A Royal Naval Armament Depot (RNAD) was a group of armament depots dedicated to supplying the needs of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 as well as the Royal Air Force

Royal Air Force

The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...

, British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 and foreign/commonwealth

Commonwealth

Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

 governments; they were sister depots of Royal Naval Cordite Factories, Royal Naval Torpedo and Royal Naval Mine Depots. Between 1965 and 1994, they were part of the Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service

Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service

The Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service, or RNSTS, was the civilian-manned logistics service that supported the British Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ; being part of the MOD...

 (RNSTS).

Most RNADs were located near to Royal Navy Dockyard

Royal Navy Dockyard

Royal Navy Dockyards are harbours where either commissioned ships are based, or where ships are overhauled and refitted. Historically, the Royal Navy maintained a string of dockyards around the world, although few are now operating today....

s to facilitate the transfer of armaments between the depot and the warship

Warship

A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way from merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuvrable than merchant ships...

s; but not too close to minimise the risk of any accident or explosion in the depot causing damage to warships. The term RNAD is no longer in use, except for RNAD Coulport which is the UK Strategic Weapon Facility for the Trident Missile System. The RNSTS has also ceased to exist firstly being renamed the 'Warship Support Agency' and, presently, known as part of the 'Defence Equipment and Support' (DE&S) conglomerate. Those RNADs (except Coulport) that are still in use today are known as Defence Munitions centres (DM), e.g. DM Beith.

Predecessors

The earliest Naval Ordnance Depots, which later became RNADs, were built by the Board of Ordnance

Board of Ordnance

The Board of Ordnance was a British government body responsible for the supply of armaments and munitions to the Royal Navy and British Army. It was also responsible for providing artillery trains for armies and maintaining coastal fortresses and, later, management of the artillery and engineer...

, many were former forts with large gunpowder Magazines and other facilities, such as at Priddy's Hard

Priddy's Hard

Priddy's Hard is an area of Gosport, in Hampshire, England now being developed for housing with part of the site retained as a museum. However, for some two hundred years it was a restricted-access site; first becoming a fort and then an armaments depot for Royal Navy and British Army weapons,...

 and Upnor Castle

Upnor Castle

Upnor Castle is an Elizabethan artillery fort located in the village of Upnor, Kent, England. Its purpose was to defend ships moored "in ordinary" on the River Medway outside Chatham dockyards....

; the organisation that was responsible for all forts and armaments within the United Kingdom as well as the British Empire

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...

. When the Board of Ordnance was abolished in 1855, control passed first to the War Office

War Office

The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...

, then in 1891 to the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

.

On 1 January 1965 control of the armament depots passed to the Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)

The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....

 and they became part of the Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service

Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service

The Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service, or RNSTS, was the civilian-manned logistics service that supported the British Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ; being part of the MOD...

 (RNSTS). The RNSTS was formed from an amalgamation of the Directorates of Naval Stores, Victualling

Victualling Commissioners

The Commissioners for the victualling of the Navy, often called Victualling Commissioners, were the body responsible under the Navy Board for victualling ships of the British Royal Navy.-Creation:...

, Armament Supply, and Movements.

Disbandment of the RNSTS

On 1 April 1994, the RNSTS ceased to exist and was absorbed into the Naval Support Command. The RNADs also lost their independence.

List of RNADs and their status

• RNAD Alexandria, Egypt (Closed)
• RNAD Antrim (Closed)
• RNAD Bandeath (Closed)
• RNAD Beith - operational as DM Beith
• RNAD Broughton Moor
  RNAD Broughton Moor
  RNAD Broughton Moor is a decommissioned Royal Naval Armaments Depot located between Great Broughton and Broughton Moor in the County of Cumbria, England....
  
   - Decommissioned
• RNAD Bull Point (Closed)
• RNAD Butcher Island, Bombay (Closed)
• RNAD Charlesfield (Closed)
• RNAD Chattenden (Closed)
• RNAD Colombo (Closed)
• RNAD Coulport - operational (see HMNB Clyde)
• RNAD Crombie - operational as DM Crombie
• RNAD Dalbeattie (Closed)
• RNAD Dean Hill (Closed)
• RNAD Ditton Priors - closed 1968, now an industrial estate
• RNAD Ernesettle
  Ernesettle
  Ernesettle was a hamlet or farm that became one of the post-World War II self-contained satellite suburbs built on the north western fringe of the enlarged city of Plymouth, in the county of Devon, England as part of the plan to clear slums and provide new communities for citizens.It lies beside...
  
  
• RNAD Glen Douglas
  DM Glen Douglas
  DM Glen Douglas is a NATO defence munitions depot in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, built between 1962 and 1966. As of 1989, it served NATO as a pre-positioned wartime ammunitions depot, storing around 40,000 tons of missiles, depth-charges, and conventional shells. It is now used only by the UK...
  
  
• RNAD Gosport:
  • RNAD Bedenham
  • RNAD Elson
  • RNAD Frater
  • RNAD Priddy's Hard - closed used for housing and a museum - Explosion (see Priddy's Hard
    Priddy's Hard
    Priddy's Hard is an area of Gosport, in Hampshire, England now being developed for housing with part of the site retained as a museum. However, for some two hundred years it was a restricted-access site; first becoming a fort and then an armaments depot for Royal Navy and British Army weapons,...
    
    )
• RNAD Grain (Closed)
• RNAD Haifa (Closed)
• RNAD Kilnappy (Closed)
• RNAD Lodge Hill (Closed) now Defence Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Munitions and Search School (DEMSS South)
• RNAD Marchwood (Closed)
• RNAD Mombasa (Closed)
• RNAD Port Said (Closed)
• RNAD Trecwn (Closed)
• RNAD Spectacle Island, Sydney (Closed)
• RNAD Singapore (Closed)
• RNAD Trincomalee (Closed)
• RNAD Upton (Closed)
• RNAD Upnor (Closed)
• RNAD Woolwich (Closed)
• RNAD Wrabness (Closed)
• RNCF Holton Heath
  Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath
  The Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, , was set up at Holton Heath, Dorset in World War I to manufacture Cordite for the Royal Navy. It was reactivated in World War II to manufacture gun propellants for the Admiralty and its output was supplemented by the Royal Navy Propellant Factory,...
  
   - Cordite Factory (Closed)
• RNMD Milford Haven - Mine Depot (Closed)
• RNPF Caerwent - Propellant Factory (Closed)
• RNTD Chatham - Torpedo Depot (Closed)
• RNTD Weymouth (Closed)
• RNTF Alexandria - Torpedo Factory Dunbartonshire (Closed)
• RNTF Greenock - Torpedo Factory (Closed)

See also

• Ordnance Board
• RAF munitions storage during WWII
  RAF munitions storage during WWII
  The logistics organizations of the Royal Air Force in World War II were No. 42 Group RAF and RAF Maintenance Command. As a result of a serious shortage of funds during the inter-war period and a weakness of policy the RAF was singularly ill-equipped to deal with the requirements of air warfare with...
  
  
• Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service
  Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service
  The Royal Naval Supply and Transport Service, or RNSTS, was the civilian-manned logistics service that supported the British Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ; being part of the MOD...
  
  

Sources

• W N Mansfield (1995), "Priddy's Hard 1846 - 1906 - The site impact of the introduction of modern chemical explosives" - BSc (Hons) Archaeology dissertation.
• Semark, H.W. (1997). The Royal Naval Armaments Depots of Priddy's Hard, Elson, Frater and Bedebham (Gosport, Hampshire) 1768 to 1977. Winchester: Hampshire County Council. ISBN 1-85975-132-6.