LONDON has HMS Belfast, New York boasts the USS Intrepid and Portsmouth is home to HMS Victory. Could Southend be joining such big guns by getting a warship of its own?

A leading Southend councillor wants to see a warship moored next to Southend Pier as part of a vision to create a new “Golden Mile”.

Independent councillor Ron Woodley, deputy leader of Southend Council, spoke about his vision as new plans were revealed to invest in the 1.3-mile landmark.

Mr Woodley insisted “nothing was off limits” in making the pier the number one attraction in south Essex.

He is keen to see a warship anchored alongside the pier - similar to the HMS Belfast in London - as well as a London Dungeon-style attraction.

Echo:

History shows us that this is certainly not a bad idea.

Southend Pier has played host to numerous warships over the decades- and each time they have proved to be a titanic attraction.

In 1909 as part of an unprecedented Thames Naval Pageant one of the largest battleships in the British fleet, the Dreadnought, accompanied by her sisters, The Bellerophon, the Superb and the Temeraire dropped anchor at Southend.

The arrival of the fleet saw crowds of hundreds of thousands turning out.

One newspaper report described the hectic scene: “At every point on the foreshore and on steamers and boats dense crowds gathered and watched the arrival of the ships with interest and personal pride.

“The streets were almost impassable and the pier never carried a heavier burden.”

At one point so many people rushed through the turnstiles that the pier had to be closed. The ships stayed moored at Southend for a few days.

On the Sunday morning during their visit the ships’ sailors and crew came onto the shore and attended church services and special parades in the town.

In the summer of 1919, to celebrate the end of the First World War, a fleet of 100 battleships sailed to Southend, again causing a delightful frenzy amongst residents and tourists.

In lines reaching four deep and stretching for five miles in an unbroken sweep, the fleet anchored just west of the pier and included some of the most important from the war- including the Queens Elizabeth, the Lion, the Tiger and the Thunderer.

Throughout the 1920s warships were a regular sight at the end of the pier, with a number of special naval visits made. In 1928 HMS Vindictive arrived in Southend and anchored about a mile’ from the pierhead. The vessel, was accompanied by an escort of two seaplanes.

Then in May 1935 HMS Rodney- one of the largest warships in the world at the time- sailed into Southend. Unfortunately, the crowds of spectators who queued to go onboard the vessel also witnessed something they hadn’t expected- the drowning of a young seaman.

While attempting to catch a rope and with heavy seas running, Able Seaman Thomas Young, from Cornwall, was thrown overboard into the icy waters of the estuary.

People scrambled to help him and extensive searches were carried out but his body was not recovered.

Despite the accident the warship was over-run with visitors. People scrambled onto the 40,000 tonne vessel to see it nine 16 inch guns and to meet its crew of more than 1,300 souls.