town and naval base in Fife council area and historic county, Scotland, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth. The naval (Royal Navy, The) base played a vital role in both world wars as a ship-repair and dry-dock complex. During World War II the dockyard was greatly expanded, and more than 3,000 warships were repaired or refitted there. In the late 1980s and early '90s Rosyth was home to Britain's only refitting base for nuclear-powered submarines. In 1993 the dockyard lost a bid to retain its submarine refitting operation, and by the early 21st century the dockyards at Rosyth were serving as a storage facility for decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines that were scheduled to be dismantled. Pop. (2001) 12,428.