View source for Fort Blockhouse

{{Short description|Former military establishment in Gosport, Hampshire, England}}
{{Distinguish|West Blockhouse Fort}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox military installation
| name          = Fort Blockhouse
| partof        = 
| location      = [[Gosport]], [[England]]
| coordinates   = 
| image         = Fort Blockhouse, Gosport.jpg
| caption       = Fort Blockhouse (centre) and [[Haslar Marina]] (right)
| map_type      = Hampshire
| map_size      = 
| type          = Fort, later submarine base
| code          = 
| built         = 1431, various additions until 1960s
| builder       = 
| materials     = 
| height        = 
| used          = 1431–1539 (as [[chain tower|blockhouse]])<br />1539–1956 (as battery)<br />1905–1998 (as submarine base)<br />1996–2020 (as training site)<br />2002- present (as RAMC barracks)
| demolished    = 
| condition     = Complete
| ownership     = 
| open_to_public = 
| controlledby  = 
| garrison      = 
| current_commander = 
| commanders    = 
| occupants     = 
| battles       = [[Siege of Portsmouth]] (1642)
| events        = 
}}

'''Fort Blockhouse''' is a former [[military establishment]] in [[Gosport]], [[Hampshire]], [[England]], and the final version of a complicated site. At its greatest extent in the 19th century, the structure was part of a set of fortifications which encircled much of Gosport. It is surrounded on three sides by water and provides the best view of the entrance to [[Portsmouth Harbour]]. As [[HMS Dolphin (shore establishment)|HMS ''Dolphin'']], the fort was for most of the 20th century the home of the [[Royal Navy Submarine Service]]. It is unique in that it was built over five centuries from its original construction as a [[chain tower|blockhouse]] in 1431 to the final addition of submarine base structures in the mid-1960s. 

Coastal fortification was abolished nationally in 1956 and the submarines left in the 1990s.

== History ==
[[File:Aerial photograph of Portsmouth Dockyard taken during a Photex, taken from 2,000 feet. MOD 45144954.jpg|thumb|left|upright|View of Fort Blockhouse (bottom left) facing [[Old Portsmouth]] across the entrance to the harbour.]]

===Early fortifications (1431–1667)===
Following the burning of [[Portsmouth]] during the [[Hundred Years' War]], money was set aside in 1417 to provide protection for Portsmouth Harbour. A timber [[blockhouse]] was first built on the Gosport side of the harbour in 1431, after authorisation by [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]]. A chain was strung from Blockhouse point to a similar tower in Portsmouth, which could be raised to prevent entry to the harbour by enemy ships.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=47iheRUGKIEC&pg=PA89   |title= English Castles A Guide by Counties|first= Adrian|last= Pettifer |year= 1995|publisher=Boydell Press|page=89|isbn=978-0851157825}}</ref> It was subsequently rebuilt and strengthened, and in 1542 [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] described it as a round stone tower with [[artillery|ordnance]].<ref name="GGTower">{{cite web |title=Gosport Tower |url=https://gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/1274.html |website=Gatehouse Gazetteer |access-date=20 August 2024}}</ref>

Around the year 1539 a 'bulwark' was built by [[Thomas Spert]] to the south-west of the blockhouse (where Haslar Hospital now stands);<ref name="Colvin1982" /> it was subsequently known as Lymden's Bulwark.<ref name="GGBulwark">{{cite web |title=Lymden's Bulwark |url=https://www.gatehouse-gazetteer.info/English%20sites/5011.html |website=Gatehouse Gazetteer |access-date=20 August 2024}}</ref> Further to the south another fort was built in 1545-46 named [[Fort Monckton#Haselworth Castle (1545-1556)|Haselworth Castle]], though this was abandoned only eleven years after construction.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mygosport.org/gosport_history.htm|title=My Gosport guide to the History of Gosport Hampshire|website=www.mygosport.org}}</ref> The [[Cowdray engraving]] of ''The Encampment of the English forces near Portsmouth'' in 1545 depicts all three structures, with Haselworth still under construction;<ref name="Colvin1982">{{cite book |last1=Colvin |first1=Howard |title=The History of the King's Works: 1485-1660 (part II) |date=1982 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |pages=500–513}}</ref> two years later the 1547 [[Inventory of Henry VIII]] lists 'Lymden's Bulwark by the West Haven, under Captain John Lymden' and also 'Hasillworth Castle', but the blockhouse is omitted (implying it was no longer armed at this time).<ref name="GGTower" /> By the end of the century all these fortifications were in a derelict state, and a few decades later only a mound remained to indicate the site of the former bulwark.<ref name="GGBulwark" />

