Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches

Commander-in-Chief, Western Approaches was the Royal Navy’s wartime command responsible for protecting British shipping in the Western Approaches during the Second World War. Its headquarters moved from Plymouth to Derby House in Liverpool in February 1941 after France fell and convoy routes shifted north. Admiral Sir Percy Noble took charge at Derby House and built up escort bases at Greenock, Derry and Liverpool with training that shaped the Battle of the Atlantic. Admiral Max Horton succeeded Noble in November 1942 and organised support groups that hunted submarines with greater freedom, helping to defeat the U-boat menace by 1945. The Western Approaches Tactical Unit, led by Captain Gilbert Roberts and staffed almost entirely by women, developed new anti-submarine tactics from the top floor of the Exchange Buildings. The reinforced core of Derby House’s command bunker survives as the Western Approaches Museum, opened to the public in 1993. Big Heritage took over the site in 2017, restored it and uncovered hidden parts of the bunker complex. During the COVID-19 lockdown the museum reopened further rooms and restored the main chart in the operations room. Visitor numbers rose sharply and the site now ranks among Liverpool’s most popular historic attractions. Only a small part of the original complex is open, yet the preserved spaces show how the command worked under pressure. Visitors walk through restored corridors and rooms that once housed plotting tables, signals offices and the operations room where convoys were tracked. The bunker’s reinforced walls and low ceilings give a sense of the wartime urgency that filled the building. Photographs, documents and equipment illustrate the roles of the commanders, the tactical unit and the support groups. Outside, Exchange Square links the museum to the Exchange Buildings where the Western Approaches Tactical Unit once worked. The site stands as a quiet memorial to the thousands who served in the command and helped secure the Atlantic supply routes.