Copyright © 2001/7
John Odell
In the middle of the 19th century, following the introduction of competency exams in 1851, the need for pre-sea training was recognised for potential officers in the Royal and Merchant Navy. This led to a group of London shipowners founding the 'Thames Nautical Training College' in 1862. The Admiralty was approached for the loan of a suitable ship and was allocated the 'two-decker' HMS 'Worcester', a sister ship of the 'Trincomalee' ( former 'Foudroyant') now restored and preserved at Hartlepool. At the time, the Royal Navy was starting to replace their fleet of 'wooden walls' with iron clad vessels. They had a vast surplus of such vessels and the 1473 ton 50 gun 'Worcester' was then laid up in the Nore. She had been built in Deptford Yard in 1843 and nearly £1,000 was spent on her conversion to a training ship prior to her being moved to her first base in Blackwall Reach. Within a year she was moved to Erith, thence in 1869 to Southend before finally moving in 1871 to what became a base forever associated with the 'Worcester' - the village of Greenhithe on the Kent shore and where successive ships remained until the 1970s.
Ingress Abbey
Over fifty years passed before a permanent shore base was established in 1920, with the purchase of the Ingress Abbey estate which provided space for playing fields, offices, a sanatorium, laundry and a swimming pool.
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