===Modernised fort (1667–1877)===
[[File:Portsmouth RMG F1960.tiff|thumb|right|Map of Portsmouth c.1668 showing the chain defence across the harbour entrance; Gosport Point, with de Gomme's battery, is to the right on this [[South-up map orientation|south-up map]].]]
In 1665, during the [[Second Dutch War]], Sir [[Bernard de Gomme]] was commissioned by [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] to improve the Portsmouth defences.<ref name="Saunders1989">{{cite book |last1=Saunders |first1=Andrew |title=Fortress Britain: Artillery Fortification in the British Isles and Ireland |date=1989 |publisher=Beaufort Publishing |location=Liphook, Hants. |pages=91–92}}</ref> Two years later he installed a new L-shaped battery on Gosport Point (where the blockhouse had formerly stood): it consisted of a row of eighteen guns facing south-east, to protect the seaward approach to the harbour, and two more guns pointing south-west, so as to protect the landward approach to the battery (which was along a narrow spit of land).<ref name="HGateway">{{cite web |title=Historic England Research Records: Fort Blockhouse |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=462035&resourceID=19191 |website=Heritage Gateway |publisher=Historic England |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> The following decade an [[Point Battery|eighteen-gun battery]] was constructed by de Gomme alongside the [[Round Tower (Portsmouth)|Round Tower]] on the Portsmouth side of the harbour entrance, matching the battery on the Gosport side.<ref name="Saunders1989" /> To the north, on the west side of the harbour, de Gomme built two square defensive towers, Charles Fort (at Gosport) and James Fort (on [[Burrow Island]]), which were completed by 1679; while on the landward side he began constructing a bastioned trace around the town of Gosport in 1678.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.fortified-places.com/gosport/default.htm|title=Fortified Places > Fortresses > Gosport|website=www.fortified-places.com|access-date=29 July 2020|archive-date=9 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200109153124/http://www.fortified-places.com/gosport/default.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> 

[[File:Plan of Portsmouth (detail, showing Fort Blockhouse) 1750.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Detail of a 1750 map by [[John Peter Desmaretz|J. P. Desmaretz]], showing Fort Blockhouse (left) in relation to the [[Round Tower (Portsmouth)|Round Tower]] and battery on the other side of the entrance to the harbour.]]
An inspection in the early 18th century, however, found that the defences had fallen into poor condition; Captain Talbot Edwards (who, as [[Royal Engineers|Second Engineer]], was made responsible for surveying the Portsmouth fortifications) said of the battery that 'this work like the rest is all gone to ruine'.<ref name="HGateway" /> Between 1708 and 1714 the battery was completely rebuilt to create a bastioned fort, with a renewed seaward-facing open-air battery to the south-east and significant defensive earthworks to the south-west.<ref name="nhle1" /> The shape of the 18th-century fort can still be discerned and surviving elements of the 1708 works are the oldest still present on the site.<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA" /> The entrance to the fort on the south-west side consisted of a tall gatehouse flanked by two [[demi-bastion]]s;<ref name="nhle1" /> the gatehouse was demolished in the 1960s, but its keystone survives on site,<ref name="nhle4">{{NHLE|desc=Former Gatehouse Datestone, Fort Blockhouse|num= 1469578|access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> decorated with the arms of the [[Board of Ordnance]] and inscribed ''[[Anno Domini|Anno]] 1708''.<ref name="Slight1838" /> The fort was surrounded by a moat on the south-west and south-east sides, the former crossed by a bridge which was protected at its far end by a stone [[redan]] and angled outer [[Earthworks (engineering)|earthworks]]. To the north the fort was enclosed by wooden [[palisade]]s which formed a [[bastion]] at the northernmost point. In the 1750s the fort was described as being armed with twenty-one 18 pounder guns and three 6 pounders.<ref name="nhle1" />

[[File:Gezigt van de stad en haven van Portsmouth - btv1b53010608c.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.6|An 18th-century view of Portsmouth from Fort Blockhouse]]
Beyond Fort Blockhouse the Gosport fortifications were extended northwards in 1757 in order to enclose the [[Royal Clarence Yard|Weevil brewery]] (which had been acquired by the [[Victualling Commissioners]] a few years earlier). New defences were constructed for Gosport in 1778, with the bastioned [[Fort Monckton]] situated on the ground that had been occupied by Haselworth Castle in the Tudor era.<ref name="auto1"/> Further renovations took place from 1797 to 1803, amid fears of French invasion. This created a line of bastions defending Gosport all the way from Blockhouse Point up to [[Forton Lake]] on the far side of the town, with French prisoners of war making up a part of the construction workforce.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=TE-DDQAAQBAJ   |title= Hell Upon Water Prisoners of War in Britain 1793–1815|first=Paul|last= Chamberlain|year=2016|publisher=The History Press|isbn=978-0750980531}}</ref> These developments rendered some of the older works redundant:<ref>{{cite web |title=Historic England Research Records: Fort James |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=c5966cc6-9726-4a49-9bf5-1f8be0b29039&resourceID=19191 |website=Heritage Gateway |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> both James Fort and Charles Fort were allowed to fall into ruin in the early 19th century.<ref name="Slight1838">{{cite book |last1=Slight |first1=Henry |title=The History of the Town and Borough of Gosport |date=1838 |location=Portsmouth |pages=6–7 |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofportsmo00slig/page/n183/mode/2up |access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> 

