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16/08/2011
Action Stations Call Over HMS Caroline
An historic naval vessel that got a second life after combat duties as a base to train hundreds of part-time sailors is under threat.
Alliance Councillor Seán Neeson has called for action to be taken ensure that HMS Caroline remains in Belfast.
The ship has been lying idle since 2009, when the Royal Navy decided it would decommission it.
Mr Neeson has represented Northern Ireland on the UK National Historic Ships Committee as well as being a member of the Nomadic Charitable Trust and commented today: "HMS Caroline was decommissioned at the end of March and there is a great deal of uncertainty about her future.
"She is a major historic ship and is the last remaining survivor from the battle of Jutland. She has played a major role in the maritime heritage not only of Belfast but the whole of Northern Ireland," he said.
"HMS Caroline is a member of the core collection of national historic ships along with the Nomadic and the Result.
"Unless people in Northern Ireland make a major effort to keep Caroline in Belfast I believe that she could be moved somewhere else in the UK, and that would be a tragic loss as regards our maritime heritage and tourism industry," he said.
Earlier this year, Ulster Unionist Mark Finlay, also expressed his hopes that HMS Caroline, the naval ship and later Royal Naval Reserve training vessel over nearly a century of service, can be kept in Belfast.
"Caroline has had 96 years of faithful service and, since 1924, served as the headquarters of the Ulster Division of the Royal Naval Reserve and its training facility. It is the last surviving ship from the 1916 Battle of Jutland and the last physical embodiment of the bravery of the sailors who participated and I note with sadness that it is decommissioned now.
"I hope that a mechanism can be found to keep Caroline in Belfast," he concluded, in April.
In 1972 HMS Caroline's reservists received the Freedom of the City of Belfast and, with their RN compatriots, they also received the freedom of the Borough of Newtownabbey.
The connection to Northern Ireland is long and distinguished, dating back to the formation of the Ulster Division of the RNR in 1924.
For 85 years the training unit was based on HMS Caroline, a light cruiser built in 1914, a vessel that saw action at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and served in the Far East before coming to Northern Ireland where she is still docked in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
The Royal Naval Reserve unit that operated from the permanently docked vessel at The Titanic Quarter has since moved to the Lisburn Army Barracks where it was reincarnated as the shore base, HMS Hibernia.
Located within Thiepval Barracks, HMS Hibernia is home to around 100 reservists.
It is the Royal Naval Reserve's newest unit, following the decommissioning of HMS Caroline in Belfast in December 2009.
See: HMS Caroline 'Appeal'
See: Naval Reserve Leaves HMS Caroline
(BMcC/GK)
Alliance Councillor Seán Neeson has called for action to be taken ensure that HMS Caroline remains in Belfast.
The ship has been lying idle since 2009, when the Royal Navy decided it would decommission it.
Mr Neeson has represented Northern Ireland on the UK National Historic Ships Committee as well as being a member of the Nomadic Charitable Trust and commented today: "HMS Caroline was decommissioned at the end of March and there is a great deal of uncertainty about her future.
"She is a major historic ship and is the last remaining survivor from the battle of Jutland. She has played a major role in the maritime heritage not only of Belfast but the whole of Northern Ireland," he said.
"HMS Caroline is a member of the core collection of national historic ships along with the Nomadic and the Result.
"Unless people in Northern Ireland make a major effort to keep Caroline in Belfast I believe that she could be moved somewhere else in the UK, and that would be a tragic loss as regards our maritime heritage and tourism industry," he said.
Earlier this year, Ulster Unionist Mark Finlay, also expressed his hopes that HMS Caroline, the naval ship and later Royal Naval Reserve training vessel over nearly a century of service, can be kept in Belfast.
"Caroline has had 96 years of faithful service and, since 1924, served as the headquarters of the Ulster Division of the Royal Naval Reserve and its training facility. It is the last surviving ship from the 1916 Battle of Jutland and the last physical embodiment of the bravery of the sailors who participated and I note with sadness that it is decommissioned now.
"I hope that a mechanism can be found to keep Caroline in Belfast," he concluded, in April.
In 1972 HMS Caroline's reservists received the Freedom of the City of Belfast and, with their RN compatriots, they also received the freedom of the Borough of Newtownabbey.
The connection to Northern Ireland is long and distinguished, dating back to the formation of the Ulster Division of the RNR in 1924.
For 85 years the training unit was based on HMS Caroline, a light cruiser built in 1914, a vessel that saw action at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and served in the Far East before coming to Northern Ireland where she is still docked in the Titanic Quarter in Belfast.
The Royal Naval Reserve unit that operated from the permanently docked vessel at The Titanic Quarter has since moved to the Lisburn Army Barracks where it was reincarnated as the shore base, HMS Hibernia.
Located within Thiepval Barracks, HMS Hibernia is home to around 100 reservists.
It is the Royal Naval Reserve's newest unit, following the decommissioning of HMS Caroline in Belfast in December 2009.
See: HMS Caroline 'Appeal'
See: Naval Reserve Leaves HMS Caroline
(BMcC/GK)
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Just days after it was revealed that the only military hospital in Northern Ireland is to close and be replaced by a civilian contractor, the Royal Navy has said it wants the training vessel HMS Caroline to stay in Belfast once she is decommissioned.
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30 March 2022
HMS Caroline To Remain In Belfast Until At Least 2038
The long-term future of the HMS Caroline visitor attraction has been secured in Belfast, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has announced, following an agreement with key partners the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The historic attraction will no remain in Belfast until at least 2038.
HMS Caroline To Remain In Belfast Until At Least 2038
The long-term future of the HMS Caroline visitor attraction has been secured in Belfast, Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has announced, following an agreement with key partners the National Museum of the Royal Navy (NMRN) and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The historic attraction will no remain in Belfast until at least 2038.
01 August 2012
HMS Caroline Deadline Sails Past But Politicians Fight On
Northern Ireland's tourism minister has said her department is working on a way to keep HMS Caroline in Belfast. Arlene Foster said her department was working with the Museum of the Royal Navy to "develop a solution" to a funding deadlock that means the WWI warship could be taken out of Belfast.
HMS Caroline Deadline Sails Past But Politicians Fight On
Northern Ireland's tourism minister has said her department is working on a way to keep HMS Caroline in Belfast. Arlene Foster said her department was working with the Museum of the Royal Navy to "develop a solution" to a funding deadlock that means the WWI warship could be taken out of Belfast.
26 September 2011
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25 July 2012
MP Calls On Government To Keep WWI Ship In Belfast
A Belfast MP is fighting for government support to save HMS Caroline. The historic ship, currently moored at Alexandra Dock in the Titanic Quarter, is the last surviving vessel used in the Battle of Jutland. Now Nigel Dodds, MP for North Belfast, has said the ship could "significantly enhance" the tourism package in Northern Ireland.
MP Calls On Government To Keep WWI Ship In Belfast
A Belfast MP is fighting for government support to save HMS Caroline. The historic ship, currently moored at Alexandra Dock in the Titanic Quarter, is the last surviving vessel used in the Battle of Jutland. Now Nigel Dodds, MP for North Belfast, has said the ship could "significantly enhance" the tourism package in Northern Ireland.
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