The original B32 was a short lived route which connected Castletown and Ballasalla via Derbyhaven. It started and finished on the old line of the A8, and curved eastwards, following a short section of the coast at Derbyhaven. By 1937 it had been upgraded as the A12, with the number re-used elsewhere. Ronaldsway Airfield was opened in 1928, and by the 1930s was a busy airport connecting the island to the British Mainland. It was subsequently used during the war by the RAF, and a section of the A12 was closed to through traffic across the eastern end of the runway, leaving the route as two detached spurs. It is not clear if this part of the route ever reopened to traffic, but by 1963 the runway had been extended, and the road could not be reopened. The northern part of the former B32 has since been renumbered as the B53.
