Report - RAF Coningsby Remote Weapons Store, Lincolnshire - February 2019

[stoff urbex]

the diesel gen-set is a english electric , also found in trains and big ships

 

[MickH]

Nice report and excellent pics. Just a quick point, no one died in the accident. Two Plums were severely injured, but both survived. A bit of an urban legend that doesn't hold up.

 

[Exploring with Andy]

I worked in the Bomb dump at coningsby in 1993! Worked in building 12 servicing missiles had a great bunch of blokes that I worked with.

Sorry Mate but NOBODY was killed in the SNEB accident in 14J in 1971, I was there!

the diesel gen-set is a english electric , also found in trains and big ships

Nice report and excellent pics. Just a quick point, no one died in the accident. Two Plums were severely injured, but both survived. A bit of an urban legend that doesn't hold up.

Thanks for the comments, very interesting to hear from people who worked there. Also thanks for information relating to the SNEB incident - I'm pleased to hear no one lost their lives.

 

[bdeye]

1972. My first posting in the RAF as a 19 year old LAC. It was a thriving busy place. It was known as the Bomb Dump as were all Explosive Storage Areas. We knew it as 'The Dump'. I could tell many tales of this place but the photos are very nostalgic for me. The accident in 1971. It wasn't fatal. The Building you see 14J was known as a Missile Prep building. It was drive through and had two licences to operate in, changed by the simple act of locking one tool cupboard and unlocking the other. A Type S trolley carried 4 Matra Pods. The rockets were fetched by fork lift form another storage building and loaded, ready to be towed over to 'the other side' and clamped onto a Phantom, then in its ground attack role. A locally made test set which sent a ripple test current throught the Matra rocket pod's 18 rocket tubes was in use. Unfortunately the test was shortcut by simply disconnecting the rockets and pulling them out slightly. One was left connected by mistake. It fired as designed, severed the leg of one of the young armourers, went through the reinforced door and ended up in a static water tank. When I was there the lad behind was still picking bits of shrapnel out of himself!
The whole place was a place of nature if you forgot its warlike intent lying on one of the traversed grass covered buildings on a sunny day. I am going to save these photos. I doubt we were allowed cameras in those days and even now phones would have to be left in the Piquet post along with smoking materials before entering the site. If you are interested I can tell much more and expand on Andy's interesting post. I am sure there are others around with better or different memories but they will all remember the pause in conversation as three Phantoms took off together from the eastern end of the runway not far from the building marked as 12, the tallest where we would sledge down on cardboard on snowy days.

 

[Nico22250]

I worked in the Bomb dump at coningsby in 1993! Worked in building 12 servicing missiles had a great bunch of blokes that I worked with.

How can the bloke that owns it now knock down and flatten about a dozen bunkers without permission????

 

[Mick Peck]

On my way home from an overnight explore down south, it seemed a shame to waste the beautiful summer-like days we were having in mid-February, so I decided to stop off at RAF Coningsby's old weapons storage facility. It's not all that far from where I live, and I'd been meaning to take a look whenever I had a chance, so this seemed like the ideal opportunity.

History

RAF Coningsby Remote Weapons Store, as the name suggests, is a facility built for the purpose of storing and preparing weapons including missiles and bombs, situated in a separate compound close to the outer edge of the main airbase.

The facility was built in order to reduce the quantity of explosives stored within the base, therefore reducing the number of personnel and aircraft exposed to risk. An incident occurred in 1971 when an electrostatic discharge caused a SNEB rocket that was being prepared to initiate its rocket motor. Two armourers were killed, and this could be one of the reasons for deciding to build the store further away.

RAF Coningsby itself is operational as Quick Reaction Alert station, and is home to Eurofighter Typhoons from No. 3 Squadron, No. XI Squadron and No. 29 Squadron.

Little information is available about the history of the bomb store, but this is no surprise owing to the fact it belongs to an active RAF base. The facility has separate storage and preparation facilities and does not appear on historic maps dated 1977 or earlier. Hardened Aircraft Shelters were constructed within the airbase from 1981-1987 to accommodate Tornado Jets. The Tornados were capable of carrying a range of missiles and weaponry, so it is likely the weapons storage facility was built around the same time as the hangars to service the weaponry for those aircraft. The facility appears to have been out of use for a good number of years.

Aerial view of the weapons store as seen on Google Maps

This hand-drawn plan was found within the site

View down the road of section 1

Storage areas in section 4

The entrance to storage area 14C

Building 21F entrance

Building 12 contained this mobile communications unit

Inside the mobile comms unit

There were also some opened crates of naval gun mounts

Missile Servicing Bay and an ivy-clad building

Inside the ivy building

Missile Servicing Bay

A few of the other buildings scattered around the site...

Looking over to the command centre

Inside the command centre

Bunk beds

I'm not sure what this does, but it looked pretty cool

Huge diesel generator

Sentry post at the east gate

Eastern gateway​

I was a C/T when the Phantoms were there and it was known as the ESA/ESF or bomb dump. I worked in the carrier bay and in the control, also the Phantom Servicing School and OCU. I can remember the 10 buildings, they had a pit or hole in the floor which was monitored by an external team every year. We reckoned it was where they stored the ‘cores’. So sad to see it now thanks for sharing

 

[TheJungleBeast]

Wow what an amazing place. so much machinery to be seen.

 

[ultimateninjaworrier]

The board with "NAPS TAKEN". Priorities right there