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.