Nore 1804293 225978992 2008-07-16T08:41:29Z Buckshot06 1938651 link {{otheruses}} The '''Nore''' is a [[sandbank]] at the mouth of the [[Thames Estuary]], [[England]], near the town of [[Sheerness]] on the [[Isle of Sheppey]]. It marks the point where the [[River Thames]] meets the [[North Sea]]. The Nore is a hazard to shipping, so in 1732 the world's first [[lightship]] was moored over it<ref name=PortCities>[http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/ConNarrative.64/chapterId/1506/Trinity-House.html "Trinity House: Lightvessels"] [http://www.portcities.org.uk/london/server/show/nav.001008 PortCities London]</ref> in an experiment by [[Robert Hamblin]], who patented the idea. The experiment must have proved successful, because by 1819 England had nine lightships.<ref name=PortCities/> The Nore lightship was run by [[Trinity House]], Britain's [[General Lighthouse Authority]]. The early Nore lightships were small wooden vessels, often Dutch-built [[galliot]]s.<ref name=PortCities/> By the end of the 19th century a larger ship with a revolving light had appeared, but after about 1915 the authorities ceased to use a lightship. Sea Reach No. 1 Buoy [[as of 2006| now]] marks the anchorage-point of the former lightship, about mid-way between [[Shoeburyness]] in [[Essex]] and the Isle of Sheppey in [[Kent]]. This defines the limit of the Thames and the beginning of the North Sea. From 1899 to 1955, the [[Royal Navy]] maintained a [[Nore Command|Commander-in-Chief at the Nore]], a senior officer responsible for protecting the entrance to the port of [[London]], and merchant traffic along the east coast of Britain. ==Mutiny== In May/June 1797 the anchorage adjoining the Nore witnessed a mutiny in the British [[Royal Navy]] fleet then lying here, known as the [[Spithead and Nore mutinies|Mutiny of the Nore]]. ==References== {{Reflist}} *{{1911}} [[Category:Landforms of England]] [[Category:River Thames]] [[ja:ノア (イングランド)]] [[fi:Nore]]