Rosyth Dockyard is a large
naval dockyard 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 ...
at
Rosyth,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, owned by
Babcock Marine, 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 Fr ...
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 subma ...
.
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 betwee ...
.
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 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.
World War II
Privatisation
Babcock Thorn, a consortium operated by Babcock International and
Thorn EMI, 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's contract to run
Devonport Dockyard,
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city status in the United Kingdom, 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 ...
. 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 state ...
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
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 state ...
admitting that it had put off decommissioning due to the cost.
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Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers
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 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 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: 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: 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: August 1981 – August 1983
* Vice-Admiral
Robert R. Squires: 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.
References
Bibliography
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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