HMS ''Osprey'' was an anti-submarine training establishment located at the

Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. The southern tip, Portland Bill, lies south of the resort of Weymouth, Dorset, Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A barrier ...

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. It was active between 1924 and 1941, and again from 1946 to 1999. The helicopter station RNAS Portland formed part of the establishment from 1959 to 1999. In 1948 ''Osprey'' took over (from HMS ''Boscawen'') as parent ship of the

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

as a whole, with responsibility for pay, movement, administration and accounting. Subsequently all Portland-based naval personnel were borne on HMS ''Osprey'', up until 1999 when ''Osprey'' was decommissioned.

History

With the development of anti-submarine equipment such as depth charges, howitzers and hydrophones during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, HMS ''Osprey'' was born from the increasing need for anti-submarine training and research. The establishment at Portland was commissioned as an independent shore command and parent ship of the First Anti-Submarine Flotilla on 1 April 1924. It was responsible for training personnel in the use of anti-submarine equipment and the development of experimental equipment, including ASDIC and later sonar. HMS ''Osprey'' moved ashore in 1927 as a shore-based establishment. Following a major rebuild, King

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire, and Emperor of India, from 20 January ...

made an official visit to view the establishment in 1936. Due to HM Naval Base Portland being a prime target of the Luftwaffe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, ''Osprey'' was transferred to Dunoon in Scotland in 1940, leaving Portland's shore-base to become HMS ''Attack'' (a Coastal Forces base). HMS ''Osprey'' returned to Portland in 1946, as did the experimental section (which had been relocated separately to Fairlie for the duration of the war). The latter retained its independence after the war, evolving into HM Underwater Detection Establishment (HMUDE) in 1947. In 1959-60, HMUDE merged with a number of other establishments to become 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 Establishmen ...

(AUWE). Owing to the highly classified work carried out there during the Cold War, the AUWE became the centre of worldwide attention in 1961 after the discovery of espionage infiltration. This became infamously known as the

Portland spy ring The Portland spy ring was an spy ring, espionage group active in the UK between 1953 and 1961. It comprised five people who obtained classified research documents from the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) on the Isle of Port ...

, a Soviet spy ring that operated in England from the 1950s till 1961 when the core of the network were arrested by the British security services. 1959 also saw the establishment of RNAS Portland as part of HMS ''Osprey''; it was responsible for developing helicopters in an anti-submarine role, including the training of crews. From 1968, HMS ''Osprey'' was one of the designated locations for plan

PYTHON Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (prog ...

, the plan for

continuity of government Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war. Continuity of government was developed by the Br ...

in the event of nuclear war. The end of the Cold War and subsequent defence budget cuts resulted in the closure of HM Naval Base Portland in 1995, as well as the AUWE research establishments, by then operated by the

Defence Evaluation and Research Agency The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) between 1995 and 2 July 2001. At the time it was the United Kingdom's largest science and technology organisation. It was regarded by its official h ...

(DERA). RNAS Portland's closure followed on 31 March 1999. The former air station site has now been redeveloped as an industrial and recreational site, Osprey Quay, while the HMS ''Osprey'' complex at East Weares was demolished in 2004-05 by Portland Port Ltd, the new owners and operators of the harbour.

References

{{authority control Isle of Portland Research installations of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)