HMS Vernon (shore establishment)

50°47′38″N 1°06′25″W / 50.794°N 1.107°W / 50.794; -1.107

Lieutenant Commander Peter Scott, RNVR, operational officer at HMS Vernon, briefs motor torpedo boat officers before they set off on anti-E-boat patrols
History
Royal Navy EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameHMS Vernon
Commissioned26 April 1876
DecommissionedLast elements on 1 April 1996
MottoVernon Semper Viret
Nickname(s)‘The Vernon’
FateDecommissioned and operational elements dispersed
General characteristics
Class and typeStone frigate

HMS Vernon was a shore establishment or "stone frigate" of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. Vernon was established on 26 April 1876, as the Royal Navy's Torpedo Branch also known as the Torpedo School, named after the ship HMS Vernon which served as part of its floating base. After the First World War, HMS Vernon moved ashore, taking over the Gunwharf site, where it continued to operate until 1 April 1996, when the various elements comprising the establishment were split up and moved to different commands.