HMS Osprey, Portland

The site of the main complex of HMS Osprey is seen where the rubble now remains.

HMS Osprey was an anti-submarine training establishment established at the Isle of Portland, Dorset, England, between 1924 and 1941, when its functions were transferred to Dunoon. HMS Osprey was at Dunoon until 1946, the name also being allocated to a smaller base established at Belfast in 1943. Osprey recommissioned at Portland in 1946, became a base in 1948 and was closed in 1995. The helicopter station RNAS Portland, which shared the same name from 1959, closed in 1999.

The establishment worked alongside the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment based at Barrow Hill in Portland's southern-most village Southwell. Both establishments remains infamous for espionage infiltration. Over the decades scientists at Portland became world pioneers in underwater warfare and detection. Portland's research focused on underwater weapons, from ASDIC and sonar in the 1920s to acoustic homing Stingray torpedoes in the 1980s.[1]

History

Incline Road led down into the establishment site.

Creation of shore-based establishment and World War II (1924-1945)

HMS Osprey was originally the command ship of the First Anti-Submarine Flotilla, commissioned in Portland Harbour to run the Royal Navy Anti-Submarine School on 1 April 1924. The name originated from a small armed trawler. During the First World War Portland had conducted some hydrophone experiments, while on the northern shore of the harbour was Robert Whitehead's Torpedo Works - a factory built to manufacture and test torpedoes. As such Portland Harbour became an important site for research into underwater defence equipment since the torpedo factory was established at Ferrybridge in 1891. HMS Osprey was moved onto land in 1927 as a shore-based establishment, keeping its original ship name. The establishment was largely involved in ASDIC and sonar development. In November 1936 King Edward VIII made an official visit to the island in order to view the establishment, following a major rebuilding project that was completed that year.[2] Amidst World War II, in 1941, Portland, a heavy target of the German air raids, had its establishment transferred to Dunoon in Scotland, and Portland's shore-base became commissioned as HMS Attack.

Role in Cold War (1946-1959)

The establishment remained in Dunoon until 1946, and Portland's Osprey establishment was revived after the war to assess the potential of anti-submarine helicopters. The following year the admiralty decided that the wartime camp at Barrow Hill at Southwell would make an ideal base for a new establishment to work alongside the naval base and HMS Osprey. The Admiralty Gunnery Establishment, as it was initially known, was built between 1949 and 1952, and was Portland's biggest building project since the construction of the Victorian Verne Citadel. Working with the East Weares establishment, the two Portland establishments were designed to be a single centre, under the command of a Captain Superintendent, responsible for the design, development and testing of underwater weapon and detection systems. In 1959 the development of underwater systems was amalgamated when the various establishments working on torpedoes, underwater launching systems and underwater countermeasures were formed into the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE). This meant that all the research into underwater weapons was moved to Portland, including work with the highest security classification at the height of the Cold War.[3]

The assessment of anti-submarine helicopters led to the creation of the Royal Naval Air Station in 1959, which perpetuated the name HMS Osprey.[4] In 1946 Sikorsky R-4Bs had moved in, initially operating from the slipway at the Naval Base for development work. The helicopters paved the way for the use of helicopters in the fleet, and success with these trials, and with aviation activities on the increase, the Admiralty decided to replace fixed-wing anti submarine aircraft with helicopters, heralding a major building programme at Portland. The continuing success of the helicopter operations inevitably led to the need for better and purpose built facilities over the years. During the late 1950s the marshy area known as the Mere was filled in and built over. For the next 40 years RNAS Portland was one of the busiest air stations on the south coast, with helicopter operations taking place 24 hours a day. As a helicopter development and training base, it was largely responsible for training aircrew in anti-submarine operations.[5] To distinguish between the two sites, the research establishment was often referred to as the upper part of HMS Osprey.

Portland Spy Ring case (1961)

In 1961 Portland's two establishments at East Weare and Southwell were the centre of worldwide attention, following the discovery of espionage infiltration. This became infamously known as the Portland Spy Ring, a Soviet spy ring that operated in England from the late 1950s till 1961 when the core of the network were arrested by the British security services. It is one of the most famous examples of the use of illegal residents — spies who operate in a foreign country but without the cover of their embassy. The two local civilians operating within this ring was Harry Houghton of the neighbouring Weymouth borough of Wyke Regis, and Ethel Gee who lived on the island, at Hambro Road in Fortuneswell. Both locals worked for the Admiralty; Houghton was a clerk at East Weares, and Gee worked within the drawing office at Southwell. In their positions they were able to obtain classified material, which they would take to London to hand the information to the Soviet intelligence officer Gordon Lonsdale. Lonsdale, whose real name was Konon Molody, would then send the data to the USSR by the use of a high powered radio transmitter with 74-ft internal house aerial. This was located at the home of Peter and Helen Kroger, a pair of Soviet agents with false identities.[6][7]

