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HMS Badger (shore establishment)
Encyclopedia
HMS Badger was commissioned
Ship commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 13 September 1939 as the headquarters of the Flag Officer
Flag Officer
A flag officer is a commissioned officer in a nation's armed forces senior enough to be entitled to fly a flag to mark where the officer exercises command. The term usually refers to the senior officers in an English-speaking nation's navy, specifically those who hold any of the admiral ranks; in...
In Charge, Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
and was decommissioned on 21 October 1946, although the Operations Room remained as the Emergency Port Control for the Harwich area. The site was Parkeston Quay, now Harwich International Port
Harwich International Port
Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite Port of Felixstowe...
, and the bunker lies under Hamilton House, currently an occupational 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 IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
by the Royal Navy, and an Admiralty Research Laboratory
Admiralty Research Laboratory
The Admiralty Research Laboratory, or ARL, was a research laboratory that supported the work of the UK Admiralty in Teddington, London, England....
had been constructed there. The port was again requesitioned from the LNER at the beginning of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In its early days Badger provided a base for minesweepers
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
, but by the end of 1940 it also serviced a destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
flotilla
Flotilla
A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...
, a submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
squadron and a Coastal Forces
Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy
Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy established duringWorld War II under the command of Rear Admiral Coastal Forces. -History:The Royal Navy had previously operated flotillas of small torpedo- and depth-charge-armed craft during the First World WarThe first Headquarters was set up at ...
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat
Motor Torpedo Boat was the name given to fast torpedo boats by the Royal Navy, and the Royal Canadian Navy.The capitalised term is generally used for the Royal Navy boats and abbreviated to "MTB"...
base, becoming the largest base for small craft in the United Kingdom.
After a short period accommodated in the Station Hotel at Parkeston Quay
Harwich International Port
Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite Port of Felixstowe...
, the accommodation and administration moved in 1940 to Hamilton House, the former Georgian
Georgian era
The Georgian era is a period of British history which takes its name from, and is normally defined as spanning the reigns of, the first four Hanoverian kings of Great Britain : George I, George II, George III and George IV...
customs house. A bunker was built under Hamilton House, and this opened in 1941 as an underground operations room. Anti-aircraft sea-forts (known as HM Fort Roughs
HM Fort Roughs
HM Fort Roughs was one of several World War II installations, that were designed by Guy Maunsell and known collectively as His Majesty's Forts or as Maunsell Sea Forts, and its purpose was to guard the port of Harwich, Essex...
), located 10 miles offshore, were kept supplied from HMS Badger. An alternative deceptive site for Parkeston Quay was sited at East Mersea
East Mersea
East Mersea is a scattered village and civil parish on Mersea Island in the English county of Essex.-Grave of Sarah Wrench:The grave of Sarah Wrench , by the North wall of the chancel at St...
, but the port area suffered extensive damage from air attacks during the course of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
Post-War Service
Ship decommissioning
To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....
on 21 October 1946, but the operations room was retained. When the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service (RNXS) was formed in 1964 the bunker was refurbished and re-opened as the emergency port control for Parkeston, Harwich, the Port of Felixstowe
Port of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk is the UK's busiest container port, dealing with 35% of the country's container cargo. It was developed following the abandonment of a project for a deep-water harbour at Maplin Sands. In 2005, it was ranked as the 28th busiest container port in the...
, the Port of Ipswich and the River Orwell
River Orwell
The River Orwell flows through the county of Suffolk in England. Its source river, above the tidal limit at Stoke Bridge, is known as the River Gipping. It broadens into an estuary at Ipswich where the Ipswich dock has operated since the 7th century and then flows into the North Sea at Felixstowe...
. Several of these centres around the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
were intended to direct shipping in the event of a nuclear attack. The RNXS bunker remained operational until 1992.