HMS St Vincent was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, located in Gosport

Gosport

Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...

, Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

.

The name was given to the barracks and training establishment in Portsmouth in 1927, after the one that been set up aboard the old first rate HMS St Vincent

HMS St Vincent (1815)

HMS St Vincent was a 120-gun first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, laid down in 1810 at Plymouth Dockyard and launched on 11 March 1815 before a crowd that was put at 50,000 spectators.-Service:...

 in 1862. The new HMS St Vincent was commissioned on 1 June 1927, originally like its predecessor as a training establishment for boys and juniors. On the outbreak of the Second World War, the boys were evacuated to the Isle of Man

Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...

, where they merged with those evacuated from HMS Caledonia to form HMS St George, which was formally established in 1939. HMS St Vincent meanwhile became a training establishment for officers of the Fleet Air Arm

Fleet Air Arm

The Fleet Air Arm is the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft. The Fleet Air Arm currently operates the AgustaWestland Merlin, Westland Sea King and Westland Lynx helicopters...

 and an overflow for the Royal Navy barracks. A signal school was also established. A torpedo training section was opened on 22 July 1940.

St Vincent reverted to being a boy's training establishment after the end of the war, and reopened as such on 1 December 1945. It continued to function as such until 1968, when it was decided to close St Vincent. The official closing ceremony was held on 8 December 1968, with the white ensign

White Ensign

The White Ensign or St George's Ensign is an ensign flown on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton....

being lowered for the last time on 2 April 1969. The base was then handed over to the land agent the following day, 3 April 1969.