RNAS Donibristle – naval aircraft maintenance station
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RNAS Donibristle
Donibristle started life in September 1917 as an emergency landing ground for 77 Squadron, but it was never used in this role. Instead in 1918 it became a naval aircraft maintenance station handling both land-planes and seaplanes – a growing commitment after it was decided to equip all light and battle cruisers with on-board aircraft. The base was to be the principal repair depot for fleet aircraft, the store for reserve aircraft and a landing ground for aeroplanes coming in from their ships.
The seaplane station at Rosyth closed when Donibristle opened.
A railway branch from the mainline provided transport of fuel. This line continued to the shore at Inverkeithing Bay where it ran out onto a pier, providing transport for sea-planes to and from the base. There were two store sheds and a bomb store near the pier.
The base was to be the principal repair depot for fleet aircraft, the store for reserve aircraft and a landing ground for aeroplanes coming in from their ships.
Donibristle air station, Fife. The landing ground, with the technical buildings and accommodation, to the NE, was linked to the seaplane landing pier, at the SW, by a dedicated railway, on which the seaplanes were transported.
(TNA AIR 452/15/312/26 vol 5)
1927 OS map with the railway branch line highlighted in yellow, and Donibristle Airstation boundary from the map above drawn in red. This shows the location of the mooring pier in the Inner Bay of Inverkeithing Bay.
By 1918, the main station covered an area of 53 hectares (measuring 1005m by 550m), with technical buildings in its north-west corner and the accommodation area in the north-east. The technical area included four aeroplane sheds measuring 61m by 30m and an erecting shed and a stores shed of the same size; a further, smaller stores shed, and a range of workshops and ammunition stores.