HMS Eastbourne

Two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Eastbourne, after the East Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne:

HMS Eastbourne (F73)

HMS Eastbourne was a Whitby-class or Type 12 anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.

Operational Service

Early in her career Eastbourne was the leader of the 4th Frigate Squadron and in 1966 was leader of the Dartmouth Training Squadron.

In 1972, Eastbourne replaced Rapid as the 'afloat' training ship for the artificer apprentices at HMS Caledonia. During their 14 weeks aboard ship, the apprentices were trained in general engineering and were examined for their auxiliary machinery certificates. She also took part in the Royal Navy's Fleet Review in celebration of HM the Queen's Silver Jubilee.

Harbour training ship

In 1976 she was dispatched to Iceland to assist in the Cod War and was damaged in a collision with the Icelandic Gunboat Baldur. During the subsequent repairs in Rosyth in 1977, a hull inspection found that Eastbourne was no longer fit for sea, though her machinery was still in good condition. Her propellers were removed, and 'brake wheels' were fitted as a replacement. This enabled her to be steamed at full power with no forward movement. This enabled the apprentices to assist in operation of her machinery at full power, with the added benefit of churning the dockyard basin water up to improve its aeration. Officers under training from Royal Naval Engineering College Manadon were also able to be trained onboard before their first sea draft.

Eastbourne

Eastbourne ( pronunciation ) is a large town, seaside resort, and borough in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex on the south coast of England, 19 miles (31 km) east of Brighton. Eastbourne is immediately to the east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain. With a seafront consisting largely of Victorian hotels, a pier, and a Napoleonic era fort and military museum, Eastbourne was developed by the Duke of Devonshire from 1859 from four separate hamlets. It has a growing population, a broad economic base, and is home to companies in a wide range of industries.

Though Eastbourne is a relatively new town, there is evidence of human occupation in the area from the Stone Age. The town grew as a fashionable tourist resort largely thanks to prominent landowner, William Cavendish, later to become the Duke of Devonshire. Cavendish appointed architect Henry Currey to design a street plan for the town, but not before sending him to Europe to draw inspiration. The resulting mix of architecture is typically Victorian and remains a key feature of Eastbourne.

Eastbourne (UK Parliament constituency)

Coordinates: 50°46′41″N 0°17′10″E / 50.778°N 0.286°E / 50.778; 0.286

Eastbourne is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since May 2015 by Caroline Ansell (Conservative).

Constituency profile

Before 1990 almost always a safe Conservative seat, and with larger borders, Eastbourne since 1983 has been narrowed to the town and its immediate outskirts, primarily in the South Downs National Park. The town is towards the edge of the reasonable London Commuter Belt and is a coastal resort town that has had only marginal majorities following the 1990 by-election between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats for many years. A Liberal Democrat gained the seat at the 2010 general election, in an election which saw the 6th lowest Labour share of the vote of the 631 candidates who stood at the election, on 4.8%.

Boundaries

The constituency comprises all nine electoral wards of Eastbourne Borough, as well as the wards of Willingdon and Wannock in the Wealden district.

Eastbourne (disambiguation)

Eastbourne is a town in East Sussex, United Kingdom. It may also refer to: