Devonport / Plymouth

Portsmouth has been the traditional home of the Royal Navy since 1194, when Richard I granted the City its first Royal Charter. Devonport at Plymouth is a primary Royal Navy refit facility. The dockyard carry out refuelling and refitting activities for the Royal Navy's fleet of nuclear submarines. New facilities for refitting of the new Trident Class of Submarines are under construction at Devonport. Devonport is the largest Naval Base in Western Europe covering an area of some 622 acres. The Second Submarine Squadron (SM2) has been based in Devonport for over 20 years. It consists of seven Trafalgar class nuclear-powered submarines and shore support staff.

The ships that defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588 sailed from the mouth of the River Plym. The memory of Sir Francis Drake, Mayor of Plymouth as well as great national hero, is kept alive in the name, HMS Drake, which was recently extended to the whole of Devonport Naval Base. Devonport is officially called HMS Drake, because in the Royal Navy a shore Establishment is commissioned as one of Her Majesty's Ships, and officers and ratings assigned duty at the facility are recorded as being appointed to HMS Drake . The nearby maritime headquarters at Mount Wise (between Devonport and Plymouth) and Naval Reserve Training Centre are known as HMS Vivid.

The sale of Devonport Royal Dockyard to the Devonport Management Ltd consortium was concluded March 13, 1997. The formal transfer of ownership followed the signing of the contract for the sale, which was announced on 11 February. Included in the agreement is the contract for Project D154, the upgrading of nuclear submarine refitting facilities at Devonport. The D154 contract is a Fixed Price Incentive Fee contract under which DML is incentivised to keep the price to a minimum level. The target price range is £335 million to £359 million. The price range reflects the outcome of detailed negotiations on terms and conditions, including very substantial risk transfer to the contractor, and price inflation since DML's original proposals in 1993, which were not of contractual quality. It is fully consistent with the judgement to concentrate nuclear refitting in Devonport.

A new nuclear site licence was granted by HSE to Devonport Royal Dockyard Limited (DRD) on 13 March 1997. The new licences was necessary because under privatisation of the dockyard, the contracting arrangements between MoD and the dockyard companies change, with a new corporate body using the site.