DEVONPORT, a seaport, garrison and market town of Devonshire, England, served by the S.R. and G.W.R. Pop. (1921) 70,497 ; area 2,303 acres. Devonport is the seat of one of the royal dockyards, and an important naval and military station. It is situated on the west of Plymouth and the east shore of the Hamoaze (or estuary of the Tamar and the Lynher) at its entrance into Plymouth Sound. The "three towns" of Devon port, East Stonehouse (in the middle) and Plymouth now form one unit. Devonport is connected with East Stonehouse by a bridge over Stonehouse Pool, an inlet of Plymouth harbour. A ferry across the Hamoaze connects it with the wooded peninsula of Mount Edgcumbe on the Cornish shore, and river steamers ply to Saltash and St. Germans higher up the river; at Morice Town a floating bridge connects with Tor Point in Cornwall. Devonport owes its origin to the royal dockyard on the Hamoaze, begun in 1689, and was called Plymouth Dock until 1824 when it changed its name to Devonport. The "old town" which grew up around the dockyard is marked by the fortified "lines," known as the Brickfields, now mostly demolished and providing an open space and parade grounds, with Devonport park (37 ac.) at the northern end. Beyond lie the districts of Stoke or Stoke Damerel, Ford and Morice Town on the Hamoaze to the north. Stoke Damerel, a residential suburb, is the mother parish of Devon port and contains the old parish church of St. Andrew, originally Perpendicular with a 15th century tower. Morice Town is a rapidly growing district which has arisen round Keyham Steam Yard, the second of the government dockyards, which was added in 1853, with its own iron and brass foundries, machinery shops, engineer students' shops, and docks and basins along the Hamoaze. St. Budeaux to the north was joined to Devonport in 1914.
There are several points of elevation in Devonport, and the prospect from Mount Wise at the southern extremity of the old town overlooking the harbour and its shores is one of the finest on the south coast. Here, together with a naval signalling station, is the residence of the commander-in-chief, or port admiral, of the Plymouth Naval Command, as well as the headquarters and residence of the general officer commanding the south-western military area. A national memorial to Capt. R. F. Scott and his four companions of the South Polar expedition was erected here in 1925. From here the Raglan, George Square and other naval and military barracks and quarters extend northwards to the St. Budeaux barracks and naval ordnance depot at Bull Point. Stonehouse Pool is lined with the new quays, wharves and boat building yards; at the northern end is the military hospital facing the naval hospital in Stonehouse. Among the public build ings and institutions of Devonport are the town hall (1822), market house (1852) and public library, close to which is a granite column commemorating the renaming of the town in 1824, the Royal United Services' and the Royal Dockyard orphanages, as well as the Royal Albert hospital, and a Sailors' Rest.
Devonport is a station of the Western division of the Home Fleet. The Admiralty moorings in the Hamoaze extend for 3 miles. Between the royal and the Keyham yards, now known as the South and North yards respectively, is the Gun Wharf (c. 21 ac.) on the Hamoaze, first laid out in 1718, with armoury, storehouses, etc. ; the three establishments are connected by a tunnel at their boundaries. In 1907 an extension of 118 ac. was made to the North yard, including a tidal basin of 1 o ac. and closed basin of 351 ac. (with coaling depot and direct access to the Hamoaze), each with a depth of 32 ft. at low-water springs, and affording access to large new graving docks of 700 800 ft. length. The South yard also contains a sail factory and a ropery where a large part of the hempen ropes used in the navy are produced.
By the Reform Act of 1832 Devonport became a parliamentary borough including East Stonehouse and returning two members. It was incorporated in 1837. In 1914 it amalgamated with Plymouth. The ground on which it stands is largely the property of the St. Aubyn family (Baron St. Levan), as lords of the manor.