Work on the harbour and dock at West Hartlepool began in January 1845. When opened on 1^st June 1847 it covered an area of 8 acres. Among the earliest businesses to set up here were the shipbuilders Irvine and Pile, and Lauder’s timber yard and sawmill. The docks also provided refuge and shelter to a vast number of ships during gales. The first ship to enter the dock was the barque Prince, commanded by Captain Black, from Jersey.

HMS Warrior was the name ship of her class of two 40-gun steam-powered armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy in 1859–61. She and her sister ship, HMS Black Prince were the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warships, and were built in response to France's launching in 1859 of the first ocean-goingiron clad warship, the wooden-hulled Gloire. Warrior conducted a publicity tour of Great Britain in 1863 and spent her active career with the Channel Squadron. She became obsolescent following the 1871 launching of the mastless and more capable HMS Devastation, was placed in reserve in 1875, and was paid off in 1883.

She subsequently served as a storeship and depot ship, and in 1904 was assigned to the Royal Navy's torpedo training school. The ship was converted into an oil jetty in 1927 and remained in that role until 1979, at which point she was donated by the Navy to the Maritime Trust for restoration. The restoration process took place in Hartlepool, over a span of eight years, during which many of her features and fittings were either restored or recreated. When this was finished she returned to Portsmouth as a museum ship. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Warrior has been based in Portsmouth since 1987.