Shannon & Chesapeake

A somewhat unusual name for a pub it was by no means unique to Plymouth as there is another, still open today, in Lancashire (Todmorden) and there is a Shannon, in Suffolk (Bucklesham) and a Two Ships (in Rochdale) all of which commemorate the same event: namely the celebrated sea battle off Boston Harbour in 1813 between HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake.

The former was well-known in Plymouth before the incident, having been here in 1808, 1809 with a captured French cutter, and 1811, when her hull was re-coppered.  Commanded on each occasion by Captain Philip Broke, the Shannon’s crew were well-trained and well-disciplined and by the summer of 1813 Britain had suffered a couple of embarrassments at the hands of the American Navy, so Broke’s success over the Chesapeake made him a national hero and did much to restore morale across the country.

The pub stood on the corner of Pembroke Street and Canterbury Street.

Licensees

1847 - Mary Crispin
1852 - George Soper
1867 - William Gordon