HMS Ganges (shore establishment)

Royal Naval Training Establishment Shotley, known in the Royal Navy as HMS Ganges, was a naval training establishment at Shotley, near Ipswich in Suffolk. Starting in 1905, it trained boys for naval service until 1973 (The school-leaving age was raised to 16 so ended the recruitment of 15-year-old boy sailors). In September 1973, HMS Ganges admitted adult entrants to the Royal Navy who only underwent 6 weeks training (6-week wonders) (the same as at HMS Raleigh near Plymouth) It finally closed in 1976. It had a mixed reputation in the Royal Navy, both for its reputed harsh methods of training boys in order to turn out professionally able, self-reliant ratings and for the professionalism of its former trainees. It is particularly famous for its 143-foot (44 m)-high mast which all boys under training were required to ascend, at least to the half-moon and for the mast manning ceremonies held whenever a dignitary visited the establishment. During the later 1980s and until 1999 RNTE Shotley was used as a residential centre for civilian police officers to complete their basic training. Forces which used this centre included Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Thames Valley and South Wales. The Suffolk and Essex police forces used the site on an ad hoc basis in 2007.

A ship's mast stands on the site of the Royal Navy shore establishment HMS Ganges at Shotley, Suffolk in England. It was formerly used for mast climbing practice when the site was a training centre for boy seamen. Every boy at the school had to climb partway up the mast to qualify. On ceremonial occasions the mast would be manned by a team of boys standing on various parts. The one who stood on the truck at the top was known as a "button boy". In 1928 one of the boys climbing the mast died after falling and missing the safety net at its base. Ganges closed in 1976 and the mast afterwards fell into disuse, though it is a grade II listed structure. There are proposals to restore the mast as part of a redevelopment of the site for housing.

Shotley Battery was built in 1865 on the Shotley Peninsula to guard the port of Felixstowe, within HMS Ganges Naval Training school, on the same site as an existing Martello Tower.

Shotley Gate is a settlement in the civil parish of Shotley, in the Babergh district, in the county of Suffolk, England. It is located at the tip of Shotley Peninsula and is the largest settlement in the parish of Shotley, in 2020 it had an estimated population of 1461. Shotley Gate has a pub called the Bristol Arms (formerly the Shotley Gate Inn) the settlement of Shotley Gate developed either side of Bristol Hill.By about 800 AD, the Vikings or Danes started to make an appearance in this area. Under the Peace of Wedmore in 878, all land north of the old Roman Watling Street, which ran from London to Chester, was given to the Viking leader, Guthrum. Shotley therefore became part of Danelaw. The peace was short-lived however, and following an unsuccessful Viking attack on Kent, Alfred King of Wessex attacked the enemy in East Anglia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 885 reads as follows: The same year sent King Alfred a fleet from Kent into East Anglia. As soon as they came to Stourmouth, there met them sixteen ships of the pirates, and they fought with them, took all the ships and slew the men. As they returned homeward with their booty, they met a large fleet of pirates and fought with them the same day, but the Danes had the victory. It is possible that Bloody Point at Shotley took its name from this incident, however at that time the river entered the sea north of Felixstowe and so the area would not have been seen as the mouth of the Stour. It could also have derived this name late in the next century when the Vikings returned to the estuary in force, twice plundering Ipswich. Shotley Gate and the parish have a strategic position for protecting the ports of Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich and in 1865 the Shotley Battery fortifications were established. King Edward III camped here early in the Hundred Years War, before the great sea Battle of Sluys. Documents signed by him and kept in the National Archive end with the words "at Shotley". Shotley Gate also harbours HMS Ganges, a former Royal Navy training establishment (RNTE Shotley) for boys. The teak ship was constructed in 1821 and taken out of service in 1861. It was moved to Shotley in 1899, and by 1905 was moved ashore. A large proportion of the naval ratings of the 20th century, boy entrants in peacetime and men during both World Wars, trained there. The training establishment closed in 1976 and the site was subsequently sold for redevelopment. In June 2011 Babergh District Council declared the site a Conservation Area.The HMS Ganges Museum (open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays between Easter and the end of October 1100 to 1700hrs) houses artefacts and memorabilia from the old shore establishment including a large collection of photographs and original documents.

Shotley Pier is a disused 540 feet (160 m) long railway pier in Shotley Gate, Shotley, Suffolk. Built in 1894 by Frederick Hervey, 3rd Marquess of Bristol the structure was used to service a ferry across the River Stour to Harwich, Essex. The ferry carried mail and coal as well as munitions and sailors for the nearby HMS Ganges Royal Navy establishment. During the First World War the structure was used to unload German prisoners of war captured at sea and after the war to moor captured German submarines. The pier was later used by fishermen but has been derelict since the late 1980s. In 2018 the pier was purchased by the Shotley Heritage Community Charitable Benefit Society who have since restored the first 30 metres (98 ft) of the structure.

Ganges Wood is a woodland in Suffolk, England, near the village of Shotley Gate. It covers a total area of 2.21 hectares (5.46 acres). It is owned and managed by the Woodland Trust.

Harwich Lifeboat Station is a Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station located in the town of Harwich in the English county of Essex. The station is positioned on the southern side at the mouth of the River Orwell estuary. The station serves a particularly busy section of coastline with Harwich being a very busy ferry terminal. Across the estuary is the Port of Felixstowe which is the United Kingdom's busiest container port.

Bath Side Battery was built in 1811 to cover the anchorage of the port of Harwich, Essex, England as part of the same complex as the Redoubt, armed with 3 x 24 pdr (11 kg) cannon. The battery was allowed to decay, and after 1990 excavations is marked out on the ground in front of the Anchor pub, Stour Road. This Public House has since been demolished. As of April 2019, the land is still unused, with future plans as yet unknown.

Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly known as Parkeston Quay.

HMS Badger was a shore establishment of the Royal Navy on the east coast of the United Kingdom. She was commissioned on 13 September 1939 was the flagship of the headquarters of the Flag Officer in Charge (FOIC), Harwich who was responsible to Commander-in-Chief, The Nore, and was decommissioned on 21 October 1946, although the Operations Room remained as the Emergency Port Control for the Harwich area. The site was Parkeston Quay, now Harwich International Port, and the bunker lies under Hamilton House, currently an occupational health centre, close to the entrance to Harwich International Port, a few miles west of Harwich.

Harwich Guildhall is a municipal building in Church Street, Harwich, Essex, England. The structure, which accommodates the offices of Harwich Town Council, is a Grade I listed building.

The Three Cups was a historic public house and hotel which played a prominent role in Harwich until it was converted to a private house in 1995. The current building was built around 1500, but there are more speculative claims that a public house existed on the site before this. The building is located at 64 Church Street, next to St Nicholas' church.