Monument record MHG30324 - Pre-WWI fuel tanks - Seabank Tank Farm, Invergordon

Royal Navy Port Fuel Depot, Invergordon. A large number of brick concrete and steel fuel tanks for the Royal Navy, constructed in several phases between pre-1913 and the 1960s. (see MHG36549 for overview)

The first ten tanks were constructed prior to WWI to provide fuel for naval ships who used the port at Invergordon, with the first shipments received in 1913. <1>

Site visited in 1999 by J A Guy during work for the Defence of Britain Project. Brick, concrete and steel RN fuel tanks for Naval port. Piers and oil tanks and many other buildings. <2>

Martin Briscoe has uploaded photographs of the overall fuel tank site to the Highland HER Flickr group. The images are not linked directly to this record, as it is not clear if any of the photos relate to the pre-WWI tanks, but follow the link to the Flickr group (at the bottom of this record) to see further comments and see MHG36549 for the photos. <3>

The pre-WWI tanks were visited and photographed in 2015 as part of the ARCH project 'Invergordon in World War I'. During documentary research it was found that photographs show that they were painted with camouflage paint in WWI. The tanks were covered in bricks during WWII, but most of the bricks were taken away subsequently, although Seabank Tanks 6 and 7 are two that preserve their brick covering. A plan from 1962 labels the tank at NGR 270927 868868 (project database: Seabank Tank 5, site No. 5) as holding sullage. The 1962 plan also labels Tank 6 at NGR 270955 868831, Tank 7 at 270980 868792 and Tank 8 at 270941 868784 as AVCAT (fuel used by naval aircraft on board ships). <4>

The whole of the tank farm was considered for listing at Category A by Historic Environment Scotland in 2016. <5>