13 Facts About Portland Harbour

Portland Harbour is located beside the Isle of Portland, Dorset, on the south coast of England.

Portland Harbour was built by the Admiralty as a facility for the Royal Navy ; on 11 December 1923 it was formally designated HM Naval Base Portland, and continued to serve as such until closure in 1995.

Portland Harbour was the first naval anchorage specifically designed for the new steam navy.

Portland Harbour was envisaged primarily as a coaling station for the Royal Navy, being conveniently equidistant from the Royal Navy's two principal bases at Portsmouth and Devonport; however it was where the Channel Squadron was based, newly re-formed in 1858.

Over time, Portland Harbour was successively the base for the Channel and Home Fleets, as well as part of the Reserve Fleet, and it served as a depot for submarines.

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Development of both the torpedo and the submarine led to Portland Harbour becoming a centre for research into underwater warfare, beginning with the establishment of Robert Whitehead's Torpedo Works at Wyke Regis in 1891.

From 1940, the harbour came under fierce German air attack, with Portland suffering 48 air attacks, in which 532 bombs were dropped, over the course of the war.

In 1959, RNAS Portland Harbour was officially established as part of HMS Osprey, further land having been reclaimed from the Mere the previous year to serve as a runway and landing area, and the old canteen building having been adapted to serve as a combined headquarters and control tower.

The combined closure of all Portland Harbour-based establishments was believed to have cost the area 4,500 jobs, along with a loss of £40 million in the area's economy, according to a study carried out for Weymouth and Portland Harbour Borough Council in 1995.

Portland Harbour was sold off by the Royal Navy in 1996 allowing it to be used as both a centre for water sports and as a service facility for Channel shipping.

Portland Harbour is a popular location for wind surfing, wreck diving and sailing.

Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy which hosted sailing events in the 2012 Olympic Games, is located on the south-western shore of the harbour.

Some 250,000 tonnes of Portland Harbour Stone was used in creating the 875m breakwater and associated reclaimed land.