Catalogue description Admiralty: Underwater Explosion Research Establishment, later Naval Construction Research Establishment: Papers of D E J Offord, Superintendent

The Naval Construction Research Establishment (NCRE) originated as the Admiralty Underwater Explosion Research Establishment (UNDEX) in 1943, becoming the NCRE in 1946. It was based in Rosyth dockyard, expanding to St Leonard's House in Dunfermline in 1949 for administrative and laboratory space. Its aims were to discover how to make warships more resistant to underwater explosions and how to make better use of underwater explosives in attack. Its work developed to include research on surface ship and submarine structures, noise reduction, and the vulnerability of ships and submarines to weapons. The establishment was controlled by the Director of Naval Construction until 1958, and then by the Director General of Ships. In 1978 it was one of the research establishments amalgamated to form the Admiralty Marine Technology Establishment (AMTE) which in turn became part of the Admiralty Research Establishment in 1984.