Location
Edinburgh was a strategically important location, and the creation of the large Naval base in Rosyth saw this confirmed by the Royal Navy.
In 1912, it was proposed that an airship base with one shed should be established near the new base.
To protect Edinburgh and Rosyth from Zeppelin attacks, priority was given to establishing an aerodrome that could house fighter aircraft. East Fortune, close to the mouth of the Firth of Forth, was chosen.
The name “Fortune” refers to “Fort Town” and makes reference to the farms which were sited there to serve a fortress which was sited there in earlier times.
By August 191,5, a site for an aerodrome and airship station had been selected, and in the autumn of the same year, aeroplanes arrived and were stationed there.
Shed Construction
In the beginning, there were no hangars and the planes were housed in a Piggot Tent; however, with the wind off the North Sea, this was blown down very quickly. The aero station was soon started, and an airship station was soon commissioned on 23rd August 1916 and a Coastal Shed was quickly constructed, and a second was almost completed.
Work commenced on the large, rigid shed and was completed in the summer of 1917. A siding was laid into the northern part of the airship station, taken from the main East Coast Mainline, from Edinburgh to London, which skirted the northern perimeter of the airship station
.East Fortune’s first airships were of the Coastal Class, capable of long-range patrols. This was later followed by rigid airship operations out of the double rigid shed. The first rigid airship to land at RNAS East Fortune was No. 9. It arrived unexpectedly on 7th August 1917, having run out of fuel and encountered a thick mist. It flew over the Grand Fleet on 12th August 1917, and returned to its base at RNAS Howden.
The first rigid airship to be permanently based at RNAS East Fortune was No.24, which arrived at the end of October 1917. The No.24 undertook two more trial flights before the end of 1917, and in early 1918 was assigned to convoy escort duties.
On one occasion,it encountered headwinds on returning to base and could not make any headway, as one engine failed, and it had only a poor top speed of 30mph on both engines. It managed to land but was damaged whilst being taken into the shed. It was later flown to RNAS Howden for repairs.
June 1918 saw RNAS East Fortune take delivery of the R 29, and on the evening of 3rd July 1918, the R29 made an endurance escort duty of 32 hours over sea. Both the rigid and non-rigid ships put in sterling effort during WW1 coastal patrols and as submarine lookouts. By the end of 1917, RNAS East Fortune had a complement of thirty-two officers and 580 men. There was also a sizable force of aeroplanes housed in canvas hangars. Royal Navy pilots were also trained here and acted as a depot for machines normally based on warships.
One of the most notable events at the end of the war was when, in late November 1918, the rigid and non-rigid fleet photographed and filmed the surrendered German fleet anchored in the Firth of Forth, before the ships proceeded to Scapa Flow. Unlike many other RNAS stations, the rigid and non-rigid airship fleet continued airship operations and flying into 1919, whereas many other bases were closed down after hostilities ceased.
By the end of 1918, East Fortune had had six operational airships, the R29, NS.7 & NS 8, Coastal C3 and C8 and the smaller Submarine Scout SSZ 60.
With the arrival of the R34 from Inchinnan in March 1919, the ship later made a flight over Germany armed with machine guns as a statement of British air superiority, at this point, the Germans had still not signed the Treaty of Versailles. In July of 1919, the R34 left East Fortune for its transatlantic voyage, only to be ordered to return to Pulham in Norfolk, instead of East Fortune.
Shortly after the success of the R34’s record-breaking double crossing of the Atlantic, came the unexpected announcement that the East Fortune base would be closed. The R29, which was based there, was scrapped in the shed in October 1919. There was hostility in Scotland as it was at the time losing its only airship base, and questions were raised in the national press and in the Houses of Parliament.
Closure of the Base and final life
The final death knell came for East Fortune on 4th February 1920; the R34 and NS7 were the last airships to leave the base. A care and maintenance detachment remained on the site, continuing the radio station operations and maintenance.
The Airship sheds were used for storage and also for the recycling of ammunition. After this work was completed, the work began on dismantling the 3 sheds.
Click here for a link to a video showing the demolition of the sheds
The land of the airfield was sold off, and the base buildings were later used to establish a tuberculosis hospital.
New life as the National Museum of Flight Scotland
The East Fortune site was later requisitioned in 1940 as a satellite aerodrome for RAF Drem. The aerodrome was later closed down after the Second World War. The land was later returned to agriculture, but the buildings on the south side of the airfield were preserved and are now the home of the Museum of Flight.