HMS Eaglet has been on hand when required for 100 years now, and as the Liverpool Royal Naval Reserve unit starts her second century, that sense of duty is as strong as ever.

The commitment and sacrifice of former members of the unit are made plain by two immaculately-maintained carved rolls of honour, engraved with the names of volunteer sailors who died for their country in two World Wars.

And no reserve unit of the Royal Navy, say the men and women of Eaglet, has shown greater commitment to the White Ensign than their own.

On its 100th birthday – the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve unit on Merseyside, the true precursor of today’s RNR, was founded in January 1904 – Eaglet can count on more than 280 men and women.

The original Royal Naval Reserve unit on Merseyside, HMS Eagle, was founded in the 1860s, and the sailors were given the Georgian fourth-rate ship of the same name as their base – the ship’s wheel can be found proudly on display in today’s Eaglet.

The Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was added to the Eagle family in 1904 – hence this year’s celebrations.

The hulk served the reservists well for more than six decades until, showing signs of decay, she was paid off in the mid-1920s.

The copper protecting her wooden frame was stripped off by breakers, but the ship herself burned before anything of use could be taken off her.

By the time the ship was towed away, Eagle had become Eaglet – the ‘t’ was added when the RN commissioned the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle in 1918.

And so it has remained ever since, first in the hulk, then a World War I sloop Sir Bevis, which became the second Eaglet in 1926, then a four-storey land-based HQ by the Mersey’s edge in 1971, and finally in the purpose-built centre in the heart of Liverpool’s reborn docklands which was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1998.

And although there has been no Eagle for three decades – and no ship in the RN is likely to bear the name in the foreseeable future – Eaglet is unlikely to lose that ‘t’ she gained nearly 90 years ago. The name Eaglet is too well established in the North West to change it now.

The modern three-storey building stands around a mile or so upriver of the city’s famous Liver Building, and blends comfortably with the modern town houses and offices which have sprung up along the banks of the Mersey – although Second Sea Lord Vice Admiral James Burnell-Nugent thought it grander than his own Victory Building headquarters when he made a recent visit.

Across the river lie the dormant sheds of shipbuilder Cammell Laird, where once great names such as Ark Royal and Prince of Wales were sent down the slipways.

The docks in this part of Liverpool are no longer crowded with merchantmen – yachts and pleasure cruisers have taken their place, along with University RN Unit (URNU) training vessels HMS Biter and Charger, serving students of Manchester and Liverpool respectively.

Eaglet is a beacon for the RNR as the reservists begin their second century – a modern building with modern-thinking sailors espousing the world-renowned traditions of the Royal Navy.

The backgrounds of the men and women at Eaglet are as varied as you’d expect in any part-time unit – among their number are a banker, building surveyor, insurance assessor, assembly line worker and a body shop foreman.

And in a new world order after the events of September 11, Britain is turning increasingly to these reservists in time of crisis.

Throughout the Cold War era, the RNR was seen chiefly as a counter to the Soviet threat, running convoys across the Atlantic and minesweepers.

Counter to the perceived wisdom of the time, the collapse of the Eastern Bloc has seen not less but greater use of reservists, tapping their knowledge and expertise.

And the part-time sailors have been taking the chance to prove themselves in Afghanistan and most recently Iraq.

“For most of my career, the RNR had been designed to counter the Russian threat. If someone had said I’d be mobilised for Afghanistan and Iraq, I would never have believed them,” said intelligence officer Lt Cdr Simon Ryan, who relished the chance “to do something I’d been trained for at last”.

War has naturally been an eye-opener... but not just for the Reservists.

“We were amazed at working side-by-side with regulars – there was no difference,” said logistician LS(L) Gary Doke, by day a bank manager, who was mobilised for Operation Telic alongside 30 Eaglet shipmates.

“People just saw the hook on my shoulders. A lot of the time people didn’t realise I was RNR. I was surprised how good the training was.”

It’s a view shared by PO Adrian Jones, one of the handful of full-timers at Eaglet.

“It’s been an eye-opener for me,” he conceded. “I didn’t know this place existed before I came here.

“You see that it’s exactly the same as being in the mainstream Navy. And you can also see that the RNR is becoming more and more specialised.”

Among the 30 Eaglet crew mobilised during last year’s campaign in Iraq were medics, intelligence experts and logisticians, upholding a tradition which began in the Great War.

Then, most of Eaglet’s complement was fed into the Royal Naval Division in Gallipoli and later the Western Front.

A generation later, sailors of the North West again served their country proudly – many as gunners in anti-aircraft cruisers.

Operation Telic has not brought a flood of new recruits through the RNR’s doors, although interest is picking up.

But in a region traditionally seen as a heartland of Navy recruiting, Eaglet’s presence is crucial – “We are the Royal Navy in the North West,” said support manager Lt Cdr Brian Murphy.

That is certainly the case geographically – the nearest Naval enclaves away from the three main bases are RNR units in Birmingham, Nottingham and Greenock on the Clyde, so it is no surprise that Eaglet spreads her net far and wide.

The majority of ratings live relatively close to Eaglet, but most of the officers live far from Merseyside. Preston, Blackpool, Manchester, Harrogate, North Wales – all fall within the unit’s catchment area.

“We are a high profile unit – and our building is the jewel in the RNR crown,” Lt Cdr Murphy said.

“Although we’re based in Liverpool, we’re not Liverpudlian. We represent the North.

“You only have to look at our boards of remembrance to see the commitment Eaglet has made. That has continued. We had more people mobilised than any other RNR unit for Operation Telic.”

What frustrates Eaglet’s complement probably frustrates every RN reservist.

“We are the silent few but we do the best job,” said AB(MW) Paul Lee. “Everyone knows about the Territorial Army, they certainly know about the Army and the Royal Marines and the Navy, but the RNR? Who are they?”

S(MW) Lennie Bragg added: “Eaglet is a good community – there’s great comradeship here.

“Everyone in the RNR knows of Eaglet. We do a bloody good job. We don’t try to be better than anyone else.”

Eaglet’s building is also home to Royal Marines Reserves, Sea Cadets, senior officers and recruiters.

Commodore John Madgwick, the RN’s regional officer, says Eaglet’s footprint in the North West is vital for the Senior Service.

It is his task to ensure visits by RN vessels in his patch – from the Mersey eastwards to Hull, north to Northumberland and back west to the Scottish borders – run like clockwork. Last year he had to ensure 150 visits were accommodated.

“This is one of the most fruitful areas for recruitment for the Royal Navy, so Eaglet is very special to us. It’s a terrific centre,” the commodore said.

“This is a prestigious building, we’re close to the community and together, we do a hell of a lot.”

One of the more unusual recruits to the unit was Tramp, a mongrel dog found starving and very ill in a puddle under the yacht Faraway, which was stored in one of the sheds on the quay alongside Eaglet III at Salthouse Dock in the 1960s.

He was cared for by Shipkeeper Fred Dalton, and was rated as an AB on the ship’s books so that his food was provided from Admiralty funds.

Tramp lived in the shipkeeper’s cabin under the care of CPO George Williams and Fred Dalton, and attained a ripe old age.

• Centenary events at HMS Eaglet include:

May 8: Centenary concert by the Band of the Royal Marines at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall
May 9: Centenary service at St Nicholas Parish Church and blessing of Eaglet’s new bell
May 15-16: Sports weekend
June 16: Ceremonial divisions and parade of Sovereign’s Colour
July 3: Ship’s company ball