HMS Eaglet (shore establishment)

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Eaglet
Yard number	none
Commissioned	1904
Status	Active
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Stone frigate

HMS Eaglet is a stone frigate of the Royal Navy in Liverpool, Merseyside. The base is the home to a number of units, including: Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside, Naval Regional Command Northern England, Liverpool URNU, HMS Biter, HMS Charger, Sea Cadet Corps, and the Liverpool Royal Navy and Royal Marines Careers Office.

From 1904 to 1918 it operated under the name HMS Eagle.

Current[]

The current stone frigate is based on Brunswick Dock in Liverpool, opened in 1998 by the Duke of Edinburgh. As outlined above it is also home to several other functions and units in addition to the reservists of HMS Eaglet.

History[]

This history of the Royal Navy, training and reserves in Merseyside is a long one. There has been a reserves training unit commissioned in Liverpool since 1904, then Mersey Division RNVR. Much of the unit's history has been afloat, with various ships taking up the mantle of HMS Eagle and later Eaglet to engage with the maritime element of training as well as drawing recruitment to itself and sub-units (now defunct) to engage with the region. In 2018 HMS Eaglet celebrated her centenary.

The Mersey Division of the RNVR was established in Customs House, Liverpool in 1904, before moving to HMS Eagle (1804), a 50-gun frigate at Brunswick Dock, in 1911. Mersey Division was mobilised in 1914 to form part of the Royal Naval Division, serving at Gallipoli, the battles of Battle of Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and Cambrai.

To avoid confusion with a newer HMS Eagle (1918), the frigate was renamed HMS Eaglet in 1918. The ship was destroyed in a fire in 1926, and replaced by the First World War 24-class sloop , which was renamed Eaglet. The new Eaglet was berthed at Salthouse Dock. During the Second World War, Eaglet became the flagship of Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches. In 1971, the sloop was scrapped and HMS Eaglet moved ashore to a new HQ at Prince's Dock. In 1993, Eaglet received the freedom of the city of Liverpool.

Current units[]

The following are based at the location:

Headquarters, Naval Regional Command Northern England^[1]
- Naval Regional Commander, Northern England and Isle of Man^[2]
Headquarters, Royal Marine Reserve Merseyside^[3]^[4]
Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit^[4]
Archer-class patrol vessels:^[5]^[6]
- HMS Biter (P270) – serving Manchester and Salford University Royal Naval Unit
- HMS Charger (P292) – serving Liverpool University Royal Naval Unit

Famous attendees[]

Ian Edward Fraser, VC RNR

References[]

^ "University Royal Naval Unit". North West Reserve Forces & Cadets Association. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
^ "The Royal Navy Directory 2019" (PDF). Royal Navy. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "RMR Merseyside | Royal Marines". www.royalnavy.mod.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Find a Unit". North West Reserve Forces & Cadets Association. Retrieved 4 May 2021.
^ "FOIA request regarding the 1st Patrol Boat Squadron and its ships" (PDF). What do they know?. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
^ "FOI(A) regarding the Royal Navy" (PDF). What do they know?. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2021.

Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
Evans, B. (2003). HMS Eaglet; The Story Of The Royal Naval Reserves On Merseyside. Countyvise Publishing. ISBN 1901231380.