[[File:Fort Blockhouse (geograph 3348716).jpg|thumb|left|The South Casemates of 1845–48 represent the third reconfiguration of de Gomme's 21-gun battery; the overgrown sandy area in front is the former moat.]]
By 1805 Fort Blockhouse was armed with fifteen 36-pounder and fifteen 18-pounder guns.<ref name="Maurice-Jones1959">{{cite book |last1=Maurice-Jones |first1=Col. K. W. |title=The History of Coast Artillery in the British Army |date=1959 |publisher=Royal Artillery Institution |location=Woolwich |page=97}}</ref> In 1813, as noted on a preserved datestone,<ref name="nhle4" /> the fort began to be remodelled: the west demi-bastion was extended to the north in 1817-20 and not long afterwards the sea battery was rebuilt with thirteen covered [[casemates]] housing 32-pounder guns.<ref name="HGateway" /> The upper part of the battery was strengthened and widened in 1845-48, providing space on the [[terreplein]] for a further thirteen guns to be mounted ''[[Barbette|en barbette]]''. This work was part of a substantial rebuilding, which saw the creation of the north bastion: a rounded structure with casemates, built of red brick and fronted in limestone, with upper and lower batteries which provided a field of fire over the harbour.<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA" /> It was linked, to the west bastion on the one hand and to the sea battery on the other, by a pair of long brick-built casemated buildings: the former providing accommodation for officers,<ref name="nhle2">{{NHLE|desc=Thames Block, Fort Blockhouse|num= 1470250|access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref> the latter for [[Other ranks (UK)|other ranks]].<ref name="nhle3">{{NHLE|desc=Arrogant Block, Fort Blockhouse|num= 1469940|access-date=22 August 2024}}</ref>

[[File:Richard Beavis - Block House Fort, Gosport, Hampshire - B1975.4.41 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|upright=1.6|thumb|right|19th-century watercolour painting of the fort by Richard Beavis, showing guns mounted on top of the sea battery.]]
The 18th-century fortifications of Gosport were considered obsolete by the 1859 [[Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom]]. While the commissioners did not recommend any changes to Fort Blockhouse, nor were its armaments updated: in 1867 it was still armed with 32-pounder [[smooth-bore]] cannons.<ref name="HGateway" />

===Royal Engineer Submarine Mining Establishment (1873–1907)===
[[File:Fort Blockhouse 1.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view of Fort Blockhouse from the north-west (2024): on the left, alongside the basin, are some of the surviving sheds of the Submarine Mining Establishment.]]
In 1873 Fort Blockhouse began to be used by the [[Royal Engineers]] as a base for the deployment of remote-controlled [[submarine mines]] as a line of defence for the harbour.<ref name="Brown1910">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=William Baker |title=History of Submarine Mining in the British Army |date=1910 |publisher=Royal Engineers Institute |location=Chatham |page=130}}</ref> At the edge of the headland, to the north of the fort, they built a short pier and several buildings over time, including a set of boathouses and cable sheds (which are still ''in situ'' as of 2024, alongside an associated [[slipway]]).<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA" /> The casemates of the north bastion were converted into stores for mine casings and other new buildings were erected around the site, along with a light rail system to move the mines and explosives.<ref name="nhle1" /> Additional administrative buildings were added in 1884, when the site also became home to the School of Submarine Miners. The pier was extended in 1888, and additional rooms continued to be added for storage and tests until 1891.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gosportheritage.co.uk/fort-blockhouse-our-most-popular-historical-visit/|title=Fort Blockhouse|date=11 August 2022 |publisher=Gosport Open Days|access-date=23 August 2024}}</ref>

As a fort, Blockhouse was increasingly seen as obsolete and its armament was accordingly reduced, from ten [[RML 64-pounder 58 cwt|RML 64-pounder]] guns in 1885 to three in 1888 (three machine guns were also provided, to protect the associated naval minefield). Subsequently five [[QF 12-pounder 12 cwt naval gun|12-pounder quick-firing guns]] were installed to combat the emerging threat posed by fast [[torpedo boats]].<ref name="nhle1" /> In 1893-94 a [[defensive boom]] was provided, which could be deployed to seal off the harbour entrance (analogous to the old chain defence).<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA" /> 

In 1892 a new School of Submarine Mining was established on a site at [[Stokes Bay]] (close by [[Fort Gilkicker]]), which had previously been used for testing and experimental work. That same year the Royal Engineer companies moved from Fort Blockhouse to Fort Monckton; in their place a linked [[Militia (United Kingdom)|militia]] unit (the Portsmouth Militia Division (Submarine Miners) Royal Engineers), previously based at Fort Monckton, moved to Fort Blockhouse where they remained until 1907.<ref name="Brown1910" /> The two forts were linked with a narrow gauge railway, which also extended to the facilities in Stokes Bay; the railway survived into the early 20th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fortgilkicker.co.uk/mining.htm|title=Fort Gilkicker: Stokes Bay: Fort Monckton and the Submarine Mining Establishment|website=www.fortgilkicker.co.uk}}</ref>

