RNAD Coulport

 military, missile, nuclear weapons/warheads storage

RNAD Coulport (RN Nuclear Armaments Depot Coulport)

Lies on the eastern shore of Loch Long at the end of the B833 road on the Rosneath peninsula, and opposite Ardentinny on the western shore. The depot also lies at the end of an unclassified MoD road which begins near Garelochhead. This wide, high quality, and substantially straight and level road was designed and constructed by the MoD to provide easy access for road convoys transporting nuclear warheads.

The depot operates as a weapons storage and loading facility for Royal Navy vessels visiting the maintenance base at HMNB Clyde, and handles conventional torpedoes and armaments, but media publicity means it is better known for its role in the former Polaris and current Trident missile systems. Before vessels carrying weapons can proceed to the maintenance base to be serviced, they must first visit the depot to have their weapons removed and stored. As a result of their operations, RNAD Coulport and HMNB Clyde rank amongst the most protected sites in the country.

Construction of the depot began in 1963, when Faslane was selected as the location for the UK's new Polaris base, and was completed in 1968, when the Polaris submarines began their patrols. Safety considerations required the armament maintenance and storage facility to have its own berth, and had to be sited least 4,400 feet away from the main servicing facility, while operational requirements demanded a sailing time of no more than one hour between the two facilities. Coulport and Faslane, separated by the Rosneath peninsula and the Gare Loch, satisfied both requirements. According to Scottish CND, the depot can hold up to 36 Trident missiles in 16 nuclear bomb storage bunkers built into excavations in a ridge overlooking Loch Long.

During the 1980s, the depot was further developed in order to provide support for the Trident missile programme.Unlike the former Polaris system, which was fully serviced at the depot, Trident missiles loaded in UK submarines are randomly selected from a stockpile held at the Trident Refit Facility at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia. While the warheads themselves are British owned and built, the delivery system is not owned by the UK, which has instead ownership rights to 58 missiles from a pool shared with the US Navy. The Trident missiles serviced at the depot are fitted with warheads designed and manufactured in the UK at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), Aldermaston.

Site security is a responsibility of 43 Commando Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines; consisting of appx 500 marines in 3 rifle squadrons and a headquarters squadron.They provide military support undertake final denial of access to nuclear weapons in addition to supporting the multi-agency force that protects nuclear weapons convoys.

www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Fleet/Naval-Bases/Clyde/RNAD-C...
www.royalnavy.mod.uk/The-Fleet/The-Royal-Marines/3-Comm...
www.secretscotland.org.uk/index.php/Secrets/RNADCoulpor...