The Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE) and later known as the Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE) was a department of the British Admiralty and later

Navy Department (Ministry of Defence) The Navy Department (Ministry of Defence) was a former ministerial service department of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) responsible for the control and direction of His Majesty's Naval Service. It was established on 1 April 1964 when t ...

responsible for research and development, into the design and testing of devices, equipment, and techniques in-regard to naval communications, electronic counter-measures, radar missile control and other related fields it was based at

Portsdown Hill Portsdown Hill is a long chalk ridge in Hampshire, England. The highest point of the hill lies within Fort Southwick at 131m above sea level. The ridge offers good views to the south over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, wit ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1959 to 1984.

History

In 1959 the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (AGE) and Admiralty Signals and Radar Establishment (ASRE) were merged to form Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE), this was due to advances in missile technologies research. It was responsible for research and development in relation to naval communications, missile control systems by use of radar, and electronic counter-measures. In 1971 as the ASWE was expanding its work it assumed responsibility for navigational compass development, this resulted in the

Admiralty Compass Observatory The Admiralty Compass Observatory, originally known as the Compass Branch (1842–1917) and later known as the Compass Department (1917–1968) and Compass Directorate (1968–1971) was established in 1842 to provide the Royal Navy with services f ...

becoming its Navigation Division within this department. In 1984 as part of a further centralisation of

R & D Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

work being undertaken by the Ministry of Defence, it was merged with two other departments the

Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment The Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment was an Admiralty research department dedicated to underwater detection systems and weapons. It was formed at the Isle of Portland in 1959 and later became part of the Admiralty Research Agency (ARE) ...

(AUWE) and

Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment The Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment was formed in 1977 by the merger of the Admiralty Experiment Works, the Admiralty Materials Laboratory, the Admiralty Research Laboratory, the Central Dockyard Laboratory, the Naval Construction Rese ...

(AMTE) to form the Admiralty Research Establishment (ARE).National Archives.(1918-1983).(ADM220)

Footnotes

References

* Archives, The National. (1918-1983) "Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment and predecessors: Records". discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk. National Archives, U.K. ADM 220. * Harding, Richard (2005). The Royal Navy, 1930-2000: Innovation and Defence. Hove, Sussex, England: Psychology Press. .

Timeline

* Admiralty Experimental Department, (1917-1941) * Admiralty Signal Establishment, (1941-1948) * Admiralty Signal and Radar Establishment, Portsmouth (1948-1959) and Admiralty Gunnery Establishment (1931-1959) * Admiralty Surface Weapons Establishment (ASWE), Portsdown, Portsmouth (1959-1984)

External links

{{Admiralty Department, state=collapsed Admiralty departments History of telecommunications in the United Kingdom Military research establishments of the United Kingdom Research institutes in Hampshire Royal Navy shore establishments 1959 establishments in the United Kingdom 1984 disestablishments in the United Kingdom