===Royal Navy Submarine Base (1905-1998)===
{{main|HMS Dolphin (shore establishment)}}
[[File:B10 RP 2843.jpg|thumb|right|[[HMS B10|HMS ''B10'']] setting off from Fort Blockhouse (c.1906-1912).]]
The Royal Navy was not persuaded of the benefits of submarine mining and by 1903 the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] was lobbying the [[War Office]] to take over submarine mining bases and to replace the fixed minefields with mobile [[submarines]], in order to provide a more effective line of defence.<ref name="Lambert2001">{{cite book |last1=Lambert |first1=Nicholas |title=The Submarine Service, 1900-1918 |date=2001 |publisher=Ashgate |location=Aldershot, Hants. |pages=42–48}}</ref> Fort Blockhouse was duly turned over to the [[Royal Navy]] in 1905 to serve as a 'Submarine Boat Station': five [[Holland-class submarine]]s were moved there, together with their depot ship [[HMS Hazard (1894)|HMS ''Hazard'']], and training was provided for submariner recruits in what would become the [[Royal Navy Submarine School]]. By 1909 a pier had been built along the north-west edge of the headland, creating an enclosed pool of water; further to the west a 'petrol pier' was built for refuelling.<ref name="nhle5">{{NHLE|desc=Submarine Escape Training Tank (SETT), HMS Dolphin|num= 1414020|access-date=6 September 2024}}</ref> A [[Hulk (ship type)|hulk]], [[HMS Dolphin (1882)|HMS ''Dolphin'']], was moored nearby to provide additional accommodation and from August 1912 the name [[HMS Dolphin shore-establishment|HMS ''Dolphin'']] was extended to cover the whole establishment.<ref name="nhle1" /> From that year the [[Commodore Submarine Service]] was based there, as were his successors over the next 65 years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fleet move for Flag Officer Submarines |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/197708 |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Navy News |date=August 1977 |page=1}}</ref> During the [[First World War]] HMS ''Dolphin'' was the navy’s principal submarine depot. From 1917 periscope training took place there; this later developed into 'Perisher': the [[Submarine Command Course]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Davidson |first=Jon |author2=Allibone, Tom  |title=Beneath Southern Seas |publisher=University of Western Australia Press |location=Crawley, WA |year=2005 |isbn=1-920694-62-5 |oclc=69242056|page=108}}</ref>

[[File:Fort Blockhouse.jpg|thumb|left|Modern buildings can be seen within and beyond the Fort, including the prominent Submarine Escape Training Tower (centre left), the Vulcan Block (centre right) and the top of the ''Upholder''-class facility (far right).]]
The period between the two world wars saw significant expansion at HMS ''Dolphin'': on the open courtyard within the bastions of the fort a number of administrative and other buildings were erected; upper floors were added to the casemated accommodation blocks, with the officers' block being extended to create a new [[officers' mess]].<ref name="nhle2" /> The establishment also expanded beyond the lines of the original fort on Blockhouse point: west of the main gatehouse, the defensive moat was infilled in the 1920s and the earthworks were levelled; 'Vulcan Block', providing accommodation for seamen, was built there in 1933, along with a new guardhouse and various other buildings.<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA" /> East of the original fort, alongside the north bastion, a block for [[Warrant officer (United Kingdom)#Royal Navy|Warrant Officers]] was built facing the harbour; to the north-west, overlooking the piers, a headquarters block for the Rear Admiral was erected in 1937-38.<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA" />

[[File:Gosport, Hampshire - geograph.org.uk - 4024570.jpg|thumb|right|The SETT, flanked by erstwhile buildings of the RN Submarine School.]]
The prominent [[Submarine escape training facility|Submarine Escape Training Tower]] (SETT) was built in 1953, and opened in 1954. The need for such a training facility had been made apparent by the loss of ''[[HMS Truculent (P315)|HMS Truculent]]'' in 1950.<ref name="2007PeninsulaCAA">{{cite web |title=Haslar Peninsula Conservation Area Appraisal |url=http://www.gosport.gov.uk/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=2645 |website=Gosport Borough Council |accessdate=8 February 2019 |archive-date=9 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124448/http://www.gosport.gov.uk/EasysiteWeb/getresource.axd?AssetID=2645 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Following the disbanding of the UK's [[Coastal Artillery]] service, the battery of the fort was disarmed in 1956. At the same time, with the Submarine Service set to take on responsibility for the [[Polaris (UK nuclear programme)|UK's nuclear deterrent]], HMS ''Dolphin'' underwent a major expansion: a row of new large accommodation blocks was built alongside the recreation ground, to the west of the fort, looking out on [[the Solent]].<ref name=nhle1>{{NHLE|desc=Fort Blockhouse|num= 1001873|access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref> In the mid-1960s the training area around the SETT was rebuilt, with modern teaching blocks replacing the wooden huts formerly employed;<ref>{{cite news |title=What is happening in the Training Area? |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/196506 |access-date=6 September 2024 |work=Navy News |issue=132 |date=June 1965 |page=iv}}</ref> facilities included practice [[torpedo tubes]], [[sonar]] sets, [[fire-control]], [[Ballistic missile|missile]]-launch and navigation systems.<ref>{{cite news |title=College of the Sea |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/196610 |access-date=6 September 2024 |work=Navy News |issue=148 |date=October 1966 |page=ii}}</ref> New buildings continued to be added through the 1970s,<ref name="Hall2001" /> including additional accommodation and a new £2-million training facility ('[[Hugh Mackenzie (Royal Navy officer)|Mackenzie]] Block') for the Submarine School.<ref>{{cite news |title=Training the sub men of the future |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/197708 |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Navy News |date=August 1977 |page=32}}</ref>

