Milford Haven Waterway
"Tell me how Wales was made so happy to inherit such a haven?" Imogen - Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Milford Haven Waterway is one of the deepest natural harbours in the world and has a particularly large tidal range. It has many historical features including several well preserved Napoleonic forts. The Haven also has a strong connection with the Tudors and Henry VII, who was born at Pembroke Castle. Mill Bay, on the banks of the Haven, was the landing place of the exiled Henry VII when he returned to Wales on his way to defeating King Richard III and claiming the Crown of England.
As well as a rich history the Haven is also rich in wildlife, much of it rare, and is home to otters and occasionally dolphins. It has many designations including the Registered Milford Haven Waterway Landscape of Outstanding Historic Interest. It has a long history with navy ships and shipbuilding, Sunderland flying boats and nowadays is sometimes used as a training area for Special Forces. The Haven also has connections to the energy industry and is the location of several testing sites for marine wave and tidal technologies
The Milford Haven Waterway has such a long and varied connection with shipping that it would be almost impossible to include everything on this website, so we have included a few examples that have a connection to the Rhoscrowther area and also provided some links to other sites that have further information.
Over the centuries Milford Haven has been visited by a wide variety of ships. One of these was the Navy ship, the Expedition, a 30-gun fourth rate ship of the line, which was involved in the siege of Pembroke in 1648. More about this can be found on our Heritage Page. Another famous Royal Navy Ship that has a connection to Milford Haven Waterway is HMS Warrior. Currently restored and berthed in Portsmouth Dockyard she spent part of her long history on the Haven. Warrior was launched on the 29th of December 1860 and she and her sister ship Black Prince were not only the most powerfully armed warships in the world they were also the strongest, largest and the fastest. Described as the greatest advance in ship design for centuries, the iron-clad ship patrolled the British Coast as part of the Channel Squadrons. In 1883, just over 20 years after she was built, Warrior was withdrawn from sea service and nearly 50 years after this, in 1929, she was bound for the Haven. Towed to Pembroke Dock on the banks of the Haven she was used for the next 50 years as an oil jetty named as Oil Fuel Hulk C77. During her time on the Haven she refuelled over 5,000 ships and was the only surviving example of the ironclad ships that were built from 1861. In 1979, when she was no longer needed at the oil depot, she was taken over for restoration by the Maritime Trust. She was towed out of the Haven and over 800 miles away to Hartlepool where the restoration project was carried out. In 1987 Warrior, restored to her original glory, returned to Portsmouth where she now serves as a museum ship and a visitor attraction. For more detailed information about Warrior's history please visit the HMS Warrior Website.
​
The Royal Navy dockyard at Pembroke Dock was built in 1814 and during more than 100 years of operation over 260 ships were built there. The first ship to be built was HMS Valorous, a 20 gun warship which was launched in 1816 and had 135 crew. The most well known ship to be built at Pembroke Dock was HMS Erebus which was launched on 7th June 1826. The ships built at Pembroke Dock would have sailed (or been towed) past Rhoscrowther, Pwllcrochan and the surrounding area on their way out of the Haven and out to sea. HMS Erebus met with a famous, but tragic, ending after she was abandoned in April 1848 in the Canadian Arctic during an expedition to the Northwest passage, which sadly resulted in the loss of 129 crew.