An Explosive ROF was a UK Government-owned Royal Ordnance Factory (ROF), which specialised in manufacturing

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Note: In

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the name used in the UK for Government-owned explosives factories was National Explosives Factory; and the Cordite factory at Gretna was known as HM Factory, Gretna. These Second World War factories were built for the Ministry of Supply with the Ministry of Works, in all cases except ROF Irvine, acting as

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. Explosive ROF's specialised in producing either high-explosives, such as TNT (

trinitrotoluene Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reag ...

) or RDX; or

propellant A propellant (or propellent) is a mass that is expelled or expanded in such a way as to create a thrust or other motive force in accordance with Newton's third law of motion, and "propel" a vehicle, projectile, or fluid payload. In vehicles, the ...

s, such as cordite, but there were minor exceptions to this demarcation. The products from these Explosive ROFs were shipped to Filling Factories for filling into

munition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

Pyrotechnic Pyrotechnics is the science and craft of creating such things as fireworks, safety matches, oxygen candles, explosive bolts and other fasteners, parts of automotive airbags, as well as gas-pressure blasting in mining, quarrying, and demolition ...

s, such as fuzes and screening smokes, tended to be made at the Filling Factories and filled directly into munitions.

Comparable WW II factories not part of the ROF organisation

ICI and Ministry of Supply Agency Factories

A number of UK World War II explosives factories were built and owned by ICI. These privately owned explosives factories were not considered part of the ROF Organisation and they were not called ROFs. ICI also managed numerous munitions factories constructed with Ministry of Supply funding; these were known as ''Agency Factories''. ICI

Nobel Nobel often refers to: *Nobel Prize, awarded annually since 1901, from the bequest of Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel Nobel may also refer to: Companies *AkzoNobel, the result of the merger between Akzo and Nobel Industries in 1994 *Branobel, or ...

's Ardeer site and its World War II agency factories produced, for example, 35% of the combined ROF and Agency Factories output of Cordite and 15% of the combined output of TNT.Reader, Volume II, Chapter 15: ''War Production''.

Royal Naval Factories

In both World War I and World War II the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

had its own government-owned factories producing propellants and explosives, for naval guns. These were the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath (RNCF),

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

(World War I & World War II), and the Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent (RNPF), Monmouthshire (World War II only), respectively. They both closed as explosive manufacturing sites after World War II. Naval propellants were then manufactured at ROF Bishopton and filled at ROF Chorley, and later ROF Glascoed.

National Explosives Factories (WW I)

* HM Factory, Gretna * NEF Pembrey * Barnbow National Filling Factory No 1, later ROF Barnbow To be expanded

Royal Navy Factories (WW I & WW II)

* Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath (RNCF) *

Royal Naval Gun Factory Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

, Westhoughton.Lancashire Evening Post - Wednesday 15 January 1919 Formerly Messrs Musgrave and Sons. * Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent (RNPF)

UK high-explosive ROFs (WW II)

* ROF Bridgwater *

ROF Drigg Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nucl ...

* ROF Irvine * ROF Pembrey

Propellant ROFs (WW II)

* ROF Bishopton * ROF Ranskill *

ROF Sellafield Sellafield is a large multi-function nuclear site close to Seascale on the coast of Cumbria, England. As of August 2022, primary activities are nuclear waste processing and storage and nuclear decommissioning. Former activities included nucl ...

* ROF Wrexham

Notes

References

* Cocroft, Wayne D., (2000). ''Dangerous Energy: The archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture''. Swindon: English Heritage. . * Kohan, C.M., (1952). ''History of the Second World War: United Kingdom Civil Series: Works and Buildings''. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office and Longmans, Green and Co. * Reader, W.J. (1975). ''Imperial Chemical Industries: A History. Volume II: The First Quarter-Century 1926-1952''. London: Oxford University Press. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Explosive Rof