In 1980 a new [[Royal Navy Submarine Museum]] was established just outside the entrance to HMS ''Dolphin''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitman |first1=Edward C |year=2003 |title=Royal Navy Submarine Museum Preserving a Notable Collection of Artifacts and War Stories |journal=Undersea Warfare |issue=19 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |url=http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/royal_navy.htm |accessdate=29 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604181627/http://www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_19/royal_navy.htm |archivedate=4 June 2011 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

The Submarine School continued to expand in the 1980s with the introduction of computer simulators, and an upper floor was added to the Mackenzie Building to accommodate weapons and systems training for the new [[Vanguard-class submarine|''Vanguard''-class]] ballistic missile submarines.<ref>{{cite news |title=Diving Ahead: High tech trainers for the new generation of submarine students |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/199004 |access-date=9 September 2024 |work=Navy News |date=April 1990 |pages=18–19}}</ref> At the end of the decade the [[Oberon-class submarine|''Oberon''-class submarines]], based at HMS ''Dolphin'' since the 1960s, were due to be decommissioned and by 1990 over £70-million had been spent on support facilities for their replacements, the [[Upholder Class|''Upholder'' class]]: a new generation of diesel-electric submarines. The end of the [[Cold War]], however, brought with it a reduction in defence requirements, with the threat of Soviet submarines having passed, and in the end only four (out of a planned nine) replacement vessels were built. In 1992 it was announced that the new submarines would leave HMS ''Dolphin'' and join the [[Trafalgar-class submarine|''Trafalgar'' class]] at [[HMNB Devonport]]; ''Dolphin'' would thus cease to be an operational submarine base (though it would continue to function as a training establishment).<ref>{{cite news |title=New Subs Off To Guzz |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/199204 |access-date=2 September 2024 |work=Navy News |date=April 1992}}</ref> The last submarine left ''Dolphin'' in 1994. Having been declared surplus to requirements in 1996,<ref>{{cite news |title=New Direction For Dolphin |url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/199609/3 |access-date=2 September 2024 |work=Navy News |date=September 1996 |page=3}}</ref> HMS ''Dolphin'' was formally decommissioned in 1998; the RN Submarine School (now under the aegis of [[HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)|HMS ''Raleigh'']]) departed for [[Torpoint]] the following year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/blockhouse.pdf|title=Fort Blockhouse|publisher=Victorian Forts|access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref> 

After the decommissioning, control of the fort's jetties passed to the [[Queen's Harbour Master]] (who managed them on behalf of the [[HMNB Portsmouth|Naval Base]] commander).<ref name="NavyNews1998" />

====Coastal forces (1914-1966)====
[[File:'Mine Sweepers waiting for the fog to lift'; off Fort Blockhouse, Portsmouth RMG PW1146.jpg|thumb|left|'Mine Sweepers waiting for the fog to lift': naval launches moored off Fort Blockhouse (by [[William Lionel Wyllie|W. L. Wyllie]], c.1916).]]
During the First World War a base for [[coastal motor boat]]s had been established on [[Haslar Creek]], alongside Fort Blockhouse. It closed after the Armistice in 1918, but reopened in 1921; for a time it was placed under the command of HMS ''Dolphin'', but in 1926 it was separately commissioned as {{HMS|Hornet|shore establishment|6}}.<ref name="Brown2005">{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Paul |title=Maritime Portsmouth |date=2005 |publisher=The History Press |location=Stroud, Gloucs. |pages=149–153}}</ref> ''Hornet'' closed in 1936 and the site was leased to the [[Royal Air Force Marine Branch]]; but at the start of the Second World War it was recommissioned as HMS ''Hornet'' and served throughout the war as a [[Coastal Forces of the Royal Navy|Coastal Forces]] base. By 1943 forty-eight [[motor torpedo boats]] were stationed there, along with smaller numbers of [[Motor launch (naval)|motor launches]] and [[motor gunboat]]s. After the war ''Hornet'' continued in commission until September 1957, when the Coastal Forces division was disbanded; however a small residual 'Coastal Forces Trials and Special Service Squadron' was retained for a time, as part of HMS ''Dolphin'', and provided with two new [[Brave-class patrol boat]]s.<ref name="Brown2005" /> The site then came to be known as 'Dolphin 2'.<ref name="Hall2001">{{cite book |last1=Hall |first1=Keith |title=HMS Dolphin: Gosport's Submarine Base |date=2001 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |location=Stroud, Gloucs. |page=113}}</ref>

