamaica . Gloucester finally returned to England on 16 January 1753, at which time Suckling was appointed second lieutenant of the 70-gun ship of the line HMS Somerset , which was the guard ship at Chatham Dockyard . He was promoted to become Somerset ' s first lieutenant on 19 April before, on 2 January 1754, being discharged from
6042-621: The factory; sited in the south part of the Dockyard, it was served by its own entrance (later called the South Gate) in the perimeter wall. Also in 1854, No.1 Dock and No.3 Dock were both lengthened to accommodate the larger ships now coming in for repair. The main Smithery, which stood behind the Quadrangle Store, had been provided with steam-powered hammers in 1846, and steam technology began to be used in various other parts of
6156-501: The hulks themselves) were progressively infilled with soil, with new hulks then being added as part of the process. In this way, the land occupied by the dockyard began to expand (as is clearly seen in a surviving model of the dockyard, created in 1774 and now in the National Maritime Museum ) By this time two more dry docks had been added, and over the next ten years living conditions were substantially improved by
6270-526: The humiliating raid concluded that it 'was chiefly occasioned by the neglect of finishing the fort at Sheerenesse'. After the raid, the authorities moved quickly to repair the damage and complete the fortification of Sheerness. Work on the fortifications was undertaken swiftly in accordance with de Gomme's designs: the Tudor blockhouse (which became the Governor 's residence) was strengthened, and encircled by
6384-452: The line Palmier was off Port-au-Prince . They discovered Palmier there the following morning, and at 4am Dreadnought began to attack Palmier from close range. Assistance , however, was becalmed and unable to help Suckling in the engagement. Palmier fired into Dreadnought ' s rigging and, with his ship's movement disabled, Suckling was unable to stop the French ship from escaping. When Assistance finally reached Dreadnought
6498-473: The line HMS Boyne at the order of her flag officer , Rear-Admiral John Byng . Having initially served again as fourth lieutenant, Suckling was promoted to become Boyne ' s third on 9 January 1748 and her second on 16 August. With the War of the Austrian Succession ending, Suckling returned home in Boyne , arriving at Spithead on 14 October. He was then, on 1 November, transferred from Boyne into
6612-550: The mast houses, there was a small foundry; it was destined to grow significantly in later years as use of metal in shipbuilding vastly increased. At the east end of the site, near the chapel, were grouped the main residential buildings pertaining to the senior officers of the Dockyard: The Chapel (and the Naval Terrace alongside it) were placed outside the perimeter wall of the Dockyard. The area between
6726-650: The mouth of the River Medway in Kent . It was opened in the 1660s and closed in 1960. In the Age of Sail , the Royal Navy would often establish shore facilities close to safe anchorages where the fleet would be based in home waters. This was the case when, around 1567, a Royal Dockyard was established at Chatham, Kent , on the bank of the River Medway. At that time, HM Ships would often lay at anchor either within
6840-400: The naval store yard within the walls of the fort. Further accommodation was provided on the hulks which functioned as breakwaters on the foreshore. In 1734 the workers' lodgings were rebuilt in brick; they would again be rebuilt in 1794. By 1774 nearly a thousand people were accommodated in the lodgings and the hulks. When John Wesley visited in 1767, he described the latter as follows: 'In
6954-672: The navy by another maternal relative, Captain George Townshend , the historian John Sugden says this was the doing of Walpole. Suckling's first patron within the navy was Captain Thomas Fox , the commanding officer of Newcastle . In Newcastle Suckling saw service in the Western Approaches , the English Channel , and off Gibraltar and Lisbon . He was advanced to able seaman on 7 April 1741 before being promoted to midshipman on 7 September. In 1742 Newcastle
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#17327808751567068-461: The navy while the country was at peace. Suckling showed an interest in working ashore when positions in Newfoundland and Jamaica arose in 1775. Employment was also available for naval officers within the civil side of the navy's command, the Navy Board ; having spent two years unemployed, on 12 April Suckling was appointed Comptroller of the Navy . The Comptroller of the Navy was the head of
7182-522: The north of the rebuilt Dockyard, lying between the perimeter wall and the Estuary foreshore, was almost entirely given over to the Garrison, which had been displaced by the rebuilding. On a long narrow strip of land was built officers' accommodation, guard houses, barrack blocks, a parade ground and (within the bastion at the southern end of the site) a gunpowder magazine. Along the estuary foreshore,
7296-636: The north. The parade ground and barracks for the military garrison lay to the east, at the end of the aforementioned avenue. Sheerness Dockyard initially functioned as an extension to that at Chatham and it was overseen by Chatham's resident Commissioner for much of its early history (until the 1790s). It was conceived primarily for the routine repair and maintenance of naval ships; no shipbuilding took place there (with one small exception) until 1691. While minor repairs were undertaken at Sheerness, ships requiring major work were usually sent on to Chatham, Woolwich or Deptford. Sheerness also functioned at this time as
