Rosyth Dockyard is a large

naval dockyard 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 us ...

on the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, owned by

Babcock Marine Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

, which formerly undertook refitting of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was formerly the Royal Naval Dockyard Rosyth. Its primary role now is the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines. It is also the integration site for the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carriers, the as well as the

Type 31 Frigate The Type 31 frigate or Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a planned class of frigate intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the 2020s alongside the subm ...

History

Construction of the dockyard by civil engineers Easton, Gibb & Son commenced in 1909. At the time, the Royal Navy was strengthening its presence along the eastern seaboard of Great Britain due to a

naval arms race A naval arms race is a situation in which two or more countries continuously construct warships that are consistently more powerful than warships built by the other country built in the previous years. These races often lead to high tension and near ...

with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

First World War

* In 1903 approval was given with an estimated cost of £3 million for "works" and £250,000 for machinery spread over 10 years. The site consisted of of land, of foreshore, and the main basin would be . This was intended to be large enough for 11 battleships or 22 if doubled up. The yard gained in size and importance during the First World War, with No. 6

Division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...

of the Metropolitan Police set up to patrol it on 1 January 1916 (the Metropolitan Police then provided police for UK dockyards). The first ship to

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

at Rosyth was the pre-dreadnought battleship on 28 March 1916.

Interwar years

* as an ammunition store ship between October 1918 & 4 February 1920. * HMS ''Crescent'' (1899) as a harbor depot ship between 1 May 1920 and 17 September 1921. * as a minelayer between February 1918 and January 1919. Rosyth-1986a

World War II

Privatisation

Babcock Thorn, a consortium operated by Babcock International and

Thorn EMI Thorn(s) or The Thorn(s) may refer to: Botany * Thorns, spines, and prickles, sharp structures on plants * ''Crataegus monogyna'', or common hawthorn, a plant species Comics and literature * Rose and Thorn, the two personalities of two DC Comic ...

, was awarded the management contract for Rosyth dockyard in 1987; with Rosyth Dockyard becoming a government owned, contractor run facility. This contract was awarded in parallel with

Devonport Management Limited Devonport Management Limited owned and managed Devonport Royal Dockyard, the largest dockyard in Western Europe from 1987 until 2007. DML was purchased by Babcock International and was rebranded Babcock Marine. History DML, then owned by Brown & ...

's contract to run Devonport Dockyard,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

. In 1993 the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

announced plans to privatise Rosyth. Babcock International, who had bought out Thorn's share of the original Babcock Thorn consortium, was the only company to submit a bid and after protracted negotiations purchased the yard in January 1997.

Nuclear submarine refitting

In 1984 Rosyth was chosen as the sole location for refitting the Royal Navy's nuclear submarine fleet (a role it was already specialising in), and in 1986 extensive rebuilding commenced to facilitate this new role. However, in 1993, the government switched the refitting role to Devonport Dockyard.

Nuclear submarine decommissioning

Seven nuclear submarines were stored at Rosyth in 2007. In 2018, the Public Accounts Committee criticised the slow rate of decommissioning of these submarines, with the

admitting that it had put off decommissioning due to the cost. * * * * * * *

Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers

HMS Queen Elizabeth alongside HMS Illustrious

The Royal Navy's two carriers were constructed across six UK shipyards, with final assembly at Rosyth.

Today

Today a Ministry of Defence site is based at the former dockyard,

MoD Caledonia Ministry of Defence Caledonia (MoD Caledonia) is a military establishment of the Ministry of Defence based at the former Royal Naval Dockyard, Rosyth in Scotland. History HMS ''Caledonia'' was first opened in 1937 and responsible for artificer ...

which holds a small naval garrison. It is due to close by/in 2022. Babcock currently building the type 31 frigates at rosyth.

Administration of the dockyard

The

admiral-superintendent The admiral-superintendent was the Royal Navy officer in command of a larger Naval Dockyard. Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham all had admiral-superintendents, as did some other dockyards in the United Kingdom and abroad at certain times. The admir ...

was the Royal Navy officer in command of a larger Naval Dockyard. The appointment of admiral-superintendents (or their junior equivalents) dates from 1832 when the Admiralty took charge of the Royal Dockyards. Prior to this larger dockyards were overseen by a commissioner who represented the

Navy Board The Navy Board (formerly known as the Council of the Marine or Council of the Marine Causes) was the commission responsible for the day-to-day civil administration of the Royal Navy between 1546 and 1832. The board was headquartered within the ...

Admiral-Superintendent, Rosyth

Included:'' * Rear-Admiral Sir Henry H. Bruce: June 1915 – April 1920 * Vice-Admiral Sir John F. E. Green: April 1920 – June 1923 * Rear-Admiral Colin Cantlie: September 1939 – April 1944 * Rear-Admiral Henry C. Bovell: April 1944 – April 1947 * Vice-Admiral Sir Angus Cunninghame-Graham: April 1947 – August 1951 * Rear-Admiral John H. F. Crombie: August 1951 – November 1953 * Rear-Admiral Peter Skelton: November 1953 – September 1956 * Rear-Admiral Peter D.H.R. Pelly: September 1956 – November 1957 * Rear-Admiral Walter Evershed: November 1957 – September 1960 * Rear-Admiral

Ian G. Aylen Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a popular name in Sc ...

: September 1960 – September 1963 * Rear-Admiral John G. Watson: September 1963 – September 1966 * Rear-Admiral William T.C. Ridley: September 1966 – September 1971

Port Admiral, Rosyth

* Rear-Admiral William T.C. Ridley: September 1971 – February 1972 * Rear-Admiral Peter White: February 1972 – April 1974 * Rear-Admiral Anthony J. Monk: April 1974 – January 1976 * Rear-Admiral

William T. Pillar William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

: January 1976 – November 1977 * Rear-Admiral John R.D. Nunn: November 1977 – January 1980 * Rear-Admiral James E.C. Kennon: January 1980 – August 1981 * Rear-Admiral

John C. Warsop John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

: August 1981 – August 1983 * Vice-Admiral

Robert R. Squires Robert Reed Squires (January 11, 1953 – September 30, 1998) was an American chemist known for his work in gas phase ion chemistry and flowing afterglow mass spectrometry. Early life and education Squires was born in Northern California and ...

: August – December 1983 In the Royal Naval Dockyards, admiral-superintendents ceased to be appointed after 15 September 1971, and existing post-holders were renamed port admirals. Note: These officers reported to the

Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland The Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland (FOSNI) was a senior post in the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. It was based at HMNB Clyde, HM Naval Base Clyde, and the holder of the post was the Royal Navy’s senior officer in Scotland. The ...

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

'Graveyard' fear as sub's hull is holed
Dunfermline Press, 3 April 2008 {{Admiralty Department, state=collapsed Ports and harbours of Scotland Royal Navy bases in Scotland Organisations based in Fife Royal Navy submarine bases Economy of Fife 1909 establishments in Scotland Port cities and towns of the North Sea Royal Navy dockyards Rosyth