SHEERNESS,
England
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2nd Fleet
Replenishment Ships

  AO-147 made port here in 1956
per current records on hand
Sheerness is a commercial port and main town of the Isle of Sheppey and owes much to its origins as a Royal Naval dockyard town.

Samuel Pepys established the Royal Navy Dockyard in the 17th Century and would probably have become one of the foremost naval bases in the country had it not been flooded during construction. It served the Navy until 1960 and has since developed into one of the largest and fastest expanding ports in the UK. It is the largest point of import for motor vehicles. Given the strategic position in relation to the Channel Tunnel and Europe the potential exists to create a UK port which can compete with Rotterdam and Antwerp and, in terms of depth of water, outclass other European ports such as Dunkirk.

Another interesting feature is a fort to the north of the docks. Originally built in the reign of Charles II, it was sacked by the Dutch in 1667. New fortifications were eventually replaced, in 1860, by the vast D-shaped Garrison Point of today.

James II set sail from Sheerness in 1688 on an aborted attempt to escape England, Nelson's body was brought back on the HMS Victory after the Battle of Trafalgar (1805) and in 1827 much of the old town was destroyed by fire. See Garrison below

The naval garrison had a church built in 1828 and Sheerness itself followed suit with its own first place of worship (Holy Trinity) in 1836. Worth visiting today are The Garrison Church, Naval Terrace and the Captain's House, all of which lie within a small conservation area, and the Roman Catholic church of St Henry and St Elizabeth (1864).


High Street in Sheerness

PORTS on the Medway are ideally situated to serve the UK's bustling South East and other key areas of the UK. High-quality road and rail links are in place to enable the river's ports and terminals to provide a cost-effective route for exports and imports from and to all parts of the country.

Medway has a facinating heritage that stretches back over 2000, yeares from its beginnings as a river crossings for the Romans. The Normans built a castle stronghold and a cathedral and the Knights Templar began their crusades here. In the sixteenth century Henry VIII founded the Royal Dockyard, where later Nelson's flagship 'Victory' was built and Upnor Castle to defend against the Ditch.
The dockyard also boasts a busy lifeboat station.


Oldest Iron Frame Building - Source

LCIs 75, 231, 229, 35, 193, and 238

Queenborough Pier - Sheerness, England
This Group of LCIs was transferred to the British in November 1944

In a strange coincidence, the LCI (L) 229 is on the starboard side of the LCI (L) 35. My father, Stanley Galik, Ships Cook 2/c crossed the Atlantic Ocean aboard the LCI (L) 229 but served on the LCI (L) 35 from August 17, 1943 until the ship was decommissioned on November 15, 1944.
Photo Courtesy of Philip Reed, MoMM 1/c US LCI (L) 35
Admiarlty House
One of the world's best-know writers, Charles Dicken, lived here and to to walk through Medway is to walk through many of his novels.

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