Royal Naval Stores Depot at Almondbank

By 15 January 1946, all naval stores had been transferred from Perth Ice Rink to a new depot at Almondbank. They had been temporarily kept at the Ice Rink following their dispersion from Coventry due to the bombing by the Luftwaffe.

The decision to move all naval stores was taken following the devastating German bombing attacks on the city, especially during the evening of 14 November 1940 in which around two-thirds of buildings were damaged. Coventry Cathedral was left as a ruin and is today still the principal reminder of the bombing.

By the end of 1946, the Almondbank depot had extended to 7 sites for the repair, maintenance, manufacture, and storage of all categories of naval air supplies – for fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. In the early 1970s, the RAF took over the repair and overhaul of fixed-wing aircraft. A new body, the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation (NARO) was instituted to undertake helicopter repair and service for the Navy, Army, and the RAF. The Royal Naval Aircraft Workshop (RNAW) at Almondbank was created in June 1973 with all remaining activities located in the main on the chief workshop site (Site 2).

The main tasks carried out at RNAW Almondbank included manufacture and repair of helicopters: transmissions, gearboxes, general engineering components, hydraulics, avionics, search/rescue equipment (winches and stretchers), modification sets, aircraft seats and covers, electrical cable looms, avionic test sets, engine stands, and ground support equipment. It also saw to the repair of Westland Lynx main rotor blades and glass fibre reinforced products. In addition, tools were manufactured to be used in the repair and maintenance of helicopter engines; components of fixed-wing McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantoms and Blackburn Buccaneer aircraft were also repaired.

In the 1990s, RNAW Almondbank had a work force of over 400, 175 of whom, due to the nature of the work, were (very) highly skilled. It was vital that the helicopters were maintained to the utmost standard. A breakdown of a gearbox, transmission, or rescue winch during an air-sea rescue in the Scottish mountains would have potentially deadly results. Helicopters would land within RNAW Almondbank on a regular basis – they included Sea King, Scout, Puma, Merlin, Lynx, Gazelle, and Chinook models. Due to the size of the Chinook helicopter, a nearby football ground was used for landing. Helicopters based on aircraft carriers undergoing re-fit at Rosyth were flown to RNAW and aircraft such as the Sea Venom, Sea Hawk and Sea Vixen were transported to Almondbank by road for servicing and storage.

Helicopters would land within RNAW Almondbank on a regular basis–they included Sea King, Scout, Puma, Merlin, Lynx, Gazelle, and Chinook models. Due to the size of the Chinook helicopter, a nearby football ground was used for landing. Helicopters based on aircraft carriers undergoing re-fit at Roysth were flown to RNAW and aircraft such as the Sea Venom, Sea Hawk and Sea Vixen were transported to Almondbank by road for servicing and storage. (Not every helicopter arrival at RNAW was for ‘live’ servicing, quite often they were transport for visiting officials and high-ranking officers.)

The Royal Naval Stores depot at Almondbank, was a ‘stone frigate’ i.e., land-based naval establishment, it went on in the post-war period to play an important role in aircraft repair and support.

Notes: In April of 1999, the UK Government brought together the RAF Maintenance Group Defence Agency (MGDA) and the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation (NARO) to form DARA, the Defence Aviation Repair Agency. DARA Components at Almondbank had the capability to repair, modify and test an extensive range of hydraulic and transmission components found in both air and land systems for the Ministry of Defence and civilian operators.

For several years, a decommissioned Westland Whirlwind helicopter was used as a static display representatively defending the entrance gates. The Almondbank site was served by an ‘Electric Mineral Railway’ linked to the main railway line at Lochty Station until its closure – to passengers on 6 July 1964 and freight in September 1967. The ‘Electric Mineral Railway’ was in its early years used by the Huntingtower and Pitcairnfield Bleachworks.

RNAW Almondbank was sold off to Vector Aerospace in 2008 which was taken over by EuroCopter (now Airbus) and is today part of StandardAero.

On 9 January 1946, a fire broke out in a hangar at the Royal Naval Stores at Almondbank caused damage of well over £200,000 in value. (Equivalent to just over £7½ million today.) Chief Officer Duncan and his men from the Perth division of the National Fire Service tackled the blaze for over 3 hours. Dundee and Kirkcaldy fire brigades were also called out to assist. Despite an enquiry, no evidence was found as to the fire’s cause. In May of 1942, a naval officer from RNAS Donibristle (east of Rosyth) visited RAF Methven, which lay adjacent to the Royal Naval Stores Depot at Almondbank, to investigate the option of using the airfield for the conveyance of naval stores. This was approved but was limited to flights by smaller aircraft like the Percival Proctor and de Havilland Dominie.

Research by Ken Bruce