DM Gosport facts for kids
Quick facts for kids DM Gosport |
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| Gosport, Hampshire, England | |
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Location in Hampshire
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| Type | munitions site |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence (Defence Equipment and Support) |
| Operator | Royal Navy (1908-1997) Ministry of Defence (Since 1997) |
| Condition | Operational |
| Site history | |
| In use | 1855-1901 (fort) 1908-1977 (satellite depots) 1977-present (primary depot) |
Defence Munitions Gosport is a special military site in Hampshire, England. It's located on the coast of Portsmouth harbour, near Gosport. This large area, about 470 acres, is where important military items are stored and prepared.
The site has many buildings, including two large complexes for weapons. It also has 24 rooms for processing items and 26 storage places for explosives. Around 270 people work here.
DM Gosport often provides supplies for ships at HMNB Portsmouth. This is a big naval base on the other side of the harbour. A jetty called Bedenham Pier is used to load supplies onto small boats called lighters. These lighters then carry the items across the water.
Inside the site, you can also find an old fort called Fort Elson.
Contents
History of DM Gosport
Early Days and Fort Elson (1855-1950)
Fort Elson was built on this site in 1855. Its main job was to protect Gosport and Portsmouth. At that time, people were worried about a possible invasion from France.
Even though it was built before 1859, Fort Elson helped inspire other forts. These later forts are known as Palmerston forts. Luckily, the French invasion never happened. So, the forts were never used for fighting as planned. Fort Elson stopped being used for defense around 1901.
Later, starting in 1908, three smaller storage areas were built. These were called Elson, Frater, and Bedenham. They were meant to help the existing Navy storage site at Priddy's Hard. RNAD Bedenham stored explosives like cordite. It had a railway system from 1913 and a pier from 1915. Fort Elson and nearby buildings were used for storage from the early 1920s.
The 1950 Incident
On July 14, 1950, an incident happened at Bedenham Pier. Military supplies were being loaded onto a boat. An explosion occurred, which then started a fire. Another boat also exploded shortly after.
About 1,000 tons of supplies were involved in the incident. The pier was badly damaged, and nine boats sank. Buildings in the area were also damaged. For example, the roof of Cams Hall, which was a mile away, was torn off.
Nineteen people were hurt, including 14 civilians. Firefighters worked hard and got the fire under control within a few hours. At first, people thought someone might have caused the explosions on purpose. However, later investigations found no proof of this.
Modern Operations (1950-Present)
After the 1950 incident, Bedenham Pier was repaired. The site continued to grow and improve. In the 1960s, it became a place for repairing guided missiles.
By the mid-1970s, new buildings were added. These were used to put together and test missiles, torpedoes, and other weapons. In 1977, the main storage site moved from Priddy's Hard to Gosport. This created the Royal Naval Armament Depot Gosport. It combined the three smaller storage areas into one big facility.
In 1997, the Royal Naval Armament Depot Gosport changed its name. It became Defence Munitions Gosport, or DM Gosport. It is now managed by the Ministry of Defence.