The discovery of such a network caused the NATO to introduce a stronger security regime against possible espionage. This meant local civilians were no longer able to freely access any Admiralty land whatsoever. An eight-day trial commenced at the Old Bailey, where Gee revealed her actions were led by her love for Houghton. He was her first lover following a lifetime of spinsterhood. She also noted that she had no idea that the information was actually going to the Russians. Houghton claimed that he had been the subject of threats by mystery men and beatings by thugs if he failed to pass on information. These men had also made threats concerning Gee and Houghton's ex-wife. He too, he claimed, had only known Lonsdale as Alex Johnson and he tried desperately to minimise Gee's involvement.[8]

Lonsdale was given the most lengthy sentence of 25 years, and the Krogers were each given 20 years. Houghton and Gee were sentenced to 15 years. It is believed that the ring numbered more than the five who were arrested, but these would have included staff at the Russian and Polish embassies who would have been immune to prosecution anyway. Lord Chief Justice Parker remarked that the entire ordeal "had all the characteristics of a thriller."[6] Lonsdale would later be exchanged in Berlin, during April 1964, for the British spy Greville Wynne. The Krogers would be exchanged for the British citizen Gerald Brooke in 1969, where they confirmed that they were spies as part of the process. Houghton and Gee would only serve 10 years of their sentences, and upon being released in 1971 the pair married and changed names. Houghton later wrote memoirs.

Continued operations and eventual closure (1960s-1995)

RDV 01 Crystal, an unpowered floating research vessel was situated in Portland Harbour for a number of years. It was designed to be used during sonar research and development projects at the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) at Portland Harbour. It was not fitted with any propulsion or steering gear. The vessel was ordered from the builders HM Dockyard, Devonport, in December 1969, and launched in March 1971. It was sold on 18 September 1992 to a Dutch concern.[9]

In 1984, work began on the construction of accommodation buildings and a sports centre at Castletown. There was assurance that the Portland naval base was to continue functioning into the future, however only ten years later an announcement was made that both the navy base and the research establishments were to close – a direct consequence of the ending of the Cold War. In 1995 the Royal Navy closed their Portland base, and the most obvious evidence of their departure was the absence of warships. However what was less obvious, but just as devastating to Portland, was the huge range of buildings of the research establishments. The buildings were left empty, with an uncertain future. Once the closure of the naval base and establishments had been completed, RNAS Portland became surplus to the new requirements, and this led to its eventual closure on 31 March 1999. The research carried out at Portland, now under the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA) since 1995, was relocated to the Atomic Energy Agency's business park at Winfrith, leaving Bincleaves as the sole establishment in the Portland Harbour area.

Aftermath (1990s-)

During the late 1990s, it was decided to convert the HMS Opsrey complex at East Weares into a holiday village.[10] These plans were set, but did not come to fruition. The buildings at Southwell stood empty too, and the Ministry of Defence made plans to demolish the buildings, and then seek permission for either building or mineral extraction. However Roy Haywood and Ray Bulpit, whose business was the acquisition and development of former military sites, then purchased the site. This became the successful Southwell Business Park.

The East Weares complex continued to remain derelict, and a target for vandalism - to the point where every single window had been smashed. In April 2005 Portland Port Ltd, now the owners and operators of the harbour, demolished the entire complex. Soon after the AUWE Sonar Department research laboratories and offices closer to the dockyard site were also removed. Additionally a large number of historical World War 2 buildings were reduced to rubble to make way for a gas storage scheme, which never came to fruition. These were situated close to the East Weares Rifle Range.[11] At King's Pier, on the eastern coastline close to main HMS Osprey complex, is a remaining waste pipe emerging from the old complex.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Morris, Stuart (1998). Discover Dorset: Portland. Dovecote Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-1874336495.
  2. ↑ Morris, Stuart (1985). Portland: An Illustrated History. Dovecote Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0946159345.
  3. ↑ http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2008/10/a-portland-success-story/
  4. ↑ Legg, Rodney (1999). Portland Encyclopaedia. Dorset Publishing Company. p. 82. ISBN 978-0948699566.
  5. ↑ http://www.jurassicagent.co.uk/index.php/library/history/portland-s-deep-sea-harbour/86-hms-osprey
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Morris, Stuart (1985). Portland: An Illustrated History. Dovecote Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0946159345.
  7. ↑ http://www.jurassicagent.co.uk/index.php/library/history/deadly-weapons/53-portland-spies
  8. ↑ http://www.theheritagecoast.co.uk/historyfile/portland_and_weymouth/deadly_weapons/portland_spies.htm
  9. ↑ "RDV 01 Crystal". World Naval Ships Directory. 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2012.
  10. ↑ Morris, Stuart (1998). Discover Dorset: Portland. Dovecote Press. p. 63. ISBN 978-1874336495.
  11. ↑ http://www.geoffkirby.co.uk/Portland/700720/
  12. ↑ http://www.geoffkirby.co.uk/Portland/700730/

Coordinates: 50°32′37″N 2°27′14″W / 50.54356°N 2.45381°W