HMS Tamar (shore station)
| HMS Tamar | |
|---|---|
| Stonecutter's Island, Hong Kong | |
Gate emblem
|
|
| Type | Naval base |
| Site information | |
| Controlled by | RN |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1897–1997 |
| In use | 1897–1997 |
| Battles/wars | Battle of Hong Kong 1941 |
| Garrison information | |
| Past commanders |
See Commander British Forces in Hong Kong |
| Garrison | British Forces Overseas Hong Kong (naval) |
HMS Tamar (Chinese: 添馬艦) was the name for the British Royal Navy's base in Hong Kong from 1897 to 1997. It took its name from HMS Tamar, a ship that was used as the base until replaced by buildings ashore.
The British Navy arrived during the First Opium War to protect the opium traders. Sir Edward Belcher, aboard HMS Sulphur landed in Hong Kong on 25 January 1841.Possession Street still exists to mark the event, although its Chinese name is 水坑口街 ("Mouth of the ditch Street").
Commodore Sir Gordon Bremer raised the Union Jack and claimed Hong Kong as a colony on 26 January 1841. Naval store sheds were erected there in April 1841. The site had been referred to as the "HM Victualling Yard" in the Navy's own register. The first naval storekeeper and agent victualler, Thomas McKnight, appointed on 21 March 1842, served until October 1849. Early maps show that major construction was also carried out at another, slightly more westward site, between 1845 and 1855. In fact, the naval authorities demolished the West Point store sheds and surrendered the land to the colonial government in 1854 in exchange for a plot of land where the Admiralty station of the Mass Transit Railway stands.
The Second Opium War in China (1856–1860) caused a military build-up, in which the yard expanded westwards in April 1858. A victualling yard was added at what was then the North Barracks. Two officers were initially appointed as responsible for the machinery and spare parts, respectively, needed to maintain and repair ships in the dockyard, and for dry goods and foodstuff in the victualling yard.
HMS Tamar, was a 3,650 ton British troopship launched in 1863. She first visited Hong Kong in 1878 with reliefs crews, returned once in 1886. She finally arrived in Victoria City on 11 April 1897. She was stationed permanently in the harbour from 1897 to 1941, when she was scuttled during the Battle of Hong Kong during World War II, to avoid being used by the invading Japanese Imperial forces.
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