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#Post#: 58307--------------------------------------------------
Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: mistericeman
Date: April 23, 2013, 9:45 am
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On our journey up to the Outer Hebrides on Sunday we had a very
nice drive along the shoreline of loch Long ...unsurprisingly a
very long Loch, Apparently ideal for the testing of torpedos by
the admiralty.
Leading to the construction of a facility on the inland end of
the loch in 1912 ...AND firing something of the region of 12,000
torpedos in 1944 alone .
Sadly it closed down in 1986 and was vandalised shortly
afterwards including being set on fire ...Planning has just been
granted at the start of this year for the remains to be
demolished and replaced with a state of the art leisure resort,
I've wanted to see this place for some time and looks like i
just caught it in the nick of time ...though a shadow of it's
former self .
Some more info courtesy of T'interweb
"The former torpedo testing facility at the head of Loch Long.
It was decommissioned in 1980 (sic) and, as of 2006, is lying
empty. Torpedoes were fired up Loch Long from tubes in the two
spaces in the photograph without the cross-bracing. A boat stood
by to recover the (unarmed) torpedoes where they were returned
for analysis. The shed to the right and the main part of the
building have tracks where torpedoes were stored and worked on.
Hoists on the first floor lowered the torpedoes into the tubes.
The control room at the top looking straight down the loch
housed a camera. Behind the control room, above the loading
shed, is office accommodation. The rest of the facility included
housing and workshops but these have been sold off. (Photograph
taken from a boat).
Test firing was carried out from submarines, from torpedo tubes
built beneath the pier of the test facility, or from a modified
vessel, similar to a Clyde Puffer, equipped with two underwater
torpedo tubes fitted beneath the bow. This vessel, believed to
be the MV Sarepta, is said have been built in Germany and been
taken from there either during, or after, World War II. When not
in use, this vessel was moored off the Gamble Steps in Gourock,
near the present day ferry terminal and pier.
A line of floating targets was moored in the loch, in line with
the pier, forming a series of observation platforms. Torpedoes
under test were intended to run under these targets, rather than
strike them, to check that they were running straight and true.
Testing is said to have included wire-guided torpedoes which
spooled out a control wire as they ran, but locals tell of
regular misses, and of test subjects occasionally leaving the
water. It is clear that some test samples were lost or
abandoned, as the rusting remains of a battery powered torpedo
lay on the shore south of Ardgarten for many years.
Torpedoes under test were constructed without warheads, and
designed to float to the surface on completion of their test
run. Recovery is said to have been by an ex-RAF rescue craft,
the Fulmar, which had a low freeboard (the distance from the
waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point
where water can enter) which made the operation easier. During
the period 1945-1946, several launches designated TRV (Torpedo
Recovery Vessel) were moored in the vicinity of the pier.
Testing ended after an explosion at another range, involving the
same torpedo type then being evaluated at Loch Long, but was not
the sole reason for the range's closure. The range, together
with its surroundings, was best suited to straight-running,
shallow depth torpedoes, and the increasing use of more advanced
designs, capable of running deeper, and using wire guidance to
home in on a target, meant it was no longer able to test the
latest designs, and was closed.
The remains of three cottages can be found to the west of the
road leading to main buildings, and are based on a wooden frame
with metal cladding. Believed to date from the 1940s, these were
probably used by staff employed at the station.
Torpedo testing was also carried out in the large water tank
facilities of the Admiralty Research Laboratory, in nearby Glen
Fruin.
The range was also used to set up or range torpedoes fired from
vessels such as destroyers. One such vessel was HMS Zambesi, one
of eight Z-Class destroyers constructed during World War II, and
which which visited the range for this purpose in 1944, prior to
joining the home fleet at Scapa Flow following completion of
commissioning. Trials would have established the setting for the
fins on her torpedoes to ensure they ran straight and true. Two
quad tubes on the destroyer each carried four 21-inch torpedoes,
and could be turned to be released the weapons from either side
of the vessel. On the range, the warheads would be removed, and
replaced by an orange coloured buoyancy head of identical size,
after which the torpedoes could then be fired along the range,
recovered, and adjustments made to trim their course."
And some piccies ....
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/856/dscf1117gs.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img856/3442/dscf1117gs.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/dscf1114r.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img703/89/dscf1114r.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/689/dscf1113d.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img689/362/dscf1113d.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/600/dscf1112t.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img600/5994/dscf1112t.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/dscf1111m.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img23/2403/dscf1111m.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/dscf1109o.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img801/9104/dscf1109o.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/dscf1108gl.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img842/5458/dscf1108gl.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/801/dscf1102r.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img801/6707/dscf1102r.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/849/dscf1103p.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img849/579/dscf1103p.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/203/dscf1104b.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img203/7813/dscf1104b.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/5/dscf1105z.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img5/4244/dscf1105z.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/29/dscf1106t.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img29/9814/dscf1106t.jpg[/img][/URL]
[URL=
HTML http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/547/dscf1107zo.jpg/][IMG]http://imageshack.us/a/img547/3456/dscf1107zo.jpg[/img][/URL]
Note the narrow gauge track that small trucks carrying the
torpedos were pushed along :smilewide:
#Post#: 58313--------------------------------------------------
Re: Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: Arjan
Date: April 23, 2013, 9:56 am
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:thumbs: :thumbs: :thumbs:
#Post#: 58321--------------------------------------------------
Re: Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: hippydave
Date: April 23, 2013, 10:57 am
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fished Loch Long a fair few times but never caught a torpedo.
#Post#: 58342--------------------------------------------------
Re: Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: prof-pat-pending
Date: April 23, 2013, 1:05 pm
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i am glad someone else has noticed how many interesting and
indeed 'awesome' places there are in scotland -
there is a lot of hidden history up there and well worth a visit
:smilewide:
mmm.... i did try to mention that
earlier........................
#Post#: 58347--------------------------------------------------
Re: Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: mistericeman
Date: April 23, 2013, 1:18 pm
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--- Quote from: prof-pat-pending link ---
>
> i am glad someone else has noticed how many interesting and
indeed 'awesome' places there are in scotland -
> there is a lot of hidden history up there and well worth a
visit :smilewide:
>
> mmm.... i did try to mention that
earlier........................
>
--- End Quote ---
Well Aware Prof ....just a bit on the far side for most i reckon
...Not sure we would have visited just for the day other than
Tracey's work ;-)
#Post#: 58597--------------------------------------------------
Re: Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: stevej
Date: April 25, 2013, 5:38 am
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Looks an interesting place to photograph a Series Landy.
#Post#: 58599--------------------------------------------------
Re: Torpedo testing range Arrochar Loch long
DIR By: 1960SeriesII
Date: April 25, 2013, 6:14 am
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Great photos, it's a pity that most of these industrial
locations with an interesting bit of history vanish underneath
office/apartment buildings without anyone thinking how to
incorporate at least some of them into the concept.
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