Medway’s hidden First World War ship faces uncertain future
The campaign to save HMS Saxifrage, plus care home for Innovation Park site, active travel proposals and a busy events weekend
One of Britain’s rarest surviving First World War warships has spent almost a decade hidden away inside Chatham Docks. HMS Saxifrage, later known as HMS President, is now facing an uncertain future, with the Q-Ship Society warning that it must leave its current berth by mid-July. We look at the ship’s history, the campaign to move it to Collier Wharf in Gillingham, and what its situation says about heritage, ownership and the changing Medway waterfront.
Medway’s hidden First World War ship faces uncertain future
For almost a decade, one of Britain’s rarest surviving warships has sat quietly inside Chatham Docks, hidden behind security fences and warehouses, unseen by almost everyone who passes.
Built during the closing months of the First World War, HMS Saxifrage later spent more than 90 years on the Thames as HMS President before arriving in Medway in 2016. Today, it is one of only three surviving Royal Navy warships built during the conflict.
Now, campaigners fear its future on the Medway is in doubt.
The Q-Ship Society says HMS Saxifrage must leave its current berth at Chatham Docks by mid-July and is calling for the vessel to be relocated to nearby Collier Wharf in Gillingham, where it hopes to establish a permanent heritage attraction. Without another home, the society fears the ship could ultimately be lost altogether.
HMS Saxifrage was launched in January 1918 as one of the Royal Navy’s Flower-class sloops. During the First World War, German U-boats posed a growing threat to Britain’s merchant shipping. One response was the development of Q-ships, naval vessels disguised as harmless cargo ships. The idea was to tempt submarines into surfacing before revealing concealed guns and opening fire.
Although officially a sloop, Saxifrage was built to undertake Q-ship duties before later serving in more conventional naval roles. Following the war, it was renamed HMS President and converted into a Royal Naval Reserve drill ship, beginning a second career that would last far longer than its wartime service.
For generations of Londoners, HMS President was a familiar sight on the Thames. Moored close to Blackfriars, it served as the headquarters of the Royal Naval Reserve in London for decades before eventually leaving the capital in 2016 during works associated with the Thames Tideway project.
The vessel’s relocation to Chatham marked another chapter in its long history. Yet despite arriving in one of Britain’s most important historic dockyard towns, it has remained almost entirely out of public view.
Unlike HMS Caroline in Belfast or HMS M33 in Portsmouth, both preserved as museum ships, HMS Saxifrage sits inside a working commercial dock. Visitors cannot simply walk aboard. Many people living in Medway are unlikely even to know it is there.
That, says the Q-Ship Society, is precisely the problem.
The organisation has spent the past four years trying to secure a permanent public home for the vessel, arguing that one of Britain’s most significant surviving naval ships should be accessible rather than hidden away inside an operational port.
For years, that arrangement attracted little attention. But as the future of Chatham Docks has come under increasing scrutiny, so too has the future of the vessel moored inside it.
The vessel is currently berthed in Basin 3, part of the commercial dock estate that forms the focus of Peel Waters’ regeneration plans. Peel has spent several years pursuing plans to regenerate large parts of the site, arguing that redevelopment could deliver new homes, employment space and public access to the waterfront while retaining maritime employment elsewhere on the estate.
Those proposals have proved among the most contentious planning debates Medway has seen in recent years. Business owners and dock operators have argued the commercial port should continue to operate, while supporters of redevelopment have pointed to the economic opportunities offered by opening up previously inaccessible waterfront land.
For the Q-Ship Society, HMS Saxifrage has now become part of that unresolved wider story.
Daniel Broom, the society’s chair, said members had spent years trying to find a permanent Medway home for the vessel before learning it would soon have to leave its existing berth.
“We only found out by chance that the ship was leaving Basin 3,” he told Local Authority.
He said the society had approached Peel about relocating the vessel to Collier Wharf when it became aware arrangements were being made for the ship to move.
The society now believes Collier Wharf offers the best long-term solution.
Located a short distance from Chatham Docks, the riverside site is seen by campaigners as an opportunity not simply to relocate HMS Saxifrage but to create a new heritage destination focused on Medway’s maritime history.
Their vision extends beyond the vessel itself. The society wants to create a museum telling the story of Britain’s Q-ships and the campaign against German submarines during the First World War. It believes the attraction could work alongside existing heritage destinations such as Chatham Historic Dockyard and the Medway Queen, bringing additional visitors into Gillingham while giving the ship the permanent public home it has lacked since leaving London.
“If a new berth can’t be found, the vessel is scrapped, and the last Flower-class sloop from World War One and one of three Royal Navy warships from World War One is gone forever,” Broom said.
With what it believes is little time remaining, the society has launched a public petition calling on Medway Council to become involved in efforts to secure the vessel’s future.
The authority confirmed it has been approached by the Q-Ship Society. However, it said it has not held discussions about the possible use of Collier Wharf because the site is privately owned and no invitation to do so had been received from its owners. As a result, it declined to comment on whether it would support the principle of creating a heritage berth there.
Peel Waters was approached for comment but did not respond before publication.
For now, HMS Saxifrage remains behind the security fences of Chatham Docks, largely unnoticed despite its remarkable history.
Whether the vessel remains part of Medway’s waterfront, or quietly slips away from it after almost a decade, may become clear in the coming weeks.
Local Authority is now on WhatsApp
We’ve launched a WhatsApp channel for Local Authority, where we’ll share new stories and the occasional major Medway development directly to your phone.
Council chaos, planning rows, disappearing pubs, strange licensing hearings, and the rest of life around the towns can now be available in yet another app you already check too much.
Council matters
Meetings next week:
- Tuesday: Licensing Hearing Panel will convene to decide on a premises licence for a new private hire venue at Chatham Waters.
New planning applications:
- 80 bed care home and 11 adult social care units on the former Innovation Park Medway South site near Rochester Airport.
- Conversion of Clock Tower Building at Chatham Historic Dockyard to staff facilities and commercial offices.
In brief
🚓 Kent Police dispersed two car meets last week, issuing nearly 50 fines in Rainham and Hoo.
🚲 Medway Council is consulting on walking and cycling improvements in Gillingham and Chatham.
🥘 Gurkha Fire have submitted a licence application for a new venue called 'Canteen' next to Burger King on Chatham High Street.
Property of the week
This three-bedroom modern family home is the sort of listing that makes a virtue of not being strange, which in Medway property terms can feel almost refreshing. It is arranged over three floors, with a bright living room, kitchen/dining room, three double bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a top-floor landing that has been turned into a study area because modern life now requires every spare corner to be a workspace. The rear garden is low-maintenance, the driveway handles parking, and the private roof terrace gives it one genuinely showy feature without pretending the whole thing is a lifestyle concept. It looks practical, tidy and ready to move into, which may not be the most romantic pitch in the world, but is probably what quite a lot of people are actually looking for.
Events this week
🏰 3 - 5 Jul - Rochester Castle Live // Three days of outdoor concerts, headlined by Ministry of Sound Classical, The Libertines, and McFly. Rochester Castle Gardens. Tickets from £32.50.
🎸 Sat 4 Jul - The Libertines pre-show party // The Missing Persons List, Spider Baby, and Angered Kenneth perform ahead of big Medway show. Three Sheets to the Wind, Rochester. Free.
🎉 Sat 4 Jul - Chatham Carnival // Entertainment, exhibitions, live music, stalls, and more. Chatham High Street. Free.
🧑🎨 4 - 19 Jul - Medway Open Studios // Free trail of art with dozens of venues and hundreds of artists. Various locations. Free.
Footnotes
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