Plymouth is a city and unitary authority in South West England. Historically, it was part of the county of Devon and was Britain's greatest naval base. Now one of Britain's few remaining naval dockyards, it is situated at the mouths of the rivers Plym and Tamar. Heavily blitzed by the Luftwaffe during World War II, Plymouth was one of the English cities to be rebuilt by Lord Abercrombie in the 1950s.
Plymouth became the first town incorporated by the English Parliament on November 12, 1439.
Modern Plymouth is actually an agglomeration of three separate towns: Plymouth, Devonport and East Stonehouse; this amalgamation occurred in 1914, and prior to the merger, they were referred to collectively as "The Three Towns".
Most visitors to Plymouth are drawn to the spectacular Plymouth Hoe, a stretch of greensward overlooking the sea and Plymouth Sound; it is believed that this is the place where Sir Francis Drake completed his game of bowls before setting sail to defeat the Spanish Armada.
Plymouth has a university, the University of Plymouth which has a slight tendency to specialise in naval and maritime related disciplines.
It is one of the primary gateways to Cornwall providing access by way of the Torpoint Ferry across the Hamoaze, the mouth of the Tamar, and the Tamar Bridge linking the A38 through the St Budeaux area of Plymouth on the Devon bank of the Tamar to Saltash on the Cornish bank. The major rail link to Cornwall, the Royal Albert Bridge runs side-by-side with the road bridge but, as its name suggests, it was built much earlier by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
The city has one football club which plays football at the national level, Plymouth Argyle F.C. The Labour MP and former leader of the Labour Party, Michael Foot, is a Plymothian and is now a director of Plymouth Argyle.
Devonport Dockyard [1] [1], located in the city of Plymouth, England in the county of Devon is the largest naval base in Western Europe. It has 15 dry docks, four miles of waterfront, 25 tidal berths, 5 basins and covers 650 acres. It is the main refitting base for Royal Navy nuclear submarines and also handles work on frigates. It is the base for 7 of the Trafalgar class nuclear powered hunter-killer submarines and many frigates, exploiting it's convenient access to the Atlantic Ocean. Work to upgrade it to support the Vanguard class Trident missile nuclear ballistic missile submarines in a custom-built refitting dock has been ongoing. It houses HMS Courageous, a nuclear powered submarine used in the Falklands War and open to the general public[1]. Facilities in the local area also include a major naval training establishment and the base for the Royal Marines.
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During World War II, Plymouth was one of Britain's principal naval dockyards, and this naval tradition continues to the present day. Plymouth was extensively blitzed during WWII, to the extent that approximately twice the amount of housing stock that existed prior to the war was destroyed during it (as a consequence of rebuilt houses being successively hit). Although the dockyards were the principal targets, civilian casualties were inevitably very high indeed.
Plymouth was also one of the principal staging posts for the Normandy landings in June 1944.
Plymouth in the Second World War
Places in Plymouth
Places to visit