The closure of HM DOCKYARD SHEERNESS & WILDFIRE (it lost its HMS in 1950) was set in train in 1958 and brought to an end the town's and the Isle of Sheppey's association with the Royal Navy that started in the times of Henry VIII. Here is a brief look at the RN there in 1958 and latter day Sheerness.

The first group of pictures were kindly sent by Janet Franklin the daughter of Lt Cdr Tommy Goodwin (See also 'Singapore Dockyard' page). Janet's pictures were later supplemented with this from Gordon Hamer who said "......the Wildfire Warriors took part in the 1958 Sheerness Carnival having made their own costumes etc. including converting a whaler (28' double ended rowing/sailing boat) to a 'dug-out canoe'. We even had a 'missionary' boiling in the pot. I was a Leading Seaman at the time and also ran a Wildfire football team in the Wednesday League. Happy Days!"

Bottom Left shows Lt Cdr Goodwin on the left giving encouragement to the 'warriors' one of which seems to chucking his paddle away (toys out the pram perhaps?).
Bottom Right shows WILDFIRE's enclosed Parade/Quarterdeck 'rigged' for Christmas 1958.
 
By this time some demolition was underway that included what had been the C in C's residence (Admiralty House) where I clearly remember seeing decorated wash basins and WC bowls with finely painted flowers & leaves within the glazing being removed. What price today?

We used to 'drip' about the long road journey out to Sheerness and/or the boat trip from Gillingham Pier to there but it was a place of unique buildings within the establishments and some decent pubs outside. As a native of Southend I sometimes used a Ferry (ex-RN craft) to cross the Thames but the enterprise was short-lived I seem to recall. 
Who could forget the covered parade square in 'WILDFIRE' or the compactness of the Dockyard where the work of the day was so often, but not solely, concentrated on submarines and survey vessels. There also were the Gunnery/Rifle Ranges synonymous with the name 'Trickey'.

Top: Sheerness Port in 2006 with Grain Tower Fort in the foreground at the mouth of the Medway. Primarily imports fresh fruit, timber and cars.
Pictures taken in 2000 - Centre L - Bottom R: Garrison Point from the road (original)entrance. 
Wall/Building in Bluetown adjacent to the old pedestrian entrance now bricked up.
Old Dockyard Church & Naval Terrace adjacent to the road entrance.  

Today the area is a commercial port operated by Medway Ports (Tees Ports Group) with little left of the RN days except perhaps the familiar Garrison Point Fort buildings and one or two other 'Listed' ones. Outside the wall, which remains in total down Blue Town High Street, there is still the 'Red Lion' and round the corner the 'Jolly Sailor' is still open for business but gone is the Crown & Anchor and much else including the Dockyard Station and any sight of the river from there.

The approach road to the dockyard is still the entrance to the docks and just outside its barrier, on the left, lies the Church and Naval Terrace. The latter dwellings are occupied but the Church appears unused and overgrown as the picture above shows. For those who arrived and departed by train Sheerness Town station remains almost the same but the Railway Hotel just outside is now called 'The Fiddler's Cat'. Ah well! Though times change the Clock Tower in the middle of town is still showing that time ticking away. 

A notable event in my time in 'WILDFIRE' came one night when a ruckus amongst a group woke up the mess to see one member in some 'distress'. He was soon removed and we later heard he had expired. His demise was attributed to the consumption of a liberal amount of 'Thawpit' a well known cleaning fluid of those days and perhaps cheaper than the more popular and normal spirits! A grim end indeed to a run ashore. Sadly time erases names but around the same time an 'oppo' left WILDFIRE on his motor bike for a long weekend at home in Norfolk and never came back on Monday morning having been killed in a road accident.
There were always pluses and minuses!

The closure of Sheerness had been high on the Government's Defence Committee and Admiralty Agendas in 1949 but that fact did not make things any easier when, on Tuesday 18 February 1958, a Statement to Parliament included the 'Abolition of Nore Command' and  'Closure of Portland and Sheerness Dockyard'.
Included in the closure was not only the dockyard but also HMS Wildfire and Chart and Boom Defence Bases in Sheerness/Queenborough plus all manner of ancilliary units. Some 2300 people from the Isle of Sheppey and further afield were employed and many more earned their livings from the existence of the Royal Navy in and around Sheerness.

If there was upset at the closure there was even more when details of the disposal of the Dockyard became known in 1959. Records show that it was sold to Building Developments Ltd. and that Sir Andrew McTaggart "...telephoned today and told me that they (BD Ltd) will increase their offer to £200,000". The Dockyard's Civil Engineer in Chief included in a Letter dated 19 June 1959 that BD Ltd said it was expected to cost £500,000 to develop the site and existing buildings were of little use and likely to be demolished.
The site was 60 acres in size with the biggest Basin measuring 300' x 515' x 26' and two smaller ones plus 5 Dry Docks.

The Sheppey Times newspaper in its 16 October 1959 edition went into even more descriptive detail that included:
Dock No.1 - 241', Dk2 - 234', Dk3 - 268', Small Basin, Boat Basin, Dk4 - 287', Dk5 - 288', 60 ton Slip, 2 Fire Stations, Shipwrights, Engineers, Electrical Workshops, Boat Hoist and Gantry System, Power Station (Diesel Generators), Foundry, Smithery, Sawmill, Rigging Shop, Sail Loft (huge), Canteen, Surgery, Garages, Central Administration Offices, Railway, Water Supply from own wells. They also worked out the costs at 1/6 (2008 - 7.5p) per square foot for the site and Less than 5/= per square foot for the covered space.
(NB. £200,000 in 1958 comparative values: 1908 = £39,000 and 2007 = £3.37million. One shilling & sixpence = 7.5 pence and five shillings = 25p).

The Royal Navy departed Sheerness on the 31st of March 1960. Another five years would have seen its three-hundredth anniversary. A month later it had become the Port of Sheerness Ltd.