Portsmouth Historic Dockyard is a section on the edge of the Naval Base which has been opened to the public, and which contains several historic exhibits.
The most prominent feature as you approach the base is HMS Warrior, which is berthed just inside the gate. The first seagoing iron warship in the world, it is hard to understate the historical significance of this vessel, which survived as a hulk for over a century before being restored to its former glory in the 1980s. It isn’t until you get onboard Warrior that you appreciate how big this ship really is – and how invincible it must have seemed when it was first completed – now I have been on a lot of warships in my time (both museum ships and operational ones) – but apart from the US Super Carriers, I don’t recall any other ship which created the same impression of size as this one.
Another ship open to visitors in the Dockyard is the World War I monitor M33, which is presented in a historic drydock. Another ship that survived as a hulk and was restored around the turn of the century, she is the only surviving ship from the WW1 Dardanelles campaign. Her 6-inch guns came from the Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre (ex HMS Canada) – which makes them Jutland veterans. M33 is an absolute gem, and I don’t think there is anything else quite like her in the world. The first time I saw her was in 2005 when she was still being refurbished – I was mesmerised. I walked all around the perimeter of the site taking photos of her through the security fence. It wasn’t until I got home and looked at the photographs that I noticed the aircraft carrier (one of the Invincible class) berthed astern of her!
Also in the dockyard is Boatshed No. 4, which was built prior to WW2 as part of the rearmament program, and is used to house and maintain the Portsmouth Historic Quarter Trust’s collection of historic vessels – the largest collection of small naval-related craft in the UK. Pride of place here, suspended high above the floor, is the coastal motorboat CMB 4 which used to be on display at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. This is the actual boat that Augustus Agar won his VC in when he sunk the Russian cruiser Oleg in 1919 . Also in here is CMB 4R - a replica of CMB 4 which was built in the Boatshed between 2017 and 2024 using traditional techniques.
Berthed outside the Boatshed are Motor Gunboat MGB 81, Motor Anti-submarine Boat MASB 27, RAF High Speed Launch 102, and the Landing Craft F8. F8 was one of the landing craft carried by HMS Fearless at the Falklands (there is a sister ship F7 in the middle of the roundabout east of Portsmouth) and is one of the few surviving vessels from that conflict. For 10 pounds, you can take a harbour cruise in F8, which takes you past the operational part of the Dockyard, and provides a commentary on both the Dockyard, and any ships which happen to be in port.
One of the main sections of the Museum of the Royal Navy is also located in the Dockyard precinct. The museum is heavily dominated by the sailing navy, but there are several exhibits there from more recent times – including the 4-inch gun from the destroyer Lance which fired the first shots of WW1 at sea.
For completeness, I should probably also mention that they have Victory and Mary Rose here – but they are a bit outside my area of study.
Links and References:
National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
Building a Replica of a 1916 40 knot Thornycroft Coastal Motor Boat, Part 1
CMB 331 | National Historic Ships
Coastal Forces Museum at Priddy's Hard, Gosport
anon, 2011, Museum Warship Warrior, Australian Warship, 68, pp42