sandbank in the Thames Estuary, extending between Shoeburyness (north) and Sheerness (south), county of Kent, southeastern England. The Nore Lightship, anchored 4 miles (6 km) southeast of Shoeburyness, was the first to be established in English waters (1732). The Nore anchorage was much-used by the English fleet in the wars of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1797 sailors at The Nore mutinied against their conditions, and their leader, Richard Parker, was hanged from the yardarm of his ship. Until 1961 The Nore gave its name to a naval command for the eastern area of England. The name is used also for the estuarine area that roughly coincides with the naval port of Sheerness.