HMS President (formerly Gannet)

Last Update: 09 September 2011

Training Ship Mercury in Pictures

The Illovo was replaced in 1914 by HMS President, loaned to the school by the Admiralty. HMS President had been a drill ship in London for the Royal Naval Reserve but prior to this she had served in the Royal Navy during the 1880s as HMS Gannet. HMS Gannet was an Osprey class composite (iron frame, wood planked) sloop. She had engines as well as sail and could use either depending upon conditions. As HMS President she had had her upperworks removed and replaced by an accommodation deck and this is as she was when she arrived at TS Mercury.

Figureheads - The original HMS Gannet figurehead was removed when the vessel was converted to HMS President in about 1902. It was placed with a collection of figureheads at the Royal Naval Depot at Sheerness but in the late 1950s it found its way back to the Mercury. Its history is unclear following the closure of the school but it is known that in the late 1980s it was sold to the Stadtisches Maritime Museum at Flensburg in Germany where it is assumed to be to this day. When the ship was restored to its original form (i.e. HMS Gannet), a replica figurehead was built. The HMS President figurehead was later restored and was last known to be at the entrance to the Fishmonger's Hall near London Bridge.