HMS Malabar and the Bermuda Dockyard

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Fortress Bermuda – Four centuries guarding Britain’s interests overseas
By J. Vitor Tossini - October 14, 20190
Bermuda, the oldest British Overseas Territory, has more than four centuries of shared history with Britain.

This article was submitted to the UK Defence Journal by J. Vitor Tossini. Vitor is a student of International Relations at the Sao Paulo State University. He also explores British imperial and military history and its legacies to the modern world.
Until the Second World War, the territory was widely used by British military forces. During the Cold War, the Americans used it as a central base to patrol the waters of the North Atlantic Ocean.

Continues with recent photos at:
https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/fortres ... AadBm_T3N8

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BERMUDA DOCKYARD

One of the most popular tourist destinations on Bermuda is the area's historic Royal Naval Dockyard. Here dock the big cruise ships and you can find a lot of highlights for sightseeing, shopping, restaurants and entertainment. Not to be missed is the Clocktower Mall, the numerous water sports, the FUN ZONE with Snorkel Park Beach, Dolphin Quest and National Museum. So there is something for every visitor. Incidentally, the ferries leave for Hamilton and St. George's from here!

See:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=Iw ... e=youtu.be

Foundation stone - attached + the dockyard pub.

See also:
http://www.bermuda-online.org/rndshipsc ... mmGRbENhjM

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BERMUDA DOCKYARD - SHIP'S CRESTS/BADGES

Following received ~ Note the request for information, you will not be wasting your time as the Bermudians are very interested and proud of their history. Please reply to Deborah Atwood <curator@nmb.bm>

Dear David,
Thank you for your email. Though we do have a number of images of the Ship's Crests in Dockyard in our collection, they are not currently available to view online. However, I was able to find a webpage that does have an online gallery of some of the crests: https://bermudarover.smugmug.com/Bermud ... ps-Crests/
We are in the process of updating our website and are looking into ways in which we can make some of our collections available for online viewing. We are very interested in collecting stories associated with the crests to accompany the images and preserve their history. If any of the sailors would like to share any stories of their time in Bermuda/painting the crests, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Deborah

The contents of this link prompted the above:
https://www.royalgazette.com/other/news ... wuLZOsmspg

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Britain’s forgotten prison island

Britain’s forgotten prison island: remembering the thousands of convicts who died working in Bermuda’s dockyards
We think of Bermuda as a tiny paradise in the North Atlantic. But long before cruise ships moored up, prison ships carried hundreds of convicts to the island, first docking in 1824 and remaining there for decades.

Islands have long been places to deport, exile and banish criminals. Think of Alcatraz, the infamous penitentiary in San Francisco, or Robben Island in South Africa, which held Nelson Mandela.

The French penal colony Devil’s Island was immortalised in the Steve McQueen film Papillon, while Saint Helena in the Atlantic is still remembered for Napoleon’s exile.

You may be familiar with the story of British convict transportation to Australia between 1788 and 1868, but the use of Bermuda as a prison destination is less well known. For 40 years, British prisoners worked backbreaking days labouring in Bermuda’s dockyards and died in their thousands.

I research the lives of prisoners across the British Empire, and have a particular interest in notorious floating prisons known as hulks. I was surprised to discover that in addition to locations across the Thames Estuary, Portsmouth and Plymouth, the British government used these ships as emergency detention centres in colonial outposts across the 19th century, detaining convicts in Bermuda between 1824 and 1863 and Gibraltar between 1842 and 1875.

England has a long history of banishing its criminal population. In the 18th century, criminals were typically sentenced to seven years overseas in America. Many worked as plantation labourers in Maryland and Virginia, but the start of the American Revolution brought this practice to a halt.

Britain believed that the war with America would end quickly and in its favour, but as the war continued, prisons filled with people who had nowhere to go. There was no emphasis on reforming prisoners and releasing them back into society.

Britain found itself with a prison housing crisis, and turned to hulks to cope with rising numbers. Each could hold between 300 and 500 men, and they were nicknamed “floating hells” for their unsanitary and dangerous conditions.

Officials proposed several locations to send convicts, and ultimately settled on Australia. But the government felt that convict labour could be put to use in other colonies, and so began an experiment in 1824 to send men to Bermuda.

Convict workers Continues https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/britain ... on-island/


Ironically Casemates, part of the Dockyard, was used as a secure prison at one time:

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/bermuda/sa ... 162/357981