In 1803, the Corporation established the Blackwall Depot as a buoy workshop, and six district depots

were later established at Harwich, Great Yarmouth, East Cowes, Penzance, Holyhead and
Swansea. In December 2002, Trinity House announced that the Great Yarmouth, Penzance and
East Cowes depots would close. Today, Trinity House's operational headquarters is in Harwich,
supported by depots in Swansea and a flight operations base at St Just in Cornwall. Its operations
are also supported by three vessels; the two large tenders THV Patricia and THV Galatea, and the
Rapid Intervention Vessel THV Alert. A small secretariat is based at Tower Hill.
During the First World War, the Corporation served a number of functions: it buoyed shipping lanes
and naval operations, moved lightvessels, and laid hundreds of buoys. During the Second World
War, Trinity House kept sea lanes marked and lighted for Allied convoys. The Pilotage Service
guided ships to their ports under hazardous conditions; at the time of the Dunkirk evacuation, a
number of pilots helped in piloting vessels to and from the beaches.
On the night of 29 December 1940, Trinity House was destroyed by the most severe of the air
attacks on London; the interiors were completely gutted and many archives and treasures were lost.
(The restored house was reopened by HM Queen Elizabeth on 21 October 1953.)
In preparation for the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, Trinity House laid 73 lighted buoys and two
lightvessels to indicate a safe route for landing craft. Trinity House pilots were responsible for all
commercial vessels involved and many of the service vessels. In the month following D-Day, nearly
3,000 vessels were handled by 88 river pilots and nearly 2,000 ships by 115 sea pilots working day
and night.