Chatham Naval Dockyard and Barracks

The eventful history of Chatham naval dockyard

---

The history of Chatham Dockyard has been an eventful one. It owes its inception to King Henry VIII who, in 1547, selected the River Medway at Gillingham to be his main fleet anchorage. As more ships were added to the royal fleet the work of the dockyard was increased, until it was deemed necessary to build a small castle to protect the yard and anchorage from attack. In the wars and conflicts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Chatham Dockyard would be called upon again to play its part in maintaining an effective battle fleet. David T. Hughes has compiled a thoughtful and insightful volume of photographs and ephemera on the Chatham Naval Dockyard and Barracks, looking at it from its early days of existence until its role in more recent years, from the First and Second World Wars to the Falklands.