By 1964 the former ''Hornet'' site was largely disused. That year a [[sailing club]] (Hornet S.C.) was established there for serving and ex-Royal Navy personnel, with shore facilities, including a clubhouse in the former wardroom, and marina facilities on the creek. In 1972 the Royal Navy established a 'joint services adventure sailing training centre' alongside the sailing club, which runs offshore sail training for serving members of the armed forces.<ref name="HSSC">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.hornetservicessailing.org.uk/the-club/history |website=Hornet Services Sailing Club |access-date=28 August 2024}}</ref>

====SETT training facility (1998-2020)====
[[File:Submarine Escape Training, Gosport. MOD 45143837.jpg|thumb|right|The SETT viewed from above (2004).]]
The Royal Navy Submarine School (RNSMS) remained at Fort Blockhouse until 23 December 1999, whereupon it moved to [[HMS Raleigh (shore establishment)|HMS ''Raleigh'']] in Cornwall. Nevertheless, the RNSMS still continued to make use of the Submarine Escape Training Tank (SETT) at Fort Blockhouse for a further twenty years:<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/iconic-gosport-tower-used-submariners-final-time-1359757|title=Iconic Gosport tower is used by submariners for the final time|website=www.portsmouth.co.uk}}</ref> the SETT was used for pressurised training up until 2012, and then continued to be used for non-pressurised drills and teaching until it was finally decommissioned in January 2020.<ref>{{cite news |title=End of era for Gosport's iconic submarine escape tower |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2020/january/09/200109-end-of-gosport-escape-tower |access-date=11 September 2024 |work=Royal Navy News |publisher=Royal Navy |date=9 January 2020}}</ref> 

Subsequently a new submarine training facility was opened in [[HMNB Clyde]].<ref>{{cite news |title=HRH Prince William opens £34m submarine training facility in Clyde |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2021/june/29/210629-new-submarine-training-facility |access-date=11 September 2024 |work=Royal Navy News |publisher=Royal Navy |date=29 June 2021}}</ref>

=== Military hospital and medical training facilities (1996–2018)===
The proximity of Fort Blockhouse to the [[Royal Hospital Haslar]] led to a number of medical military units and facilities being established there, following the departure of the submarines, in the mid-1990s; this coincided with Haslar becoming Britain's principal (and only) tri-service [[military hospital]].<ref name="NavyNews1998" />

====33 Field Hospital====
In 1996, 33 [[Field Hospital]] (a 200-bed rapid-deployment [[containerised]] mobile hospital)<ref name="NavyNews1998" /> relocated to Fort Blockhouse following the closure of [[Cambridge Military Hospital]], [[Aldershot Garrison|Aldershot]], where it had been established in 1985.<ref name="33FHosp">{{Cite web |title=History of 33 Field Hospital - 33_Fd_Hosp.pdf |url=https://www.friendsofmillbank.org/downloads/33_Fd_Hosp.pdf}}</ref> Over the next twenty years the field hospital was regularly deployed, to [[Kosovo War|Kosovo]], [[Iraq War|Iraq]] and [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]], the last deployment being to [[South Sudanese Civil War|South Sudan]] in 2017.<ref name="33FHosp" /> 33 Field Hospital remained at Fort Blockhouse until 1 December 2018, when it was disbanded after 33 years’ existence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.friendsofmillbank.org/downloads/33_Fd_Hosp.pdf|title=A history of 33 Field Hospital|first= Colonel David |last=Vassallo |publisher=Friends of Millbank|access-date=16 August 2024}}</ref>

====Defence Medical Training facilities====
Also in 1996 the Defence Medical Training Organisation (DMTO) was established at Fort Blockhouse,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/navynews/docs/200205/15|title=Farewell to medical college at Blockhouse|publisher=Navy News|date=1 May 2002|access-date=6 September 2021}}</ref> to assume responsibility for medical training across the three services and to rationalise its delivery.<ref name="DMTO">{{cite journal |last1=Callow |first1=C. G. |title=The Defence Medical Training Organisation |journal=Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service |date=March 1996 |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=53–55 |doi=10.1136/jrnms-82-53 |url=https://jrnms.bmj.com/content/82/1/53 |access-date=16 September 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Subsequently, in 1996-97, the [[Royal Army Medical College|Royal Defence Medical College]] (RDMC) moved to Fort Blockhouse from [[Millbank]]:<ref name="RDMC">{{cite journal |last1=Jenkins |first1=I. L. |title=The Royal Defence Medical College |journal=Journal of the Royal Naval Medical Service |date=1997 |volume=83 |issue=3 |pages=113–115 |doi=10.1136/jrnms-83-113 |url=https://jrnms.bmj.com/content/83/3/113 |access-date=1 September 2024|url-access=subscription }}</ref> the RDMC provided initial and advanced training for all military Medical Officers and nurses and the majority of medical technicians.<ref name="Memo1999">{{cite web |title=Memorandum submitted to the Defence Committee by the Ministry of Defence responding to the Committee's Questions on the Defence Medical Services |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199899/cmselect/cmdfence/447/447we02.htm |website=UK Parliament |publisher=House of Commons |access-date=16 August 2024 |date=3 November 1999}}</ref> Following the decommissioning of HMS ''Dolphin'' in 1998, RDMC became responsible for the whole Fort Blockhouse estate. In 2002, however, after the closure of Haslar hospital had been announced, the college relocated from Gosport to Birmingham (where the [[Royal Centre for Defence Medicine]] had been established the previous year); it now forms part of the [[University of Birmingham Medical School]].<ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine |url=https://www.uhb.nhs.uk/services/royal-centre-for-defence-medicine/history-of-the-rcdm.htm |website=Birmingham University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust |access-date=16 August 2024}}</ref> 

