[an error occurred while processing this directive] Training Ship TS Vindicatrix, Sharpness, Gloucestershire
Ancestry UK

Training Ship Vindicatrix, Sharpness, Gloucestershire

In 1921, a three-masted square-rigged sailing ship that began life in 1893 as the Arranmore was acquired by Gravesend Sea School and became the TS Vindicatrix.

During the Second World War, the School was relocated to Sharpness, Gloucestershire, where the Vindicatrix was moored on the River Severn.

After the war, the Gravesend School resumed operation but the Vindicatrix remained at Sharpness, and gradually expanded its land-based accommodation in an array of wooden huts.

Training Ship Vindicatrix at Sharpness.

The two sites operated as branches of what became the National Sea Training Schools, renamed the National Sea Training Trust in 1963. In 1967, both establishments were replaced by the purpose-built National Sea Training College at Eastcourt Marshes, near Chalk. The old Gravesend building was demolished in 1975.

A fall in demand for training places led to the College's closure in 1996. In 2003, the site became home to the Metropolitan Police Specialist Training Centre.

Records

Note: many repositories impose a closure period of up to 100 years for records identifying individuals. Before travelling a long distance, always check that the records you want to consult will be available.

  • None identfied at present — any information welcome.

Bibliography

  • Derham, Roy Vindicatrix: The Story of a Ship and a Training School (1993, Quotes Ltd.)
  • Derham, Roy Vindi Boys: Day to Day Life with T.S. Vindicatrix 1939-1966 (1995, Quotes Ltd.)
  • None identified at present.