HMS Mercury 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...

, and the site of the Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School. There was also a subsidiary branch, HMS Mercury II.

Establishment and history

The school was established at Leydene House, East Meon

East Meon

East Meon is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is west of Petersfield.The nearest railway station is east of the village, at Petersfield....

, near Petersfield, Hampshire

Petersfield, Hampshire

Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth, on the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. The town is situated on the...

, England and was commissioned as HMS Mercury on 16 August 1941 under the command of Captain Gerald Warner. A signalling school had been established at HM Barracks, 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 1904 and was transferred to Petersfield during the Second World War. Extensions were also established at a number of other sites, including Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, Cambridge

Cambridge

The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...

 and Liss

Liss

Liss is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 3.3 miles northeast of Petersfield, on the A3 road, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border....

. In November 1943 a wireless telegraphy school was established at St. Bede's Prep School

St. Bede's Prep School

St. Bede's Preparatory School is an independent, co-educational, non-selective school in Eastbourne, established in 1895. It teaches children from Year 1, up to Transition studing KS2, until the final year 8, studing KS3 and KS4, and starting the Year 9 Academic courses in the last few terms of...

, Eastbourne

Eastbourne

Eastbourne is a large town and borough in East Sussex, on the south coast of England between Brighton and Hastings. The town is situated at the eastern end of the chalk South Downs alongside the high cliff at Beachy Head...

, and a WRNS

Women's Royal Naval Service

The Women's Royal Naval Service was the women's branch of the Royal Navy.Members included cooks, clerks, wireless telegraphists, radar plotters, weapons analysts, range assessors, electricians and air mechanics...

 training establishment at Soberton Towers. The base went on to house both the Communications and Navigations faculties of the Royal Navy's School of Maritime Operations (SMOPS). The school trained generations of Royal Navy Communicators and Navigators until 31 August 1993 when the establishment was decommissioned. At the time of its closure, HMS Mercury was home to the Communications and Navigations Faculties of the Royal Navy's School of Maritime Operations and the Special Communications Unit (SCU), Leydene. SCU, Leydene became an independent establishment on 1 September 1995.

During its time in operation, HMS Mercury had three nominated depot ships, MB 3520 from 16 August 1941, HL(D) 1854 from 1948 until June 1950, and HL(D) 42473 from June 1950 until her sale on 18 June 1959.

HMS Mercury II

An experimental section of the Signal School and an Admiralty Signal Establishment had existed since 1917, when the task was devolved from HMS Vernon

HMS Vernon (shore establishment)

HMS Vernon was a shore establishment or 'stone frigate' of the Royal Navy. Vernon was established on 26 April 1876 as the Royal Navy's Torpedo Branch and operated until 1 April 1996, when the various elements comprising the establishment were split up and moved to different commands.-Foundation...

. It had moved to Eastney

Eastney

Eastney is a district located in the south east corner of Portsmouth, England on Portsea Island.Eastney started out as a small hamlet. In 1867 a barracks for the Royal Marines was built in the hamlet...

 to study Radar direction finding

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

, with appointments being made there from 30 December 1935, but the apparatus not arriving until 14 July 1936. With the moving of the main signal school to Leydene House the Admiralty Signal Establishment also moved, in April 1941, and was established in Lythe Hill House, Haslemere

Haslemere

Haslemere is a town in Surrey, England, close to the border with both Hampshire and West Sussex. The major road between London and Portsmouth, the A3, lies to the west, and a branch of the River Wey to the south. Haslemere is approximately south-west of Guildford.Haslemere is surrounded by hills,...

. The Production department had been set up in Whitwell Hatch Hotel at Haste Hill

Haste Hill

Haste Hill is a hill near Haslemere, Surrey in England which was probably the original settlement of the town of Haslemere. It was used as the site of a semaphore station in the nineteenth century....

, Haslemere by the end of May that year, with a small part of the establishment remaining at the old Signal School in Portsmouth. This became independent in August when the main facility moved. Soon after the opening of the main centre of HMS Mercury, the Experimental Section in Lythe Hill House and the Production and Development Section at Whitwell House were commissioned as HMS Mercury on 25 August 1941, and opened as an independent command on 27 August. Later developments saw the establishment of laboratories and workshops at King Edward's School, Witley

King Edward's School, Witley

King Edward's School, Witley is an independent co-educational boarding and day school, founded in 1553 by King Edward VI and Nicholas Ridley. The School is located in the village of Wormley , Surrey, England, having moved to its present location in 1867. The School became fully co-educational in 1952...

, valve production going to Waterlooville

Waterlooville

Waterlooville is a town in Hampshire, England approximately 8 miles north of Portsmouth.The town has a population itself of about 10,000 and is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Denmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley. It forms part of...

 and aerial manufacture to Nutbourne. Trials were carried out at Tantallon

Tantallon Castle

Tantallon Castle is a mid-14th-century fortress, located east of North Berwick, in East Lothian, Scotland. It sits atop a promontory opposite the Bass Rock, looking out onto the Firth of Forth...

, near North Berwick

North Berwick

The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...

.

During its time in operation, HMS Mercury II had two nominated depot ships, FMB 3521 from 27 August 1941 until July 1946, and MFV 1016 from July 1946 until she was sold in May 1947. This HMS Mercury II remained in operation until mid 1952. The name then passed to the Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment in Portsdown

Portsdown Hill

Portsdown Hill is a long chalk hill in Hampshire, England, offering good views over Portsmouth, The Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. The hill is on the mainland, just to the north of Ports Creek, which separates the mainland from Portsea Island, on which lies the...

, Portsmouth. This base remained HMS Mercury II until 1969.