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RNB Portsmouth
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Post War Reductions
Post War Reductions
After the War the main job of HMS Victory’s administration staff was to deal with demobilisation. In 1945 there were 16 500 officers and men registered to HMS Victory. The RNB staff set up a camp in Stamshaw, to the north of the barracks, and discharged on average 3 000 men a week.
In 1945 the Navy began work on restoring the barracks. Sailors stationed at HMS Victory helped in clearing the site of rubble, painting and replacing broken panes of glass. Gradually, the Navy modernised the site. In 1952 constructors began work on the modernisation of the accommodation blocks. Between 1955 and 1959 constructors built a new Chief Petty Officers' accommodation block to alleviate pressures on the existing barracks after the War.
Social changes after the war began to affect recruitment in the Royal Navy. One deterring factor was how long men were away from home. The Navy found that there had been an increase in the number of young married couples after the war.
In 1954 the Navy began to lengthen the amount of time their personnel served ashore, shortening sea service. Changes were also made to the lengths of commissions abroad and the Navy also offered different types of commissions such as postings to home sea services or in the Reserve Fleet.
In 1956 the Navy introduced Centralised Drafting, ending the Home Port System. This had serious effects on the way that the Royal Naval Barracks worked. Admiral Frank Twiss explains why the Home Port System was abolished and what changed with the new centralised system:
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Admiral Sir Frank Twiss on the reasons for the abolition of the home port system. (RNM)
To read a transcript of this oral history follow the link
In August 1956 the New Entry Section moved from Victoria Barracks in Southsea into HMS Victory Barracks. The courses included Long Service Entries and those entering under National Service. Portsmouth received Seamen, Supply and Secretariat ratings, Telegraphists and Signal ratings, Tradesmen and Coders.
Each rating would enter the barracks for training for between two and six weeks, depending on their specialisation. The barracks would accommodate around 70 of these New Entries a week. By the end of 1957, however, the Royal Navy rationalised New Entry Section and split its responsibilities with other establishments.
The British Government ended National Conscription in 1960. Now the only recruits the armed services would receive would be volunteers. Social change in the Royal Navy after the war affected the barracks.
In 1966 the Armed Forces underwent a pay review. The Royal Navy began to change the way that sailors were paid in order to attract more recruits. The Navy began to scale their pay as equivalent to civilian salaries. This meant that sailors would no longer receive free accommodation in barracks and allowances for food and living costs. These expenses would be calculated and reflected within the new salaries. Frank Twiss explains the effect that such changes had on naval barracks and the Royal Navy in general:
“The result of these changes has been that few people now live in barracks at all. If they are ashore, they find their own accommodation, and they pay for it. In many cases, young officers clubbed together and shared a flat, and that’s what still goes on. They find their own accommodation and to that they are not under the same degree of naval leadership and discipline as when they were in barracks, where they could be called upon to take part in Mess Dinners and so on, and indeed where they lived a more club-like life than living ashore individually. It has had a strong effect of the espirit de corps of the whole Navy.”
The Admiralty had originally commissioned the establishment HMS Victory in 1903 as it was predicted that Admiral Lord Nelson’s flagship would soon rot. Having one ship and one shore establishment named HMS Victoriy caused problems and in August 1974 the Navy changed the name of the Royal Naval Barracks to HMS Nelson.
In the early 1980s the Royal Navy made cuts to their shore establishments. By 1986 HMS Nelson was responsible for the administrative duties of the Torpedo School HMS Vernon (paid off in 1986 and amalgamated with Nelson) and HMS Excellent, which was at that point called the Excellent Accommodation Centre, until 1994.
In April 1996 HMS Nelson lost its status as a shore establishment and merged with the Portsmouth Naval Base.
