Baltic Fleet

The pub is actually in two parts, the original building called the Turners Vaults circa 1853, built to a late Georgian design. This was built on a small piece of land left after a compulsory purchase order to widen the dock road & develop Wapping Dock. The second building called The Baltic fleet was then built circa 1856, to a Victorian design. Turners Vaults originally served the local community on Hurst Street and The Baltic fleet was built to serve the dockers. In the early 1900’s the two parts became one pub and since then has been known as The Baltic Fleet.‚ The two architectural styles are clearly visible as you walk round this grade II listed pub.‚ The name Baltic Fleet could have come from the area’s links with the Baltic trade throughout the 18th & 19th centuries, it might also be linked to the British naval fleet that sailed to Kronstadt during the Crimea Campaign to blockade the Russian Baltic Fleet.

During the late 18th & early 19th centuries the Royal Navy was hungry for experienced sailors (they had enough volunteers from the prisons) & the press operated on Shaws Alley (very close to the site the pub was to be built on). A small crew plus some local militia & a tipstaff would descend on the slumbering merchant seamen early in the morning. Word would quickly spread & running battles would ensue. These always ended with the ringleaders being caught & “impressed”.
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The Baltic Fleet located so close to the docks was perfectly positioned to cater for the needs of transient seamen. A tunnel was created and still exist today heading in the direction of the docks, and a second possible tunnel that points at the old red light area of Cornhill. The tunnel pointing towards the dockland could have been used for‚ victualling‚ ships, smuggling or crimping (the merchant naval equivalent of press ganging.

Well what could be better than a history of press gangs and prostitutes? How about a landlord who was arrested and taken to court for biting the buttocks of a customer and blamed the crime on his parrot, or one who dressed as an admiral and rode a white horse through the centre of Liverpool to promote the pub and who kept a set of handcuffs behind the bar to subdue people when they got out of hand.

The Baltic Fleet is a pub awash with the past and very much in touch with the present. We no longer drug you and sell you into slavery, or even shackle you to the bar to ensure you order another pint. Our beer is so good there simply wouldn’t be any need!