After the closure of the college, the Defence Medical Education and Training Agency (successor to the DMTO) remained, with its headquarters in the Mackenzie Building at Fort Blockhouse; the DMETA maintained a 'small residual training facility' on the site,<ref>{{cite web |title=DMETA Annual Report 2006-07 |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c95f1e5274a0bb7cb8089/0811.pdf |website=GOV.UK |access-date=16 August 2024}}</ref> which was connected with the local [[Ministry of Defence Hospital Unit]]. The DMETA was wound up in 2008, and its functions relocated to [[DMS Whittington]] as part of Joint Medical Command.<ref>{{cite Hansard |jurisdiction=UK |title=Executive Agencies |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2008-04-01/debates/08040155000017/ExecutiveAgencies |house=House of Commons |date=1 April 2008 |volume=474 |column= |speaker=Mr Bob Ainsworth |position=Minister for the Armed Forces}}</ref>

===Saluting station===
[[File:Military gun salute at Gosport.jpg|thumb|left|Firing the guns to mark the 89th birthday of [[Elizabeth II]] (21 April 2015).]]
Until 2017 Fort Blockhouse was the Royal Navy's main saluting station in Portsmouth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Gun Salutes |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/documents/reference-library/brd2/ch94.pdf |website=Royal Navy |access-date=18 August 2024 |page=94-2 |date=April 2017}}</ref> Four [[QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss]] guns mounted on the south casemates,<ref name="nhle1" /> the earliest dating from 1886, were regularly used for ceremonial [[gun salutes]]; they were the oldest firing guns in the Royal Navy.<ref name="NavyNews1998">{{cite news |title=We're still here! |url=https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/-/media/royal-navy-responsive/images/navynews/archivepdfs/1990s/1998/navy-news-february-1998-issue-523.pdf |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=Navy News |date=February 1998 |page=27}}</ref> Latterly [[HMS Collingwood (shore establishment)|HMS ''Collingwood'']] provided the gun crews;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.navaltoday.com/2013/06/03/uk-gun-salute-to-mark-60th-anniversary-of-the-queens-coronation/|title=UK: Gun Salute to Mark 60th Anniversary of the Queen's Coronation |publisher=Naval Today|date=3 June 2013|access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref> previously they had been manned by staff from HMS ''Dolphin''.<ref name="NavyNews1998" />

The use of Fort Blockhouse for gun salutes was of long standing; at the Portsmouth Naval Review of 1773 King [[George III]] was greeted by [[21-gun salutes]] from Fort Blockhouse, the saluting platform and [[Southsea Castle]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Campbell-Smith |first1=John |title=The Naval History of Britain (Volume V) |date=1818 |publisher=Baldwyn and co. |location=London |page=477}}</ref> On an earlier occasion, when [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] was sailing into Portsmouth to inspect the newly-finished fortifications in 1683, a gunner at Fort Blockhouse was killed when one of the guns burst as the salute was being fired.<ref name="Saunders2004">{{cite book |last1=Saunders |first1=A. D. |title=Fortress Builder: Bernard de Gomme, Charles II's Military Engineer |date=2004 |publisher=University of Exeter Press |location=Exeter |page=152}}</ref>

===Coastwatch station===
[[File:Entrance to Portsmouth Harbour - geograph.org.uk - 6156059.jpg|thumb|right|Coastwatch lookout on the East Bastion.]]
Since 2008 the [[National Coastwatch Institution]] (NCI) has maintained a daily lookout from the fort's signal tower;<ref>{{cite web |title=NCI Gosport |url=https://www.nci.org.uk/station/gosport/ |website=National Coastwatch |access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref> it was visited by the [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Royal]] in 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Kelly |title=In Pictures: Princess Anne visits the National Coastwatch Institution at Fort Blockhouse in Gosport |url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/in-pictures-princess-anne-visits-the-national-coastwatch-institution-at-fort-blockhouse-in-gosport-4152276 |access-date=18 August 2024 |work=The News |publisher=National World Publishing Ltd |date=22 May 2023}}</ref> Previously, following the decommissioning of HMS ''Dolphin'', the signal tower had been used by the Queen's Harbour Master as a Port Entry Control centre.<ref name="nhle1" /> 

