Catalogue description Admiralty: Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishment and predecessors: Reports and Papers

The Admiralty Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishment originated in the Mining Department formed in the Admiralty in 1915. In 1919 it became the Mine Design Department at HMS Vernon, where it remained until 1939. The Department was dispersed during the Second World War, and reconstituted in 1946 as the Admiralty Mining Establishment at Leigh Park, Havant. In 1951 it became the Admiralty Underwater Countermeasures and Weapons Establishment. It closed in 1959 when underwater research was concentrated at Portland. It undertook research into the design, location and neutralisation of mines, and into torpedoes and other underwater weapons.