Queen's Harbour Master

Assistant Queen's Harbour Master's Office, Chatham Dockyard (built for the Master Attendant in 1770).

In the United Kingdom, a Queen's (or King's) Harbour Master is a public official with the duty of keeping the port secure for both military and civilian shipping.[1]

There are three Queen's Harbour Masters in the UK, one for each of the major naval ports of the UK: the Clyde Dockyard Port of Gareloch and Loch Long in the Firth of Clyde, the Dockyard Port of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, and the Dockyard Port of Plymouth in Plymouth.[1]

The powers of the Queen's Harbour Masters are defined in the Dockyard Ports Regulation Act 1865.[2] Although legislation does not require it, most QHMs have been serving officers in the Royal Navy.

The Queen's Harbour Masters have their own flag, consisting of a white-bordered Union Flag with a white circle on it, within which there is a crown and the letters "QHM".[3]

Queen's Harbour Masters were first appointed in the first half of the nineteenth century; there was some overlap with the duties of Master Attendants in HM Dockyards, and the two offices were held by the same person in several instances.[4]

In Canada

Equivalent positions also exist in Canada, where a Queen's Harbourmaster is known in French as capitaine de port de Sa Majesté (literally "Her Majesty's Captain of the Port").

References

  1. 1 2 "About the Queen's Harbour Master". Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  2. "www.legislation.gov.uk".
  3. "Queen's Harbour Master, United Kingdom". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2014-05-21.
  4. "Navy List (transcribed) 1844".

External links

See also

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