== Future ==
[[File:Haslar Marine Technology Park 11.jpg|thumb|left|Aerial view showing Fort Blockhouse 3 (bottom left), Fort Blockhouse 2 (centre) and Fort Blockhouse 1 (above and to the right).]]
In the early 2020s [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] (MOD) still owned three parcels of land on the Haslar Peninsula, which it termed Fort Blockhouse 1, Fort Blockhouse 2 and Fort Blockhouse 3: Blockhouse 1 is the fort itself and adjacent land to the south-west (including the SETT and recreation ground), Blockhouse 2 is the former HMS ''Hornet'' site and Blockhouse 3 is land north of Haslar Road (which had been annexed to HMS ''Hornet'', having previously formed part of [[Haslar#Haslar Gunboat Yard and the Admiralty Experiment Works|Haslar Gunboat Yard]]).<ref name="GBLP2021">{{cite web |title=Draft Gosport Borough Local Plan 2038 Consultation |url=https://www.gosport.gov.uk/media/3657/26-GBLPC-Reg-18-DIO-Fort-Blockhouse-Redacted/pdf/26-GBLPC_Reg_18_DIO_Fort_Blockhouse_Redacted.pdf |website=Gosport Borough Council |publisher=Defence Infrastructure Organisation |access-date=31 August 2024}}</ref> As of 2022, according to the MOD, a number of 'non-military agencies, cadet forces and civilian associations' were still based at Fort Blockhouse, including: the [[Royal Naval Sailing Association]] (based at Blockhouse since the 1930s),<ref>{{cite book |title=The Navy List for August 1937 |date=1937 |publisher=His Majesty' Stationery Office |location=London |page=369}}</ref> Hornet Services Sailing Club, the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre, the Royal Navy Submarine Museum and local [[Sea Cadets (United Kingdom)|Sea Cadets]] and [[Air Training Corps]] units.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lodger Units - Fort Blockhouse |url=https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/lodger_units_fort_blockhouse |website=WhatDoTheyKnow |date=6 January 2022 |access-date=18 August 2024}}</ref>

In 2015 Hornet Services Sailing Club signed a new lease on land and property at Fort Blockhouse 2 and 3, safeguarding its continued occupation of the site until at least 2065.<ref name="HSSC" /> Gosport Sea Cadets moved into new premises at Fort Blockhouse 3 in 2020, having signed a 25-year lease.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Salkeld |first1=Millie |title=Gosport Sea Cadets hold turf cutting ceremony for new boating station at Fort Blockhouse site |url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/gosport-sea-cadets-hold-turf-cutting-ceremony-for-new-boating-station-at-fort-blockhouse-site-1382657 |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=The News |publisher=National World Publishing Ltd |date=21 August 2024}}</ref> In 2022 command of the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre, 'one of the largest providers of sail training in the world', was transferred from the Royal Navy to the Army, with a view to it continuing to provide offshore sailing experience from its base at Fort Blockhouse 2.<ref>{{cite news |title=Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre sets sail under a new flag |url=https://www.army.mod.uk/news-and-events/news/2022/04/joint-services-adventurous-sail-training-centre-sets-sail-under-a-new-flag/ |access-date=31 August 2024 |publisher=British Army |date=1 April 2022}}</ref>

===Planned disposal===
[[File:Portsmouth harbour entrance.jpg|thumb|right|Fort Blockhouse (centre right) from the [[Spinnaker Tower]], 2024.]]
In 2016, it was announced that Fort Blockhouse 1 would be disposed of by the Ministry of Defence in 2020, as part of a wider package of reductions in defence estate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/576401/Better_Defence_Estate_Dec16_Amends_Web.pdf|title=A Better Defence Estate|publisher=Ministry of Defence|access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/gosport-military-base-be-sold-government-2026-new-mod-estate-plan-reveals-1182549|title=Gosport military base to be sold off by government by 2026, new MoD estate plan reveals|website=www.portsmouth.co.uk}}</ref> Surveys were undertaken from January to March 2020 to determine which structures at the site would become [[listed building]]s, and major job cuts took place at the end of the year.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/news/defence/workers-hms-sultan-hms-excellent-and-fort-blockhouse-face-pay-cut-or-sacking-2978740|title=Workers at HMS Sultan, HMS Excellent and Fort Blockhouse 'face pay cut or sacking'|website=www.portsmouth.co.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gosport.gov.uk/article/1721/Heritage-Action-Zone-HAZ-|title=Heritage Action Zone (HAZ) – Gosport Borough Council|website=www.gosport.gov.uk}}</ref> The disposal date was later extended to at least 2023,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.forces.net/news/mod-confirms-changes-base-closure-plans|title=MOD Confirms Changes To Base Closure Plans|date=19 November 2020|publisher=Forces News|accessdate=27 November 2020}}</ref> and once more to 2025.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/disposal-database-house-of-commons-report|title=Disposal database: House of Commons report|accessdate=12 July 2022}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.victorianforts.co.uk/pdf/datasheets/blockhouse.pdf Victorian Forts data sheet]
* [http://www.fortgilkicker.co.uk/blockhouse.htm Fort Blockhouse and Submarine Mining on the Fort Gilkicker website]

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[[Category:Forts in Hampshire|Blockhouse]]
[[Category:Palmerston Forts|Blockhouse]]
[[Category:Gosport]]
[[Category:Forts in Portsmouth|Blockhouse]]
[[Category:1431 establishments in England]]
[[Category:15th-century fortifications]]