2 – A Brief History of Rosyth Dockyard

 
At the end of the 19th century, the Germany emerged as a nation state intent on making its mark on the world stage. One of the most obvious manifestations of this ambition was its creation of an Imperial German Navy equipped with a modern fleet of warships the High Seas Fleet based in Wilhelmshaven and Kiel in the North Sea.

Concerns grew over this emerging threat as the Royal Navy had no secure bases in the North Sea. In March 1903 it was announced that a new base was to be built at Rosyth to complement the anchorage at Scapa Flow.

The base would include an enclosed inner basin with graving docks (dry docks). Access to this basin was through an entrance lock, so that the water level in the inner basin was constant regardless of the tide. There was also an emergency entrance that allowed access but only at high tide. Adjacent to the main basin was a tidal basin with wharves and jetties for submarines and small craft.

Political delay meant that construction did not start until 1909. The work was allocated as several separate contracts.

Main Works – seawalls, piers, docks — Easton Gibb & Son
Caissons and basin sluices — Sir William Arrol & Company
Penstocks and basin sluice-machinery — Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Company
Approach channel dredging — Messrs. Topham, Jones & Railton.

The project timetable was seven years (with a two year extension in case of war!)

The work was on schedule at the outbreak of war in August 1914, but nothing was usable, so the construction plan was reorganized to bring as many facilities into use as soon as possible.

The submarine basin was completed almost immediately providing a basin and jetties for small craft from September 25th 1914. Construction of the workshops began in 1915 and the fuel oil depot was built 1914-19.

By early 1916, the main basin was complete, and the emergency entrance was usable, but the entrance dock was found to need a more substantial floor – Easton Gibb had warned the Admiralty that their specification was inadequate.

The entrance lock was ready by the end of May 1916.

The dredging of the approach channel was completed by the 25th March, 1916.

On the 27th March H.M.S. “Zealandia” passed through the emergency entrance and was subsequently docked in No. 1 dock.

In April H.M.S. “Dominion,” “Calliope,” “Constance,” “Tyne,” “Dreadnought” and “Invincible” entered the basin, and on the 27th April 1916 H.M.S. “New Zealand” was docked in No. 2 dock. The new establishment was thus, though far from complete, available from this time onwards for the use of the largest ships of H.M. Navy.

HMS Zealandia enters the dock in March 1916

On the 31st May, 1916, the Battle of Jutland was fought. On the 1st June H.M.S. “Warspite,” and on the following day H.M. ships “Princess Royal,” “Tiger,’’ and “Southampton,” entered the basin through the entrance-lock. All these ships had suffered considerable damage in the battle, and on the 5th June H.M.S. “Lion,’’ in a similar state, came in. The necessary repairs and refit of these damaged ships were carried out in the docks and basin.

From 1918, the Forth became the main base for the entire Grand Fleet for the remainder of the war.

Short-time working at the yard was introduced in 1921, and the yard closed in 1925.

The dry docks were used for the demolition of the capital ships of the German High Seas Fleet, scuttled at Scapa Flow in 1919.

SMS Seydlitz in dry dock at Rosyth for breaking

The dockyard reopened in 1938, when there was further workshop development which continued after the Second World War.

The post-war years saw a major shift in the role of the dockyard as the size of the navy declined along with the numbers of the heavy surface ships which the base was built to support. At the same time, much of the real estate became decrepit and unfit for service personnel, many of whom remained in accommodation in hulked ships.

The major defence re-alignment of the late 1960’s was a major turning-point for Rosyth, which was designated the major refitting base for the Polaris (strategic ballistic missile) nuclear submarine fleet, the dockyard being re-equipped to handle major servicing and refitting of the submarines and their reactors (but not the missiles and warheads). The base also remained important for the refitting and support of minor war vessels (mine countermeasures ships and patrol craft) while warships and auxiliaries of other types (and other NATO nations) visited the base for refit, resupply or in preparation for major exercises.

In response to this redirection, the accommodation areas of the base were improved with HMS Cochrane being constructed around system-built blocks. Somewhat later, the synchrolift complex was added to allow minor war vessels to be refitted under cover.

The 1970’s and 1980’s saw a gradual but continuous reduction in both the size of the navy and the number using Rosyth. In the 1990’s the ending of the cold war meant that the Royal Navy lost the role of countering Soviet forces to the N and E so that the geographical position of Rosyth became a liability as the navy contracted to its southern homeland. Following considerable political protest, the operational ships and most of the uniformed personnel were withdrawn between 1993 and 1996 and the base was transferred on a commercial basis to Messrs Babcock Thorn as a privatised shipbuilding, ship-repair and general engineering works with a limited guarantee of naval work for the foreseeable future.

By 2000, the North Wall was in regular use as a cruise liner berth, and under consideration as the location for a container terminal.

In February 2008, a four year £50m contract was awarded to Rosyth Dockyard for the assembly of two 65,000 tonne aircraft carriers, each 280m long, 70m wide and 56m high. HMS Queen Elizabeth began service in 2016 and HMS Prince of Wales in 2019.

This required upgrades to the dockyard, including modification of No.1 Dock, with 295 bored concrete piles 600mm in diameter and 150 rock anchors, and removal of granite blocks from the dock floor. The addition of a Goliath gantry crane with a 1,000 tonne lifting capacity to straddle the dock. Widening of the emergency exit from the inner basin to 42m and the fitting of a new sliding gate. A rebuild of much of the north quay wall.

In 2020, Babcock was awarded a contract to build five Type 31 frigates for the Royal Navy. They will be built in a new purpose-built assembly hall on land between the Syncrolift hall and Number 1 Dry Dock. This will be an impressive structure measuring 160m in length, 60m wide and 40m high.

Rosyth Dockyard in 1916