Chatham Historic Dockyard
HMS Cavalier D73
HMS Cavalier D73 is a former Royal Navy Destroyer that is today preserved as a national monument at Chatham Historic Dockyard. A CA Class Destroyer, she was launched on 7th April 1944 and commissioned on 22nd November 1944, and in an eventful career served in World War 2, escorting the arctic convoys and later served in the Far East, before being decommissioned in 1972. HMS Cavalier has a displacement of 2520 tons and has a top speed of 37 knots, which she proved in 1970 when she won a race against frigate HMS Rapid, attaining a speed of 31.8 knots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7X-GzvOCZ4
HMS Gannet
A visit on board HMS Gannet at Chatham Historic Dockyard on 6th July 2018. HMS Gannet is a former Doterel Class Sloop of the Royal Navy and is today preserved as part of the National Historic Fleet. Built at Sheerness Royal Dockyard, HMS Gannet was launched on 31st August 1878. A screw composite sloop with a displacement of 1130 tons, she was commissioned into the fleet on 17th April 1879, and served in the fleet until 1895. In 1903 she was renamed as HMS President and acted as Headquarters Ship for the London Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in South West India Docks. From 1913, she was moored in the River Hamble, and became the dormitory ship for TS Mercury, a role she continued to serve in until 1968, later passing into preservation in 1987 and has today been restored to her 1888 condition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9ZX43yR1s
HMS Ocelot S17
Preserved at Chatham Dockyard, we take a tour around former Royal Navy 'O' or Oberon Class Submarine HMS Ocelot S17 on 28th October 2017. Built at Chatham, she was laid down in November 1960 and launched on 5th May 1962. Commissioned into the fleet on 31st January 1964, she was involved in any number of Cold War covert operations which are still classified as top secret almost 30 years later. Fully submerged, she has a displacement of 2410 tons and is powered by twin Admiralty Standard Range 16 VMS diesel generators which generate 2 × 3,000 shaft horsepower (2,200 kW) electric motors. With a top speed of 17 knots submerged (around 20 mph), HMS Ocelot's naval career concluded in August 1991 when she was preserved at Chatham. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH9r0iJ_Beo
Chatham Historic Dockyard Railway
A review of the former Royal Navy Dockyard Railway that operates in Chatham Historic Dockyard and includes resident steam locomotive Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-4-0ST (7042 of 1941) 'Ajax,' and diesels Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DM (357 of 1941) WD42 Overlord and Drewry 0-4-0DM 2503 Thalia. Chatham Dockyard itself dates from 1570, and at one time the railway system at Chatham comprised a main line link, with an estimated 17 miles of lines within the dockyard itself, with both narrow gauge and standard gauge systems, before the dockyard closed in 1984. Today it is a reminder of former dockyard railways, and could this now be the only steam operated naval dockyard in the world? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjufRA3HhIo
PART 2! A review of the former Royal Navy Dockyard Railway that operates in Chatham Historic Dockyard and includes resident steam locomotive Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-4-0ST (7042 of 1941) 'Ajax,' and diesels Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DM (357 of 1941) WD42 Overlord and Drewry 0-4-0DM 2503 Thalia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evM7utBhTdI
PART 3! A review of the former Royal Navy Dockyard Railway that operates in Chatham Historic Dockyard and includes resident steam locomotive Robert Stephenson & Hawthorns 0-4-0ST (7042 of 1941) 'Ajax,' and diesels Andrew Barclay 0-4-0DM (357 of 1941) WD42 Overlord and Drewry 0-4-0DM 2503 Thalia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQiabSxQCvU
Steam in Chatham Dockyard! Robert Stephenson & Hawthorn 0-4-0ST "Ajax" (No. 7042 of 1941) is seen hard at work within Chatham Historic Dockyard on 28th October 2017. Illustrated beside the World War II RN destroyer HMS Cavalier, Cold War 'O' Class sub HMS Ocelot S17 and HMS Gannet, 'Ajax' recalls the age of industrial steam in this former naval dockyard when there was once a network over 17 miles of track in Chatham Dockyard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96dDXmPsW6c&t=25s