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Who We Are

The first Sea Cadet unit was established in 1854 at Whitstable in Kent, created by communities wanting to give young people instruction on a naval theme.

Traditionally old seafarers provided training while local businessmen funded the Unit Headquarters.

The tradition of community-based Sea Cadet Units continues today with 400 across the United Kingdom, each with charitable status, enabling them to raise funds to meet their running costs.

All Units are members of the Sea Cadet Corps and are governed by the national charity- the Marine Society & Sea Cadets (MSSC).

The MSSC work partnership with the Royal Navy under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and receive corporate support from commercial shipping companies and the Maritime sector.

The core purpose is to celebrate Britain's maritime heritage and contribute to its future development by supporting young people as Sea Cadets.

PORTRUSH is situated in an outstandingly beautiful area with a coastline of golden beaches and rugged cliff tops sweeping down to a hinterland of lush countryside.

 

Located in the borough of Coleraine, Portrush is one of five charming seaside locations and rural villages, creating a popular holiday base with surfing, walking and angling, as well as challenging golf courses. 

Hosting two magnificent beaches and a watersports centre, the area attracts both families and world-class surfers. The seaside resort is also famous for its family-run ice-cream and amusement arcades.  

The historic and picturesque Dunluce Castle is located on the outskirts of the town on the edge of the cliff top. Elsewhere, the port of Portrush hosts the RNLI Lifeboat station, established in 1860, and the iconic Arcadia, which was a platform for show bands and now holds a celebrated gallery space and tea room.

The borough’s central university town of Coleraine is the earliest known settlement of man in Ireland, found at Mountsandel Fort Coleraine where the river Bann flows towards the Barr mouth in Castlerock. One jewel in the borough’s crown is Flowerfield Arts Centre in Portstewart, as well as hosting a number of community and regeneration projects throughout the area.

The borough’s boundary ranges from Portballintrae to Downhill and inland to Kilrea. Within the borough, attractions include the majestic 18thcentury Mussenden Temple at Downhill – once belonging to the Bishop of Londonderry – as well as fishing harbours in Portrush, Portstewart and Portballintrae.

  • Places of interest
  • Dunluce Castle, Portrush
  • Arcadia, Portrush
  • The Royal Portrush Golf Course, Portrush
  • Mountsandel Fort, Coleraine
  • Mussenden Temple, Downhill
  • Portstewart and Castlerock Golf courses
  • Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart
  • Five outstanding beaches hosting surf, fishing and water sports
  • 16 Dunluce Avenue, Portrush, BT56 8DW

Photograph taken by Dr. Mant Martin, Christmas 1942, in Portrush Library (the old Portrush Town Hall)

(Left) Standing -   In Charge  Mr. Sugden

(Left) Seated -     Instructor  Mr. T. Gillespie

Photograph supplied by Gordon Bell and S. Robinson


We are (Training Ship) T. S. DUKE OF YORK, named after our adopted ship, HMS DUKE OF YORK (pennant number 17) was a King George V classbattleship of the Royal Navy, and the second of the name, the predecessor having been a 4-gun cutter purchased in 1763 and sold in 1766. The ship was originally to be named Anson but adopted her final name in December 1938 - see PATTERN.

She was laid down at the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank, Scotland, 5 May 1937 and launched on 28 February 1940. She was commissioned too late to see action against the Bismarck, or any other German naval surface raider in the early Atlantic battles of World War II. However, DUKE OF YORK did play a role in reducing German naval power.

On her shakedown cruise in December, 1941, she embarked Prime MinisterWinston S. Churchill for a trip to confer with United StatesPresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt, arriving in Annapolis on 22 December 1941.

In March, 1942, she escorted the Russia-bound convoy PQ-12 with the intention of intercepting the German battleshipTirpitz. On 6 March, Tirpitz did put to sea, but no contact was made.

In late December 1943, DUKE OF YORK was part of the Home Fleet covering convoys between the UK and the Soviet Union. German surface vessels based in Norway were a constant threat to these convoys, and the German fleet-in-being forced the retention of powerful naval forces in British home waters.


(Right) Standing - Chief Instructor                 Mr. B. Strathdee

(Right) Seated -   Instructor Seated               Mr. E. Bingham

 

 

 

 

One of those vessels was the battlecruiserScharnhorst. During the passage of convoy JW55B,Scharnhorst left her base and steamed to engage. In the unfolding battle, DUKE OF YORK scored a vital hit in Scharnhorst's boiler room which prevented her escape and led to her destruction in the Battle of North Cape. After the sinking of Scharnhorstand the retreat of most of the other German heavy units from Norway, the need to maintain powerful forces in British home waters was diminished.

After a modernization in Liverpool during 1944 which included the enhancement of her anti-aircraft armament, DUKE OF YORK headed east to join the British Pacific Fleet, then assembling to take part in the invasion of Okinawa. She was flagship of the British Pacific Fleet when Japan surrendered.

Following the end of the war, DUKE OF YORK remained  in service until April 1949. Battleships were now, if not completely obsolete, rapidly approaching obsolescence. They were also money- and crew-intensive units, two things that Britain of the postwar era could not afford. The ship was scrapped in 1957 at Faslane.

A distinguishing feature of the DUKE OF YORK was the extended fire control platform located on the after funnel. On this ship it extended out over the boat deck (after the refit during which the aircraft equipment was deleted from the ship's configuration).


 
 
 
 

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