Pembroke Dockyard

Pembroke Dockyard is a former Royal Navy dockyard in Pembroke Dock, Pembrokeshire, Wales. It was founded in 1814, although not formally authorized until the Prince Regent signed the necessary Order in Council on 31 October 1815, and was known as Pater Yard until 1817. The Mayor of Pembroke had requested the change 'in deference to the town of Pembroke some two miles (3.2 km) distant'.^[1]

The site selected for the dockyard was greenfield land and the closest accommodations were in Pembroke. Office space was provided by the old frigate Lapwing after she was beached. The Royal Marine garrison was housed in the hulked 74-gun ship, HMS Dragon, after she was run aground in 1832. Many of the workmen commuted by boat from nearby communities until Pembroke Dock town was built up.^[2]

After the end of the First World War, the dockyard was closed by the cash-strapped Admiralty as redundant in 1926. The Royal Air Force, however, built its RAF Pembroke Dock on the site during the 1930s to house its flying boats, demolishing many of the existing buildings to make room for the necessary hangars and other facilities.^[3]

Notes

References

• Phillips, Lawrie; Lieutenant Commander (2014). Pembroke Dockyard and the Old Navy: A Bicentennial History. Stroud, Gloucestershire, UK: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5214-9.