What ship was used as simulation for navy school?
Entrance to Royal Hospital School, Greenwich with training ship Fame in the background. Repro ID: H1278. ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, LondonThe ‘ship’ was in fact a simulated training ship called the Fame – there were three Fames in succession and none was an actual vessel. The first was built at Chatham Dockyard in 1843 and was dismantled and re-erected at the Royal Hospital School, Greenwich. It consisted of topsides laid on sleepers and simulated a corvette of 500 tons. The second one was put in place in 1862. The third was built on site by a party of apprentice shipwrights. The supervisor was Lt John Rouse. It cost £250 and simulated a vessel of 1200 tons. The boys used it as a training ship during their last six months at the school. By 1926 it had fallen into disrepair and was used a garage for the schoolteachers’ cars. In 1933 it was sold for £5 for breaking up. The figurehead of Fame blowing her trumpet was taken to Holbrook in Ipswich where the school moved in 1933. S