7410-401: The number and position of epaulettes distinguished between commanders and post-captains of various seniorities. A commander wore a single epaulette on the left shoulder. A post-captain with less than three years' seniority wore a single epaulette on the right shoulder, and a post-captain with three or more years seniority wore an epaulette on each shoulder. In the O'Brian series, Aubrey "wets
7524-486: The old semi-circular gun battery on the promontory with a new casemated fort to replace the old blockhouse: Garrison Point Fort . Further south, the defensive canal (now known as Queenborough Lines) was also strengthened with a gun battery at either end. Between what became known as Garrison Point and the Garrison itself stood Admiralty House, a large residence built in 1829 for the Port Admiral . In May 1827,
7638-433: The position but this was ignored and he passed, being appointed to serve in the 32-gun frigate HMS Lowestoffe . A view promoted in older biographies of Nelson, that he was unaware his uncle was to examine him and that Suckling did not tell the other examiners of their relationship, "not wish[ing] the younker to be favoured", has been questioned in more recent years by Sugden and the naval historian R. J. B. Knight . Nelson
7752-517: The previous conflict, the main business of the yard was refit and repair of ships on active service. In 1854, a wing of the Victualling Store, which stood alongside the entrance to the Small Basin, was converted to serve as a Naval Barracks: a unique pre-20th century example of a shore building in Britain being used as a barracks for naval personnel. It seems to have been used to house very young ordinary seamen under training but awaiting posting to
7866-472: The quadrangle, the old Admiralty House and the dockyard church, [had] been listed under Section 30 of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1947, as buildings of special architectural and historical interest.' Nevertheless, several of these very significant Dockyard buildings were demolished in the years that followed, including Admiralty House in 1964 and the Quadrangular Storehouse in 1978. The Small and Great Basins were also filled with rubble and covered over in
7980-445: The ramparts, using materials they were allowed to take from the yard. They were clinker-built , like ships; and the grey-blue naval paint they used on the exteriors led to their homes becoming known as the Blue Houses. This was eventually corrupted to Blue Town (which is now the name of the north-west area of Sheerness lying just beyond the current dockyard perimeter). The modern town of Sheerness has its origins in Mile Town, which
8094-496: The rank, but having done so he could expect to be eventually promoted to flag rank by seniority if he lived long enough. Alongside his promotion, Suckling was given command of the 60-gun ship of the line HMS Dreadnought which was the flag ship of Townshend, now a rear-admiral. Ordered to Jamaica, Dreadnought formed part of an eleven-warship escort for a convoy that left Spithead on 31 January 1756. Dreadnought arrived at Port Royal on 18 April; Townshend would go on to leave
8208-486: The residences at the east end and the basins and docks to the west was initially kept clear, in large part, to allow for storage of timber; though the artesian well (dated, on the Well House, to 1800) which had so transformed life in the old Dockyard, was located here in relative isolation. In addition, the yard's Pay Office with its strong room (1828) was placed in this area, not too far from the main gate. The land to
8322-459: The river (though deviating south again at one point to accommodate the mast houses at the southern end of the site); the river then made up the third side of the triangle. The principal buildings and structures were laid out along the bank of the Medway; from north (i.e. Garrison Point) to South, these were: The Great Basin, with its three dry docks, formed the Dockyard's centre of operations; they were designed to accommodate First Rate Ships of
8436-419: The river side. By November the yard was operational, and several large ships were sent there for repairs during the winter (albeit the yard struggled due to a lack of workers and materials). Pett had further plans for the development of the site, including a dry dock in place of the careening facility; he also advised fortifying the area to the north of the yard. Progress in this regard was slow, however, and it
8550-408: The river, on Chatham Reach or Gillingham Reach, or beyond it, around The Nore . Chatham Dockyard had its disadvantages, however. The vagaries of wind and tide, coupled with the restricted depth of the river, meant that vessels entering the river, for repairs or to replenish supplies at Chatham, could be delayed for considerable lengths of time. What was an inconvenience at times of peace became
8664-482: The same county. Nothing is known of Suckling's childhood past this point apart from that he continued to live in Beccles. Suckling's immediate family, as a single parent household, was not especially rich, and he did not receive a university education. These factors limited his career prospects, with the former meaning he could not become a British Army officer and the latter stopping him from following his father into
