Western Approaches - Liverpool War Museum, Liverpool

Western Approaches Command was a major operational command of the Royal Navy during World War II. The command was responsible for the safety of British shipping in the Western Approaches. After the fall of France in June 1940, the main North Atlantic convoy routes were diverted around the north of Ireland through the north-western approaches. By late 1940, the location of the command’s headquarters at Plymouth was increasingly awkward and the decision was taken to move the command to Liverpool. On 7 February 1941, Western Approaches Command was divided and its headquarters was moved from Plymouth to Derby House, Liverpool. The reinforced central core of the command bunker at Derby House, Liverpool proved too costly to demolish, and so whilst the rest of the building has been converted to modern offices, the bunker has been restored as a museum, open to the public. The museum is known as the Western Approaches - Liverpool War Museum.