The Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit is a former unit of the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

and the Ministry of Aviation Supply which was operational between 1939 and 1993.

History

The unit was originally formed during September 1939 at

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hampshire, England. At the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 70,131 and the district had a pop ...

as the Torpedo Development Unit within No. 16 Group RAF. It was renamed to Aircraft Torpedo Development Unit on 11 November 1943 when it absorbed the Torpedo Experimental Establishment, Stokes Bay and moved to No. 19 Group RAF. The unit had detachments at

RAF Leuchars Royal Air Force Leuchars or more simply RAF Leuchars is a former Royal Air Force station located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. Throughout the Cold War and beyond, the station was home to fighter aircraft which policed northe ...

and RNAS Crail (HMS Jackdaw) between April and August 1944 due to the invasion preparations on the south coast for the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and ...

(D-Day), a new Special Torpedo Unit joined on 1 March 1945. The unit moved to

RNAS Culdrose (HMS Seahawk) Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose (RNAS Culdrose, also known as HMS ''Seahawk''; ICAO: EGDR) is a Royal Navy airbase located beside the town of Helston, situated on the Lizard Peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The airbas ...

on 11 June 1956, and at some point moving to No. 61 Group RAF. Control passed to the

Ministry of Supply The Ministry of Supply (MoS) was a department of the UK government formed on 1 August 1939 by the Ministry of Supply Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. 38) to co-ordinate the supply of equipment to all three British armed forces, headed by the Ministe ...

on 31 August 1958. Controlled than passed to the

Ministry of Aviation The Ministry of Aviation was a department of the United Kingdom government established in 1959. Its responsibilities included the regulation of civil aviation and the supply of military aircraft, which it took on from the Ministry of Supply. ...

in 1959, the

Ministry of Technology The Ministry of Technology was a department of the government of the United Kingdom, sometimes abbreviated as "MinTech". The Ministry of Technology was established by the incoming government of Harold Wilson in October 1964 as part of Wilson's am ...

at some point then the short-lived Ministry of Aviation Supply in 1970. The unit was also operated by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

at some point before being disbanded during 1993. The unit possibly began as early as 1921 at Gosport as part of RAF Base Gosport as the Torpedo Development Flight which was renamed to the Torpedo Development Section. The unit used an observation point near Porthkerris Point,

The Lizard The Lizard () is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The southernmost point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; The Lizard, also known as Lizard village, is the most southerly region on the ...

, Cornwall, along with a pier within

Stokes Bay Stokes Bay (British national grid reference system, grid ref.:)) (50.782982, -1.163868) is an area of the Solent that lies just south of Gosport, between Portsmouth and Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire. There is a shingle beach with views of Ryde an ...

and a site at

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

, with a range near Falmouth.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *{{cite book , last1=Sturtivant, first1=R., last2=Hamlin, first2=J., title=Royal Air Force flying training and support units since 1912 , year=2007 , publisher= Air-Britain (Historians), location= UK, isbn=978-0851-3036-59 Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 1958