Royal Navy's Coulport Armament depot
| RNAD Coulport | |
|---|---|
| Part of HMNB Clyde | |
| Loch Long, Argyll, Scotland | |
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| Coordinates | 56°03′N 4°53′W / 56.05°N 4.88°WCoordinates: 56°03′N 4°53′W / 56.05°N 4.88°W |
| Type | Storage and handling of weapons |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Controlled by | Royal Navy |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1963–68 (Polaris programme) 1982–95 (Trident Works Programme) |
Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport, shortened to RNAD Coulport, on Loch Long in Argyll, Scotland, is the storage and loading facility for the nuclear warheads of the United Kingdom's Trident programme.
The base, near the village of Coulport, has up to 16 reinforced concrete bunkers built into the hillside on the eastern shore of Loch Long. It is the last depot in Britain to retain the "RNAD" designation, indicating a Royal Naval Armaments Depot.
The depot was established during the Cold War as the storage and loading facility for Polaris nuclear weapons. Today, Coulport is mainly used for handling Trident warheads. It also stores conventional weapons, e.g. the Spearfish torpedo.
Two docks are located on the shoreline at the foot of the hill. There, weapons are loaded onto Vanguard nuclear submarines before they go on patrol and unloaded before they return to base at nearby Faslane. An older jetty is known as the Polaris Jetty, while the newer, covered Explosive Handling Jetty (EHJ) is used for handling Trident warheads.
Coulport had originally been best known as a summer holiday retreat for wealthy Glaswegians, with its most notable feature being Kibble Palace, now relocated to the Glasgow Botanic Gardens. It is the site of the farm of Duchlage (historically spelt Duchlass).
The Nassau Agreement was signed in December 1962, and the Polaris Sales Agreement was signed in April 1963. Initial construction took place between 1963, when Faslane was chosen as the new Polaris base, and 1968, when the first Polaris boat began its patrol. Safety considerations required that the armament maintenance and the storage facility have its own berth and be at least 4,400 feet (1,300 m) from the main facility whilst operational considerations dictated that the two facilities should be within an hour's sailing time. Coulport, on the opposite peninsula, met both of these requirements.
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