HMS Mercury (shore establishment)

	The motor launch assigned to HMS Mercury II underway during the Second World War
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Mercury
Commissioned	16 August 1941
Decommissioned	31 August 1993
Fate	Decommissioned and operational elements dispersed
General characteristics
Class and type	Stone frigate

HMS Mercury was a

shore establishment of the Royal Navy

, and the site of the Royal Navy Signals School and Combined Signals School. There was also a subsidiary branch, HMS Mercury II.

Establishment and history

The school was established at Leydene House,

St. Bede's Prep School, Eastbourne, and a WRNS training establishment at Soberton Towers. The base went on to house both the Communications and Navigations faculties of the Royal Navy's School of Maritime Operations (SMOPS). The school trained generations of Royal Navy Communicators and Navigators until 31 August 1993 when the establishment was decommissioned.^[2]

At the time of its closure, HMS Mercury was home to the Communications and Navigations Faculties of the Royal Navy's School of Maritime Operations and the Special Communications Unit (SCU), Leydene. SCU, Leydene became an independent establishment on 1 September 1995.

During its time in operation, HMS Mercury had three nominated depot ships, MB 3520 from 16 August 1941, HL(D) 1854 from 1948 until June 1950, and HL(D) 42473 from June 1950 until her sale on 18 June 1959.

HMS Mercury II

An experimental section of the Signal School and an Admiralty Signal Establishment had existed since 1917, when the task was devolved from

Nutbourne. Trials were carried out at Tantallon, near North Berwick

.

During its time in operation, HMS Mercury II had two nominated depot ships, FMB 3521 from 27 August 1941 until July 1946, and MFV 1016 from July 1946 until she was sold in May 1947. This HMS Mercury II remained in operation until mid 1952. The name then passed to the Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment in Portsdown, Portsmouth. This base remained HMS Mercury II until 1969.

Citations

^ Kent, Captain Barrie; Signal! A history of signalling in the Royal Navy; Hyden House Limited, 1993
^ "A short history of the Signal School / HMS Mercury". RN COMMUNICATIONS BRANCH MUSEUM/LIBRARY. Retrieved 20 September 2023.

References

ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8
.

Warlow, Ben, Shore Establishments of the Royal Navy, Liskeard : Maritime, 2000.
ISBN 978-0-907771-73-9

50°58.03′N 1°02.04′W / 50.96717°N 1.03400°W / 50.96717; -1.03400

[1] Kent, Captain Barrie; Signal! A history of signalling in the Royal Navy; Hyden House Limited, 1993

[2] "A short history of the Signal School / HMS Mercury". RN COMMUNICATIONS BRANCH MUSEUM/LIBRARY. Retrieved 20 September 2023.

[2]