Head Quarters Ship Wellington
We are conscious that many Artificers will be accompanied by their partners to London for the weekend of 19/20 May. To recognise their forbearance etc. etc. we have arranged a Sunday lunchtime reception primarily, though not exclusively, for Artificers and their partners.
This reception will be held aboard HQS Wellington, home to the Master Mariners Guild, and moored at Victoria Embankment. Drinks and a finger buffet lunch will be included and as a result of some late sponsorship we are able to subsidise the cost. There will be 40 double tickets available at £40.00 and 20 single tickets at £20.00.
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Tickets will be available through Eventbrite in a similar way to your Artificer150 Dinner ticket and a further email will advise of the release date for these tickets in late March.
The HQS Wellington is located just across the road from Temple tube station (District & Circle Lines). Blackfriars is also close, offering connections to Thameslink and SouthEastern rail services. It is a 10 minute walk from Embankment tube station via Victoria Embankment Gardens and it takes less than 15 minutes from Waterloo .
Built at Devonport in 1934, HMS Wellington served in the Pacific mainly on station in New Zealand and China before the Second World War. During this time Wellington was fitted with two 4.7 inch and one three inch guns. Additionally, anti-aircraft guns were fitted for self defence as well as depth charges for use against submarines. 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 Dynamo, the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk.
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The ship was converted from being His Majesty’s Ship Wellington to Head Quarters Ship Wellington at Chatham dockyard. The cost of this conversion was met by an appeal to which Lloyd’s Shipping Companies, Livery Companies and many other benefactors generously contributed. She arrived at her Victoria Embankment berth in December 1948 to continue service as the floating livery hall of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners.
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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. For the first time, Wellington was fully fitted with custom-made carpet, which added a feeling of comfort and warmth to the ship. This, coupled with imaginative displays of the Company’s marine paintings and artefacts, gold and silver plate, ship models and newly discovered very early 18th century charts, help make the ship a Livery Hall which is admired throughout the City of London.
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On the 1st of July 2005 ownership of the Wellington was transferred from the Honourable Company to the Wellington Trust. This is a charitable trust established to ensure the preservation of this historic ship.
