Type Military base Address Torpoint PL11 2PD, UK Controlled by Royal Navy | In use 1940–present Year built 9 January 1940 | |
 | ||
Current
commander Captain Ellie Ablett RN Similar Torpoint Ferry, Plymouth City Bus Ltd, Cremyll Ferry, Devonport, Dockyard | ||
HMS Raleigh is the modern-day basic training facility of the Royal Navy at Torpoint, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is spread over several square miles, and has damage control simulators and fire-fighting training facilities, as well as a permanently moored training ship, the former HMS Brecon. Its principal function is the delivery of both New Entry Training & Basic Training.
In 2007, phase one training for all new Royal Navy recruits was increased to nine weeks and subsequently ten (from eight) of their career at the base, which also provides courses in military training, seamanship, logistics and submarine operations. It also delivers training for crews preparing for operational deployments. HMS Raleigh is also the home of Defence Maritime Logistics School (DMLS) providing training for the Royal Navy's Logistics Officers, chefs, stewards, pay clerks (referred to as writers), and supply chain ratings, the Seaman Specialist School, the Submarine School and HM Royal Marines Band Plymouth.
History
HMS Raleigh was commissioned on 9 January 1940 as a training establishment for Ordinary Seamen following the Military Training Act which required that all males aged 20 and 21 years old be called up for six months full-time military training, and then transferred to the reserve.
During the Second World War, 44 sailors and 21 Royal Engineers were killed when a German bomb hit the air-raid shelter they were in at Raleigh on 28 April 1941. In 1944, the United States Navy took over the base to use as an embarkation centre prior to the Invasion of Normandy. Raleigh was transferred back to the Royal Navy in July 1944 to continue training seamen. Early in 1950 the base became the new entry and engineering training establishment for stoker mechanics. The cruiser HMS Newfoundland was used for "onboard training, boiler room, auxiliary machinary, ships boats etc". The base was modernised through the 1970s, and in the early 1980s, Raleigh took on the Part I training for the Women's Royal Naval Service, and Artificer Apprentices as well as adding the Royal Naval Supply School. These had previously taken place at HMS Dauntless, HMS Fisgard and HMS Pembroke respectively. In 1990, the training of male and female recruits was merged, and over the following ten years the base absorbed the Cookery School (from the Army Catering Corps headquarters) and the Submarine School from HMS Dolphin.