8778-419: The second half of the century, dry docks began to be used for shipbuilding to some extent (especially as many of the old slips became too small for the fast-expanding size of new warships). At Sheerness, No.2 Dock was designated for this purpose and (like the slip) covered with a long pitched roof . Beginning with a 7-gun ketch named Transporter in 1677, over 100 ships were built at Sheerness Dockyard over
8892-487: The ship. One day later he was promoted to commander . At the same time as his promotion Suckling was given command of the 14-gun sloop HMS Baltimore . The ship was at the time serving on the North America Station , and Suckling took passage out in a merchant ship to take up his new command. He did so at Charleston , South Carolina , on 20 May. In Baltimore Suckling spent most of his time patrolling
9006-486: The sinking of a well to provide drinking water (which had previously had to be ferried in). By 1800 the Dockyard filled all available space and in addition was continuing to make use of several buildings within the walls of the Garrison Fort. In 1796, following the development of Blue Town, a wider area of land (including the new houses) was enclosed behind a bastioned trace, which was further strengthened during
9120-399: The skirmish, of which ten and thirty respectively were from Suckling's command. Unable to re-engage the French, the ships returned to Port Royal to undergo repairs. After this Dreadnought returned to her regular duties at Jamaica. On 1 September 1758 Dreadnought was patrolling alongside the 50-gun fourth-rate HMS Assistance when they received intelligence that the French 74-gun ship of
9234-458: The support of relatives including Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole , Suckling was promoted quickly and received his first command in 1754. At the start of the Seven Years' War in 1756 he was promoted to captain and given a command on the Jamaica Station . There he played a major part in the Battle of Cap-Français in 1757 and fought an inconclusive skirmish against the French ship Palmier in 1758 before returning to Britain in 1760. Suckling
9348-519: The swab" – that is, he celebrates his promotion to commander and the acquisition of his "swab" or epaulette with the consumption of copious amounts of alcohol. The term post-captain was descriptive only. It was never used as a title in the manner of "Post-Captain John Smith". Sheerness Dockyard Sheerness Dockyard was a Royal Navy Dockyard located on the Sheerness peninsula, at
9462-541: The time of Nelson's return including hosting on board First Lord of the Admiralty John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich . In May 1773 Suckling had Nelson transferred to serve in the 8-gun bomb vessel HMS Carcass for an expedition to the North Pole , he having previously operated with Carcass ' commander Captain Skeffington Lutwidge . Nelson having returned from this, Suckling then had him join
9576-406: The time shows in great detail the original design (foundations included) of each element. In all the project cost £2,586,083 and was largely complete by 1830. Sheerness was unusual among Dockyards in the unity and clarity of its design, having been built in one phase of construction, of a single architectural style according to a unified plan (rather than developing piecemeal over time). The site
9690-520: The two ships chased after Palmier but were too far behind to re-start the engagement. Dreadnought had eight men killed and seven wounded in the action. On 17 June 1760 Dreadnought was ordered back to England as escort to a convoy of sixty-four merchant ships. She arrived in the Downs on 29 August. Suckling subsequently sailed his ship to Chatham, where she was paid off on 19 November. Suckling did not stay unemployed for long, being appointed to command
9804-455: The vicinity of Sheerness, most of the workers were initially housed temporarily in hulks moored nearby. In the 1680s the Board was petitioned by the officers of the yard to make 'some provision of habitations' for the workers and their families, who were 'suffering through the unwholesomeness of the place'. The Board acceded to the request and soon afterwards built four barrack-like lodgings for workers (such as shipwrights and artificers) alongside
9918-490: The want of his counsel. I feel he gave it to me as a legacy, and had I been near him when he was removed, he would have said, "My boy, I leave you to my country. Serve her well, and she'll never desert, but will ultimately reward you." Suckling married his cousin Mary Walpole, daughter of Horatio Walpole, 1st Baron Walpole , on 20 June 1764. The marriage further increased Suckling's network of powerful connections, as Mary
10032-440: The workers and their families were evicted from the hulks, which by then had gained a reputation of being 'a common resort of Whores and Rogues, by day and by night'. In the 1820s, provision of accommodation within the fort was also discontinued; by this time cheaper housing was to be had nearby in the civilian settlements of Blue Town and Mile Town. By 1738, dockyard construction workers had begun to build their own houses close to
10146-602: The yard; for instance, in 1856-8 a new steam-powered saw mill was built, to Greene's designs, replacing the manual saw pits built just 25 years earlier. Greene built a second Smithery in 1856, alongside the first, this time with an all-metal frame; a technique he took to new heights in 1858-60 with the building of a four-storey Boat Store (behind the Working Boat House), remarkable for its size, for its 'efficient storage and handling arrangement' and above all for its remarkable structural innovations: 'The all-metal frame
