HMS Fisgard (shore establishment)

An engine room artificer at work during the Second World War.
History
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Fisgard
In service:	1848 - 1872 1904 - 1983
Fate:	Operational elements merged with HMS Raleigh
General characteristics
Class and type:	Stone frigate

HMS Fisgard was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy active at different periods and locations between 1848 and 1983. She was used to train artificers and engineers for the Navy.

HMS Fisgard was a 46-gun fifth rate Leda class frigate. She had been a depot ship and harbour flagship for Woolwich since 1848, and was used to train engineers and support those working onshore. The facility closed in 1872 and Fisgard herself was broken up in 1879.

The idea for a specialised department to train engineers for an increasingly mechanised and professionalised navy came from the First Sea Lord Admiral Sir John Fisher. By early 1903 he had become concerned that the Imperial German Navy represented a threat to the interests of the Royal Navy, which might be in danger of being overtaken in seagoing technical expertise. He initiated a programme whereby engineers and artificers could be trained for service in the navy, and within two years the navy had established training centres in the major naval bases of Chatham, Plymouth Dockyard and Portsmouth. The Portsmouth base was established in a number of Victorian hulks, initially the old battleship HMS Audacious. This centre was named HMS Fisgard in 1904, in recognition of the previous engineer training establishment at Woolwich. Audacious was joined by HMS Invincible, named HMS Fisgard II in 1906, HMS Hindustan, named HMS Fisgard III in 1905 and HMS Sultan, named HMS Fisgard IV in 1906. The hulks were commissioned on 1 January 1906 under the joint name of HMS Fisgard.