The Rise and Fall of Britain's Greatest Navy Town: Chatham

0:00 Chatham’s final working basin 1:46 The dockyard begins on the Medway 4:02 The Dutch raid and the stolen flagship 13:59 The Navy town at its peak 21:10 Submarines and wartime industry 32:00 The decision to close Chatham 43:08 After the gates were padlocked 50:49 The fight over Number Three Basin I explore how Chatham became one of Britain’s greatest naval towns—and how it lost the fleet, dockyard and purpose that shaped its identity. The story begins with Elizabeth I, the Medway and the Dutch raid that carried away the Royal Charles. I trace Chatham’s rise through the construction of Victory, the Ropery, Pembroke barracks, wartime losses and the dockyard’s transformation into a specialist submarine base. I also examine the lives, work and communities built around the Navy. Finally, I follow the 1984 closure, the conversion of the historic yard into a museum and university site, and the latest fight over Number Three Basin, where a working port faces redevelopment and hundreds of jobs hang in the balance.