Chatham has had an association with the Royal Navy since Elizabethan times moving to its current site in 1622 It provided the facilities to build repair maintain & supply ships In the mid-nineteenth century work began on expanding the dockyard into St Mary's Island where three huge basins & five new docks were constructed almost quadrupling its size in order to support twentieth-century vessels Work then commenced on a new home for Royal Navy seamen The new barracks HMS Pembroke opened in 1903 providing accommodation for 5000 officers & ratings for the following eighty years The dockyard & barracks finally closed in 1984 & the Royal Navy bid farewell to Chatham However its legacy remains & its many historic dockyard & barrack buildings provide a warm welcome for residents & visitors alike