Busy Unit
T.S. Southampton is a busy place. Because of the dedication of the volunteer Staff we are able to offer nearly all the activities you can do in the Sea Cadets within our Unit.
As well as the normal parade evenings Cadets can volunteer to do other activities over the weekend or occasional extra boating over the summer. These are further to normal training and will be advertised on the Unit notice boards and announced during evening colours.
It gets so hectic we often have to rent another minibus to cover our travels to Wales, Dartmoor, the Newforest and Devon for kayaking, Expedition Training or Duke of Edinburgh activities, as well as all the competitions we undertake.
If you are interested in joining our Unit please contact the Unit on 023 8022 9050 to make an appointment to come down and have a look around.
New Recruiting Poster
The Unit has now produced a new recruiting poster.
Taking the National Sea Cadet lead on design, we have added an image of one of our Cadets playing at Woodmill sluice with our contact details and location map.
Below is a link to a PDF version of the document, if you wish to print it.
Click Here for New Recruiting Poster
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T.S Southampton – Unit History
Even though our Unit in Bitterne Manor is relatively new the Sea Cadets have had a long presence in Southampton.
In response to strong feeling that a Unit of the ‘Sea Cadet Corps’ should be formed in Southampton, the Navy League authorised a unit of 50 cadets to be formed in 1942. This came about mainly as a result of the second world war and interest from the Royal Navy in ‘semi’ trained sailors for recruits in the war effort.
Originally the unit was called Training Ship (T.S) Canute, after the legend of King Canute’s attempt to turn back the tide at Southampton. The unit used to hold Sunday Divisions every month. The unit would march to the Mission to Seaman Chapel, hold a service and march back.
The post-war strength was authorised at 75 cadets and Lord Louis Mountbatten accepted the Presidency of the unit giving great pride and encouragement. In 1946 he became Patron and remained so until his tragic death. Rear Admiral A.J Whetstone CB, who had been Captain of HMS Juno, to which the unit had been affiliated, succeeded him as unit president.
The unit moved after the war from its original home in Albert Road to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR) at berth 14, aboard the frigate, ‘HMS Wessex’ in the old Inner Docks in the Eastern Dock (which has now been filled in to form Ocean Village).
During this period the sister organisation the ‘Girls Nautical Training Corp’ (GNTC) was started at TS Canute. This allowed girls the chance to join an organisation very similar to the one the boys were in, however, at this stage, both youth organisations used the same facilities, but they had there own instructors, parade nights and activities.
After the frigate was scrapped in 1964, both the Royal Naval Reserve (who had now dropped the ‘V’ for volunteer) and Sea Cadets became homeless. However, the old Aquila Airways Flying Boat Station at berth 50 was empty and it seemed an ideal home for both organisations. To start off with, everyone called her the Stone Frigate, until she was officially re-opened as RNR ‘HMS Wessex’. This building was to stay as the units headquarters for the next 30 years and it was ideal as a sea cadet unit.
During this time the unit rose in strength to about 140 cadets and 25+ instructors, and by the late 1970’s early 1980 and was arguably one of the strongest units in the District. To prove this point, have a look at the Burgee hung in the present unit, the units first burgee was presented in 1966 by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
In 1994 the RNR unit at HMS Wessex closed, this left the cadets in an awkward position with no real claim to stay. The Port of Southampton also decided it was going to redevelop the land for port use. The race was on to find new accommodation.
In the summer of 1996 the port gave an ultimatum, they were flattening the area and the unit had to move out. By this point the management committee had looked at numerous places, and selected a derelict site next on the river Itchen.
After a mammoth fundraising effort, the building was finished enough to allow us to move in around Christmas of 1996. The official opening ceremony was in February 1997 when the Commodore of the Sea Cadet Corp opened the unit. However the work was far from over. The staff, cadets and committees then buckled down to the task of fitting out the unit, painting walls, building in the Armoury, lockers and erecting the obligatory mast.
Over the following years leading up-to the present point, many other tasks have been undertaken to improve the unit; these include, concreting the outer maindeck, clearing the slipway, building a permanent store (and the removal of our much used ½ TEU container unit) building of a car port, fitting out the galley, and building a shower room.
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