03/12/2021
One of my favourite explorer .
HMS Ganges was a training ship and later stone frigate of the Royal Navy. She was established as a boys' training establishment in 1865, and was based aboard a number of hulks before moving ashore. She was based alternately in Falmouth, Harwich (from 1899) and Shotley (from 1905). She remained in service at RNTE Shotley until October 1976. During Ganges's time in Cornwall allegations of harsh and brutal treatment were reported to the Admiralty. One wardroom steward shot himself over the matter, and the reports aroused indignation in the local community.HMS Ganges was an 84-gun second-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 10 November 1821 at Bombay Dockyard, constructed from teak. She is notable for being the last sailing ship of the Navy to serve as a flagship and was the second ship to bear the name.
HMS Ganges was the name given to several Royal Navy ships since from 1779, but in 1905 it was chosen as the title for a new training base at Shotley Gate, near Ipswich where about 500 boy recruits were stationed. In 1907, its famous 143ft (44m)-high training mast was erected on the parade ground for recruits to climb. Recruit numbers rose to 2,000 during World War Two, but dropped to about 1,000 by the late 1960s and declined further until the base closed for good in June 1976.