| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Dalriada |
| Commissioned | 1965 |
| Status | Extant |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Stone frigate |
HMS Dalriada is Glasgow's Royal Naval Reserve unit. It is based in Govan, one of the city's south-western suburbs.
HMS Dalriada was established as a Royal Naval Reserve Headquarters Unit for Greenock and the Firth of Clyde, Scotland in 1965 and originally occupied former air defence buildings on the outskirts of Inverkip. Dalriada remained in Inverkip until 1982, when the unit moved to the Navy Buildings in Greenock, on the site of the former gun battery at Fort Matilda. [1]
Dalriada was named after the 6-7th Century Gaelic over-kingdom Dál Riata in which modern Greenock is located. The Ship's Badge of Dalriada has the boar's head of Clan Campbell (who occupied the territory of the ancient Dál Riata Kingdom in the High Middle Ages) with a Celtic torc and surmounted with a coronet. The letters R N R surround the device and all is enclosed within a diamond surmounted in turn by a plaque with the ship's name and above that the Naval Crown. [2]
The principal RNR unit in Glasgow and the West of Scotland had been, since 1903, HMS Graham, (Clyde Division RNR) based at Whitefield Road in Govan. At that time RNR Divisional HQs such as HMS Graham were considered senior to HQ Units such as HMS Dalriada, especially in having greater numbers of Reservists and RN Staff attached and in operating active Ton Class Minesweepers as part of the Tenth Mine Counter Measure Squadron. Initially Dalriada had been set up as a tender unit to HMS Graham on which it relied for administrative and other functions. [3]
The 1990 Options for Change changes in RNR Force sizes saw the closure of HMS Graham and the refocusing of the RNR in the West of Scotland on HMS Dalriada. This left Glasgow City without an RNR presence, and the Govan site was handed over to the Army for use by the Territorial Army's 205 (Scottish) Field Hospital of the 2nd Medical Group. [4]
After some years the RNR presence in the City of Glasgow was restored through the creation of a satellite unit to HMS Dalriada – Govan Division (but not located on the site of the old HMS Graham which remains in Army hands). In April 2013, Dalriada moved to Govan, subsuming its satellite unit and co-locating with the Royal Marines Reserve Glasgow Detachment. [1]
Members of HMS Dalriada often take part in ceremonial events hosted by the city of Glasgow, often alongside their regular counterparts from HMS Neptune, HMNB Clyde. During the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Dalriada provided personnel to supplement Police Scotland's security operation. Many of the unit's members also took part in flag raising and medal presentation ceremonies as part of the event. [5]
Dál Riata or Dál Riada was a Gaelic kingdom that encompassed the western seaboard of Scotland and north-eastern Ireland, on each side of the North Channel. At its height in the 6th and 7th centuries, it covered what is now Argyll in Scotland and part of County Antrim in Northern Ireland. After a period of expansion, Dál Riata eventually became associated with the Gaelic Kingdom of Alba.
The Firth of Clyde is the estuary of the River Clyde, on the west coast of Scotland. The Firth has some of the deepest coastal waters of the British Isles. The Firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre Peninsula. The Firth lies between West Dunbartonshire in the north, Argyll and Bute in the west and Inverclyde, North Ayrshire and South Ayrshire in the east. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. The Kyles of Bute separates the Isle of Bute from the Cowal Peninsula. The Sound of Bute separates the islands of Bute and Arran.
Govan is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated 2+1⁄2 miles west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick. Historically it was part of the County of Lanark.
Greenock is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is currently the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms part of a contiguous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east.
The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War and the War in Afghanistan.
His Majesty's Naval Base, Clyde, primarily sited at Faslane on the Gare Loch, is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy. It is the navy's headquarters in Scotland and is best known as the home of Britain's nuclear weapons, in the form of nuclear submarines armed with Trident missiles.
Inverkip is a village and parish in the Inverclyde council area and historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland, 5 miles (8 km) southwest of Greenock and 8.1 miles (13 km) north of Largs on the A78 trunk road. The village takes its name from the River Kip and is served by Inverkip railway station.
Inverkip power station was an oil-fired power station on the Inverclyde coast, Firth of Clyde, west coast of Scotland. It was closer to Wemyss Bay than Inverkip, and dominated the local area with its 236 m (774 ft) chimney, the third tallest chimney in the UK and Scotland's tallest free-standing structure. In common with other power stations in Scotland it lacked cooling towers; instead, sea water was used as a coolant. The station consisted of three generating units with a combined total rating of 2028 megawatts (MW).
HMS Ceres is a Royal Naval Reserve unit located in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
The Greenock and Wemyss Bay Railway was a railway owned by the Caledonian Railway, providing services between Greenock and Wemyss Bay.
HMS Bonaventure was a submarine depot ship of the Royal Navy. She was initially built for civilian service with the Clan Line, but on the outbreak of the Second World War she was requisitioned by the Navy and after being launched, was converted for military service.
Fort Matilda is a suburb at the far western edge of Greenock, Scotland. Its name comes from a coastal battery built on Whiteforeland Point 1814–1819 to defend the River Clyde.
Captain Aston Dalzell Piper,, known as Peter Piper, was an officer in the Royal Naval Reserve in the Second World War. He was notable for two events: he was the first reservist to command a submarine, and the first reservist officer to receive the Distinguished Service Cross in the Second World War.
The Maritime Reserve is a term used to group together the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) and Royal Marines Reserve (RMR). The RNR and RMR form part of the British Armed Forces Volunteer Reserves.
HMS Scotia is one of the newest Royal Naval Reserve units, formed in 1958, and currently recruiting from the east of Scotland. The unit inhabits spacious, modern accommodation with excellent facilities, headquartered in Rosyth Naval Dockyard. The unit has excellent communication links by road, rails and air.
Messrs Robert Napier and Sons was a famous firm of Clyde shipbuilders and marine engineers at Govan, Glasgow founded by Robert Napier in 1826. It was moved to Govan for more space in 1841. His sons James and John were taken into partnership in 1853.
In 1989 the Royal Navy was under the direction of the Navy Department in the UK Ministry of Defence. It had two main commands, CINCFLEET and Naval Home Command.
HMS Sherwood is a Royal Naval Reserve shore establishment in Nottinghamshire, England. The first naval reserve unit was established in Nottingham in 1949. It was commissioned as Sherwood in 1984, at which time the unit was based at Chalfont Drive, Beechdale. A Royal Marines Reserve detachment was added to the unit in 2007. In 2014 HMS Sherwood moved to Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell, where it was co-located with an Army Reserve unit. Sherwood was honoured by receiving the freedom of the city of Nottingham in 2018.
The University Royal Naval Unit East Scotland is one of 17 University Royal Naval Units and a Royal Navy training establishment based in Scotland, accepting roughly 65 Officer Cadets from universities in Edinburgh, Fife and the Tayside region. It is one of the University Service Units and is under the command of Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. The unit's affiliated P2000 ship is HMS Archer, which is predominantly used for training Officer Cadets.
55°51′18″N4°19′07″W / 55.85510°N 4.31859°W
