HOME OF THE NAVY

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 56, 8 March 1937, Page 18

HOME OF THE NAVY

PORTSMOUTH'S STORY,

ROMANCE OF OLD DAYS

Portsmouth, or Pompey, as it is affectionately termed by the British Navy, is said to have originated owing to the retiring of the sea from the upper parts cf the harbour, which, rendering Porchester less convenient, the inhabitants removed to Portsea Isle, and. built Portsmouth, writes Flinders Barr in the "Sydney Morning Herald." The earliest historical account of the place appears to be in the Saxon Chronicle in 501 A.D., where it is styled Portesmuthe, as the author supposed after a Saxon chieftain named Porta, who landed there; but the more probable origin of its name relates, to its situation at the mouth of the port or harbour. By the twelfth century, the town seems to have acquired a certain degree of importance, as Henry I passed Whitsun Week there in 1132, and in 1193, the town was granted its first charter by Bichard I. In the beginning of the reign of Richard II the growing trade of the town excited the jealousy of the French, who raided it and burnt it; a polite .attention they paid the seaport, or attempted to, several times afterwards. Edward IV, fully sensible of the importance of the port to. the slowly-rising glory of the British Navy, began to fortify it, and Richard 111 extended the works which his predecessor had commenced. From this period. Portsmouth gradually increased in strength and consequence, till, in the reign of Henry VIII it had become the principal naval arsenal of England, if not the only port meriting that description. Leland, the celebrated antiquary, visited the place in the time of Henry VIII, and has left us a quaint and interesting account of it. He mentions "Portesmuth Town" and two great round towers with "a mighty chaine of yren to draw from towr,e to towre." WORK OF HENRY VIH. At the period of Henry VIII's first French wars, that monarch built three great brewing-houses and other victualling establishments, and "one Carpenter, a- riche man, made of late tyme in the mydle of the high streete of the town, a town-house. The ; town is bare and very little occupied in time of peace."Henry VIII was the first ruler of England under whom the Royal Navy obtained a systematic establishment^ Henry VII had, indeed, made Portsmouth a Royal Dockyard, but no regular system was entered upon before the time of his successor, to render the Navy a national organisation. In view of what Henry VIII did towards the establishment of the Royal Navy of England, it has always seemed strange to me that, as far as I know, no battleship has ever been named after him. In Charles I's reign Portsmouth was the rendezvous for the armament assembling to relieve the Protestants of Rochelle, then besieged by the troops of Cardinal Richelieu, and at No. 10 in Portsmouth High Street, the celebrated Duke of Buckingham was stabbed by Lieutenant Felton, a religious enthusiast.. Charles II was married at a church in the town to Catherine of Braganza, the Infanta of Portugal, and he afterwards extended and improved the fortifications, particularly South Sea Castle, which he surrounded with a star-shaped fort. Gradually the great and progressive increase in the naval establishment rendered necessary by the growth of Britain's -sea power, coupled with the growing trade of Portsmouth, rendered the old town inside the fortifications far tod small for its population, and early in the eighteenth century an open common on the north side of the port was chosen as the most convenient site for an extension. Soon this new area became a spacious suburb . called for many years by the general name of the Common or Portsmouth Common. But, increasing with extraordinary rapidity, the offspring outgrew its parent, the old name of the Common was discarded and in an Act of Parliament passed in 1792 for paving and otherwise improving the place it was named "The Town of Portsea." EXTENSIVE DOCKYARD. In Nelson's time the dockyard was already very extensive, and contained within its stores every article that a ship could need, besides the workshops, residences of the principal officers, a spacious mansion for the Commissioner, the officer then in charge, an academy for naval instruction, and a chapel, in the cupola of which hung the bell of the ill-fated Royal George. The Commissioner's house, a fine residence, was often visited by the Royal family when at Portsmouth, and there, when Sir Henry Martin was Commissioner in 1781, Prince William Henry, youngest son of George 111, afterwards Duke of Clarence and William IV, came to stay till his ship the Prince George was ready for sea. The Prince was then a midshipman, and during the time he stayed at Portsmouth he saw a great deal of the Commissioner's charming daughter, Miss Sarah Martin. He finally became so pressing in his attentions that Commissioner Martin got an influential friend to tell the King of the" affair, whilst Miss Sarah went to stay with a relation. The Prince's habit tof falling in love at a moment's notice was known to the King, who said little, but immediately shipped the youth off to Canada, to his extreme unhappiness. The rope house belonging to the dockyard was a huge building 1094 ft long, 54ft wide, and three stories high. Here the immense hempen hawsers and cables were made, which were in use before chain cables were thought of. The largest cables made in Nelson's time were 25 inches in circumference; 600 feet long; they weighed nearly six tons, ;ahd; cost just over £400. In a cable of this size there were 3240 yarns. In the anchor forge some wonderful specimens of ironwork were produced. • EIGHT BAKINGS. Included in the victualling department of the dockyard were the flourmills and bakeries, where the ship's biscuit was made. The ovens were heated eight times a day, during which space of time they provided rations for 16,000 men. The work was done by hand, but 42,000 biscuits were made in an hour. Besides all these departments, there were the rigging lofts, the mast'houses, the huge lofts where the suits of sails were planned and made, and, more important than all, the model lofts where the hulls were designed, and the great stocks where England's wooden walls were constructed. In peace-time about 2000 men were employed in Portsmouth Dockyard; and in time of war about 5000. The gun wharf was the great depository for weapons of every kind, guns, carronades, mortars, and every variety of shot and shell. Here, when not in commission, all the ships' guns were kept, whilst'in the small armoury ■were muskets, , cutlasses, pikes, bayonets, and pistols, with every necessary weapon for 25,000 men. These were the warlike preparations in Nelson's time^before the advent of steam or iron ships, when, mainly by manual labour, all that was wanted was done in a very complete way. Possibly we today should be just as. astonished and enthalled could we be dropped back to the year 1805, and watch in Portsmouth Dockyard the buildingmA fitting «°t