The Historic Warships Volunteer Group - consists of approximately 30 - 35 members, from a variety of backgrounds, who meet regularly at The Historic Dockyard Chatham to restore and maintain the Historic Warships and smaller vessels based at the Dockyard.  The group was formed around 10 years ago with just a handful of members and over the years has grown steadily to its present size.

A number of the members have either served in the Royal Navy, or worked at the Dockyard when it was still in use as a Navy Base.  Other volunteers come from a wide variety of backgrounds but all have in common a desire to restore and preserve our Naval and Maritime Heritage.

Most of our effort over the past few years has gone into HMS Cavalier, however, a few of our group spend their 'volunteer' days working on HMS Gannet with some others working on other tasks.  Some of the major projects on HMS Cavalier have now been completed although there will always be work that needs to bd done as well various items on HMS Gannet requiring attention.  Some of our members spend their time in the workshop, using the skills they acquired when working in the Royal Dockyard and/or the engineering industry.  With the machines and tools we have available it has been possible for a significant number of items (which form ships equipment) to be either repaired or remanufactured.  This has involved steel cutting, pressing, machining (on lathe and milling machines) and finishing. 

Other group members carry out less demanding, but nonetheless important, tasks such as cleaning and painting both the ship(s) and various items of equipment.  There is always a wide variety of jobs to be done and something can be found to suit everyone.

For more information on volunteers and volunteering opportunities at The Historic Dockyard, please click on the following link:  Volunteer Page on the Historic Dockyard Chatham Website