10260-608: Was "on the beach" and on half-pay . An officer "took post" or was "made post" when he was first commissioned to command a vessel. Usually this was a rated vessel – that is, a ship too important to be commanded by a mere commander – but was occasionally an unrated one. Once a captain was given a command, his name was "posted" in The London Gazette . Being "made post" is portrayed as the most crucial event in an officer's career in both Forester's Horatio Hornblower series and O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin series . Once an officer
10374-477: Was a "less successful choice" than Palliser had been as Comptroller of the Navy because of this, but that he was still an able man. Having attended his last meeting of the Navy Board on 4 March 1778, he suddenly and unexpectedly died in his apartments at the Navy Office, London, on 14 July, aged fifty-two. He was buried in the chancel of Barsham Church. Having missed almost every battle that took place during
10488-416: Was added to the south, with timber stores and a mast pond beyond. The constricted area of land available to the dockyard caused problems for its operation and development. Several hulks were positioned on the foreshore close to the dockyard, initially to serve as breakwaters , but soon they served to accommodate both personnel and dockyard activities. The space between the hulks (and, as they began to rot,
10602-406: Was almost always a large ship of the line . The admiral would usually do this to keep his most junior captain under close observation and subject to his direct supervision. Captains commanding an admiral's flagship were called " flag captains ". One example of this is the appointment of Alexander Hood to the command of HMS Barfleur , flagship of his cousin, Admiral Sir Samuel Hood . Sometimes,
10716-447: Was also elected Member of Parliament for Portsmouth . Suckling was able to use his powerful position to again assist Nelson, forming part of the board that passed him for promotion to lieutenant in 1777. Suckling continued throughout the period to assiduously attend meetings of the Navy Board , but was increasingly hampered by a long-term illness that caused him considerable pain. He died unexpectedly on 14 July 1778. Maurice Suckling
10830-480: Was approximately triangular in shape when viewed from the air: Rennie's perimeter wall (1824–31) was built south-east from the Boat Basin (at the northernmost tip of the yard) running parallel with the Thames Estuary foreshore as far as the main gate, after which the wall (as can still be seen) turned southwards past the officers' houses, before turning sharply and continuing in a westerly direction as far as
10944-662: Was born on 4 May 1726 in the rectory house in Barsham , Suffolk . His father was the Reverend Maurice Suckling and his mother Anne née Turner. Suckling's maternal grandfather was Sir Charles Turner, 1st Baronet , while his great-uncle was the prime minister , Sir Robert Walpole . Suckling lived in Barsham until the age of four when his father died. His mother then moved the family, which also included his sister Catherine and brother William, to Beccles in
11058-549: Was decommissioned in 1959 and on 31 March 1960 the closing ceremony took place for the Dockyard; the dockyard closure led to all 2,500 dockyard employees being made redundant. Once the Royal Navy had vacated Sheerness dockyard, the Medway Port Authority took over the site for commercial use. In 1959, the First Lord of the Admiralty had announced that 'Seventeen residences and eight other buildings, including
11172-399: Was demolished. This specialised work continued through World War I. After the war, to keep the yard from closing, it was occasionally sent vessels built by private contractors that required completion (such as HMS Thracian and the submarine HMS L27 ). During World War Two, when a flotilla of minesweepers was based at Sheerness, a number of motor-launches were built at the yard; but, as in
11286-513: Was easily captured, together with the adjacent dockyard, by the Dutch Navy and used as the base for a daring raid on the English ships at anchor in the Medway. After their stocks of guns, ammunition and naval stores had been plundered both the fort and the dockyard were left in flames, along with a significant number of the ships moored in the river. A Parliamentary report on the causes of
11400-555: Was employed in the aftermath of the Capture of Belle Île in 1761 destroying French fortifications on the Île-d'Aix and went on half pay at the end of the war in 1763. He was given his next command during the Falklands Crisis of 1770 , and took his nephew Nelson with him. Despite having misgivings over Nelson's suitability for the navy, Suckling supported him and saw him translated into several more active ships in order to further his naval education when Suckling himself moved to command
11514-420: Was established later in the 18th century at a mile's distance from the dockyard (Blue Town having by then filled the space available). By the early nineteenth century, the old hulks underpinning the reclaimed land of the Dockyard were seriously decaying and the site was becoming increasingly unstable. The Dockyard, however, was getting busier, since it (unlike the nearby Chatham, Woolwich and Deptford yards)
11628-461: Was happy to use his influence for Nelson's benefit; he wrote him into Raisonnable ' s books on 1 January 1771 rather than in March or April when Nelson actually joined the ship so that he could have several extra months of seniority. This was Nelson's first sea service although Raisonnable never left the Thames Estuary during Suckling's command, which ended with the de-escalation of tensions and
