In the Second World War, the pier was taken over by the Royal Navy and was renamed HMS Leigh, closing to the public in September 1939.

Following the war, around six million people visited the pier in 1949, exceeding pre-war visitor numbers, with new attractions opening during the 1950s.

Just ten years later in 2005, another fire destroyed much of the wooden planking and caused significant damage to the old pierhead and surrounding structures.

[5] The Southend coast consists of mudflats that extend far from the shore, with a high tide depth that seldom exceeds 5.5 metres (18 ft).

[3] To counter this trend, local dignitaries pushed for a pier to be built that would allow boats to reach Southend at all tides.

The campaign was led by Southend resident Sir William Heygate, who was the former Lord Mayor of the City of London.

[8] Just over two months later on 25 July, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir William Thompson laid the foundation stone of the first section of the pier.

[14] Statistics reported in 1903 suggested that during the year, around 1 million people had paid admission to use the pier while 250,000 passengers had alighted from pleasure steamboats.

[21] The years following the war saw the heyday of Southend Pier and it became necessary to increase facilities to allow for a greater number of boats to dock.

[25] Southend Pier celebrated its centenary on 23 July 1935 when Lord Richie of Dundee, chairman of the Port of London Authority unveiled a bronze plaque on the pierhead.

[26] The centenary was not celebrated in 1930, which would have been 100 years after its first opening, as 1835 reflects the date when the Admiralty began to include Southend Pier on their navigation charts.

[27] During the Second World War, Southend Pier was taken over by the Royal Navy and was renamed HMS Leigh, closing to the public on 9 September 1939 and becoming the Naval Control Centre for the Thames Estuary.

[29] The ship, which sank in August 1944 and split in half, is visible from the North Kent coast and Southend beach at low tide, although subject to a 500-metre exclusion zone due to the present day threat posed to navigation and the surrounding area.

[38] The investigation into the cause was inconclusive, with the official reason recorded as unknown, although a discarded cigarette end was considered likely.

[39] A fire in November 1977 severely damaged the bowling alley and in October the following year, safety concerns led to the closure of the pier railway.

[43] On 7 June 1995, an electrical fault ignited a fire in the bowling alley, spreading rapidly through the timber roof[44] and onto the railway station within two hours, before being brought under control by the afternoon.

Although insurance covered the majority of repair costs, the council had to contribute £26,000 (equivalent to £61,644 in 2023) from the pier's structural maintenance budget.

Radio Caroline provided electricity via a spare generator aboard their ship, enabling shops and attractions to function until the mains supply could be restored.

A bid for European Objective 2 funding was agreed in principle in October 1999, to spend money on improving the area around the town centre and pier.

[50] A new pier bridge was built raised to enable taller vehicles to pass under it, as a recurring problem had been double-decker buses getting stuck underneath.

[53] The fire was thought to have started in McGinty's Bar at around 21:10,[54] but due to the location and the extent of damage, the cause was never formally determined, although assumed as an accident.

[55] No one was reported injured,[56] although firefighters encountered difficulties extinguishing the blaze as pumps installed on the pier were rendered ineffective.

[57] Contrary to reports, the low tide at the time was not believed to be a contributing factor towards the difficulties faced by fire crews.

[60] Shortly after the fire, pieces of charred planking appeared for sale on eBay with the proceeds apparently going to the RNLI.

[62] On 15 September 2009, Southend Borough Council announced the winner of a design contest for a new pierhead – a Sweden-based architecture firm, White, with London-based structural engineers Price & Myers.

[70] The original wooden pier built in 1830 employed a horse tramway from 1846,[71] to convey goods and visitors to the pierhead.

[74] Pierhead station was temporarily resited due to the fire in late 2005, until a new, modern structure was opened on the original site in September 2009.

Lifeboat crews use an electric buggy, complete with sirens and blue flashing lights, to access this boathouse along the pier from the shore.