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For centuries, Portsmouth Royal Dockyard stood at the heart of Britain’s maritime dominance. Established in 1196 by King Richard I and substantially expanded during the Tudor and Victorian eras, it grew into the world’s largest industrial complex by the nineteenth century. As the primary home port of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth was not just a naval base but a pioneer of engineering milestones. It was home to the world's first dry dock in 1495, and later, the Victorian steam factory expansion saw the creation of Marc Isambard Brunel’s famous Block Mills, which operated as the world’s first steam-powered, mass-production assembly line. The yard consistently drove the transition from sail to steam and from wooden hulls to ironclad battleships, famously building the revolutionary HMS Dreadnought in just over a year in 1906, and serving as a vital front line of national defence during the global conflicts of the twentieth century.

The sheer scale and variety of the work undertaken at the dockyard required a massive, highly structured civilian workforce that peaked at over 23,000 workers in the early twentieth century. This immense community was divided into specialised trades overseen by the Admiralty, including the elite shipwrights and caulkers who ensured structural integrity, and the riveters and platers who wrestled with heavy steel frames. In the smoky heat of the foundries and smitheries, blacksmiths forged massive anchors, while boilermakers and fitters installed complex propulsion systems in confined machinery spaces. This intense, high-pressure industrial environment was inherently hazardous. Workers frequently pushed through exhaustion on a strict piece-work pay system, resulting in severe crush injuries, falls from high rigging, and chronic respiratory illnesses from toxic paints and dust—all meticulously recorded by the dockyard’s medical teams.

While the dockyard was traditionally a deeply masculine space, the total warfare of the twentieth century radically transformed its workforce. During the First and Second World Wars, thousands of women stepped into the breach to fill critical labour shortages. Known in the First World War as "Triangle Girls" due to the triangular brass badges worn on their overalls, these women took on heavy, skilled industrial roles previously thought entirely unsuited for them. They operated complex machinery, tested heavy anchor chains, worked in the sail lofts, handled hazardous munitions, and assisted in ship refitting and electrical wiring. This massive influx of female labour faced the exact same severe industrial risks and toxic exposures as their male counterparts, bringing new challenges to the dockyard's medical infrastructure and leaving an indelible mark on the social history of the naval home ports.

Eva Hallgrove