HMS Excellent
Overview
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...
"stone frigate
Stone frigate
Stone frigate is a nickname for a naval establishment on land. The term has its origin in Britain's Royal Navy after its use of Diamond Rock, off Martinique, as a 'sloop of war' to harass the French...
" (shore establishment) sited on Whale Island
Whale Island, Hampshire
Whale Island is a small island in Portsmouth Harbour, close by Portsea Island. It is currently home to HMS Excellent, the oldest shore training establishment within the Royal Navy, and the Headquarters of Commander in Chief, Fleet.-Early history:...
near 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...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
.
HMS Excellent is itself part of the Maritime Warfare School, with a Headquarters at HMS Collingwood
HMS Collingwood (establishment)
For ships of the same name see HMS Collingwood.HMS Collingwood is a stone frigate of the Royal Navy. It is the lead establishment of the Maritime Warfare School and the largest naval training organisation in Western Europe...
, although a number of lodger units are resident within the site, the principal of which is the Headquarters of Commander in Chief Fleet (Navy Command Headquarters
Navy Command Headquarters
Navy Command Headquarters is the organisation responsible for the direction and management of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The organisation provides support to Commander in Chief Fleet, the admiral responsible to the First Sea Lord for the provision of ships, personnel, aircraft and...
).
MWS elements within the site are:
- Phoenix school of Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence, damage controlDamage controlDamage control is a term used in the Merchant Marine, maritime industry and navies for the emergency control of situations that may hazard the sinking of a ship...
and fire fightingFire fightingFirefighting is the act of extinguishing fires. A firefighter fights fires to prevent loss of life, and/or destruction of property and the environment... - South East Naval Military Training Centre
- Defence Diving School Boat Section
HMS Excellent also provides administrative and infrastructure support to the Maritime Warfare School elements at Defence Diving School, Horsea Island and small arms ranges at Tipner.
Lodger units are:
- Navy Command HeadquartersNavy Command HeadquartersNavy Command Headquarters is the organisation responsible for the direction and management of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The organisation provides support to Commander in Chief Fleet, the admiral responsible to the First Sea Lord for the provision of ships, personnel, aircraft and...
- Commander in Chief Fleet - Headquarters of UK Maritime Battle Staff Royal Naval ReserveRoyal Naval ReserveThe Royal Naval Reserve is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. The present Royal Naval Reserve was formed in 1958 by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve , a reserve of civilian volunteers founded in 1903...
- Fleet Regional Photographic Unit (South East Region)
- Sea Cadet CorpsSea Cadet Corps (United Kingdom)The Sea Cadet Corps is a UK national youth organisation sponsored by the Royal Navy and open to young people between the ages of 10-18 years old. The SCC is the UK's largest Naval Cadet Force with over 30,000 cadets and adult volunteers...
National Training Centre - HMS BristolHMS Bristol (D23)HMS Bristol is a Type 82 destroyer, the only vessel of her class to be built for the Royal Navy. Originally intended as the first of a class of new large destroyers to escort the CVA-01 aircraft carriers projected to come into service in the early 1970s, Bristol turned out to be a unique ship...
- Accommodation and Cadet Forces training ship - TS Alamein Sea Cadet Corps
- Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps
- DASA (Navy Branch): DASA is a Division of the MOD tasked with providing statistical and analytical support to the Navy Statistical Publications produced by DASA Navy
Whale Island
Whale Island, Hampshire
Whale Island is a small island in Portsmouth Harbour, close by Portsea Island. It is currently home to HMS Excellent, the oldest shore training establishment within the Royal Navy, and the Headquarters of Commander in Chief, Fleet.-Early history:...
is predominantly reclaimed land, using the deposits dredged from Portsmouth harbour during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
, increasing the land area by around 125%.
Excellent was originally built as the Queen Charlotte
HMS Queen Charlotte (1810)
HMS Queen Charlotte was a 104-gun first-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 17 July 1810 at Deptford. She was built to the lines of Sir Edward Hunt's as a replacement for the first HMS Queen Charlotte which had been lost by accident on 17 March 1800.She was Lord Exmouth's flagship...
at Deptford Dockyard in May 1810 and was a 1st rate ship of the line 190 feet long by 53½ feet wide.
