HQS Wellington

HMS Wellington (launched Devonport, 1934) is a Grimsby-class sloop sloop, formerly of the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, she served as a convoy escort ship in the North Atlantic. She is now moored alongside the Victoria Embankment, at Temple Pier, on the River Thames in London, England. From 1948 to 2023 she was the headquarters ship of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners, known as HQS Wellington.

Royal Navy service
Built at Devonport in 1934, HMS Wellington served in the Pacific mainly on station in New Zealand and China before the Second World War. As built, Wellington mounted two 4.7-inch guns and one 3-inch gun. Additionally, anti-aircraft guns were fitted for self-defence. Depth charges for use against submarines were carried. Wellington served primarily in the North Atlantic on convoy escort duties. She shared in the destruction of one enemy U-boat and was involved in Operation Cycle, the evacuation of Allied troops from Le Havre. During 1943 she was briefly commanded by Captain John Treasure Jones, at that time a lieutenant commander in the Royal Navy Reserve, who would later be the last captain of RMS Queen Mary.

The Grimsby-class anti-submarine sloops of 1933-36, which included HMS Wellington, were the predecessors of the Black Swan-class sloop of 1939.

Honourable Company of Master Mariners
It was always the ambition of the founding members of the company to have a livery hall. Up to the outbreak of war in 1939, various proposals were examined, including the purchase of a sailing ship, Archibald Russell. After the Second World War, it became apparent that the possibility of building a hall in the City of London had been rendered very remote. In 1947, the Grimsby-class sloop Wellington was made available by the Admiralty. The company decided to buy her with money subscribed by the members and convert her to a floating livery hall, an appropriate home for a company of seafarers. She was converted to Headquarters Ship (HQS) Wellington at Chatham Dockyard.

The cost of this conversion was met by an appeal to which Lloyd's, shipping companies, livery companies and other benefactors contributed. It included the installation of a grand wooden staircase taken from the 1906 Isle of Man ferry SS Viper, which was being broken up at the same time. Wellington arrived at her Victoria Embankment berth in December 1948 to continue service as the floating livery hall of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.

In 1991, HQS Wellington was dry-docked at Sheerness for three months during which, apart from extensive steelwork repairs and complete external painting, she received a major refurbishment which included the refitting of all toilet facilities, offices and accommodation areas. Wellington was fitted with carpet, and displays were installed of the Company’s marine paintings and artefacts, gold and silver plate, ship models and newly discovered very early 18th-century charts.

Since 2014, Wellington has also served as the London postal address of the Flag Institute.

The Wellington Trust
In 2005, The Wellington Trust was set up as a registered charity under English law. Ownership of the Wellington was then transferred to the Wellington Trust, while remaining the headquarters of the HCMM. On 12 April 2023, due to safety concerns, the Honourable Company left the ship, though they were developing plans for a new floating livery hall. After a period of maintenance and compliance work, the Wellington Trust announced the ship is safe for public use and meets all statutory legal requirements and licences to operate. The first phase of the reopening of the ship to the public began on 2 October 2023. Wellington will continue to be a floating classroom and venue for events.