11742-461: Was made rigid by portal bracing, subsequently adopted by the skyscraper pioneers in Chicago, and universal for modern steel-framed building'. The introduction of ironclad warships after Crimea led to further new buildings in and around the Dockyard. An assortment of mechanical workshops - fitting shops, bending shops, boiler shops - began to fill available space around the basins and docks, and by
11856-552: Was not expanded and adapted for steam until the 1860s, Sheerness found itself under pressure to provide interim facilities for repair and maintenance of steam-powered ships based in the Nore. This became an immediate priority with the outbreak of the Crimean War : so in 1854, a new Steam Factory was built 'in haste' at Sheerness by Godfrey Greene, with the second mast house being converted into an engineering foundry and fitting shop. By 1868 just under 500 men and boys were employed in
11970-532: Was not prone to silting. By 1810, designs had been submitted to the Controller of the Navy by both Samuel Bentham and John Rennie the Elder for a relatively modest rebuilding of the yard. Over the next three years, both Bentham and Rennie produced far more ambitious schemes: first, in 1812, Bentham drew up a radical panopticon -inspired proposal for the site, with docks, slips and storehouses all radiating from
12084-517: Was not until early 1667 that the Board of Ordnance asked Sir Bernard de Gomme to assess the ground and draw up proposals. The King and the Duke of York visited the site in February of that year, and (after further refinements were made to the design) building work began on 27 April. The situation was overtaken, however, by the escalating Anglo-Dutch conflict: on 10 June 1667 the still-incomplete fort
12198-568: Was ordered to sail her back to Britain. Having left Halifax on 19 October with the rest of Boscawen's ships, Lys was separated from them in a storm but succeeded in reaching the Downs on 23 November. Suckling's command of Lys , being a ship of the line and officially the command of a post captain , combined with his patronage and the beginning of the Seven Years' War, almost guaranteed his promotion to that rank. This occurred on 2 December. Suckling had taken longer than some of his contemporaries, such as Augustus Keppel and Richard Howe , to reach
12312-422: Was promoted to captain two years later, beating the average time of a lieutenant to reach captaincy by eight years. While continuing in work, from around January 1777 a long-term but undiagnosed illness had begun to take a considerable toll on Suckling's health. He would often spend days at a time "in much bodily pain", as he wrote to Sandwich on 28 January. The naval historian N. A. M. Rodger argues that Suckling
12426-444: Was promoted to post-captain, further promotion was strictly by seniority; if he could avoid death or disgrace, he would eventually become an admiral (even if only a yellow admiral ). A junior post-captain would usually command a frigate or a comparable ship, while more senior post-captains would command larger ships. An exception to this rule was that a very junior post-captain could be posted to command an admiral's flagship, which
12540-476: Was sent there to oversee the necessary work. A Master Attendant was appointed, to supervise the movement of ships in the vicinity. Shipwrights were hastily relocated from Deptford, Woolwich and elsewhere, an ad hoc collection of sheds and jetties were put in place and a 'graving place' was set aside on the shore for ships to be careened if required (the mud banks in the area were regularly used for careening). By July that same year, Pett had drawn up plans for
12654-617: Was sent to serve in the Mediterranean Sea ; while at Port Mahon in March the following year Fox was given command of the 80-gun ship of the line HMS Chichester and, continuing to support Suckling's career, he took the midshipman with him on 16 June. While in the Mediterranean Suckling met the future Admiral of the Fleet Sir Peter Parker , at the time another junior officer, and formed
12768-448: Was split between Catherine's children. Suckling left his sword, said to have previously been owned by Galfridus Walpole , to Nelson. Post-captain The term served to distinguish those who were captains by rank from: In the Royal Navy of the 18th and 19th centuries, an officer might be promoted from commander to captain, but not have a command. Until the officer obtained a command, he
12882-429: Was still for the most part a sailing Navy at this stage, with steam providing auxiliary power rather than the main means of propulsion; this was to change over the course of the next thirty years. The rebuilt Sheerness, which had been designed primarily for the repair and maintenance of sailing ships, soon found itself having to adapt to the changing demands of steam technology. Most particularly, because Chatham Dockyard
12996-474: Was the sister-in-law of the daughter of William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire , another powerful figure. The couple did not have any children before Mary died in 1766. The death of much of Suckling's family before him left "a worrying void in his life" according to Sugden. With very few close relatives, his will of 1774 left bequests to his brother and some of the Walpole family, but the majority of his wealth
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