THE departure last night of the Leander class frigate Scylla from the
fuelling depot at Invergordon brought to an end nearly two centuries of
history linking the town, the Cromarty Firth, and the Royal Navy.
The depot closed hours after the opening of an exhibition, organised
by Ross and Cromarty District Council, telling the story of Invergordon
from the days of the smugglers to its growth as a naval dockyard.
To mark the occasion aboard the Scylla, Vice Admiral Chris Morgan,
Flag Officer Scotland and Northern Ireland, presented Mr Duncan
McPherson, convener of Highland Regional Council, with the ship's bell
from the Royal Marine Auxiliary Service vessel Invergordon.
Although the Cromarty Firth had been a recognised harbour for many
centuries it was Daniel Defoe, the journalist and
English agent, who was one of the first to write of its naval
potential. In 1706, he was sent to Scotland by the English Government to
gain intelligence while the negotiations for parliamentary union
progressed.
Naval ships, including HMS Glasgow, were active in the firth in
support of the Hanoverian Government during the Jacobite Rising of 1745.
Also, it was used regularly by naval vessels during the Napoleonic Wars
and again in 1854 at the outbreak of the Crimean War, when Britain and
France declared war on Russia and mounted a blockade of her Baltic
Ports.
In 1863, the Channel Fleet, under the command of Admiral Dacres paid
the first official visit by a Royal Naval Fleet to the Cromarty Firth.
Nine ships with nearly 5000 men arrived at the end of the second week in
August as part of the fleet's annual circumnavigation of Britain.
The visit had an enormous
impact on the area. Special excursion trains were run to Invergordon
and the town's Temperance Hotel was reported to serve between 200 and
300 meals daily when the fleet was in. Visits from the Channel Squadron
became a regular feature throughout the late nineteenth century.
The visits fuelled local speculation that a naval base would be
established at Invergordon but, in 1903, the Government announced that
it had chosen Rosyth and the Cromarty Firth would be only a subsidiary
shelter anchorage.
In 1913, however, the firth was declared a naval dockyard and port
and, with the outbreak of war, naval activity around her shores became
frenetic. Invergordon, which had a population of just 1100 before the
war, was transformed into an industrial town with 20,000 living in or
around it.
The worst loss of life during these years was on Hogmanay 1915, when
the 13,000 ton armoured cruiser Natal blew up at her moorings, killing
nearly 400, including some guests on board for a New Year party.
There were rumours of a torpedo from a German submarine, or sabotage
by a spy but a subsequent court martial concluded the explosion was
internal and most likely from faulty cordite.
It was the so-called Invergordon Mutiny, however, which entered the
history books, although it had little to do with Invergordon and was not
particularly subversive.
The Atlantic Fleet was operating from the port in September 1931 when
news was received that Ramsay MacDonald's Government was demanding wage
cuts from Government employees such as the armed forces of between 10%
and 20%. Many of the men feared that their wives would be forced into
prostitution to make ends meet.
The cuts were due in October before the men would be back in their
home ports and they resolved to employ passive resistance by preventing
the fleet from sailing. The men continued to perform normal shipboard
duties and described themselves as ''loyal subjects to HM the King''.
At one point, the Admiralty considered bombarding the fleet from the
hills above. However, the main reason that the Invergordon Mutiny is
remembered is that it sparked off a run
on Government gold reserves which forced Britain off the Gold
Standard.
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