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| 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.
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.
The principal RNR unit in Glasgow and the West of Scotland had been, since 1903, HMS Graham, (Clyde Division RNR) based at Whitefield Rd 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.
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 Brigade.
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.
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. [1]
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 mouth of the River Clyde. It is located on the west coast of Scotland and constitutes the deepest coastal waters in the British Isles. The firth is sheltered from the Atlantic Ocean by the Kintyre peninsula, which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire. The Kilbrannan Sound is a large arm of the Firth of Clyde, separating the Kintyre Peninsula from the Isle of Arran. Within the Firth of Clyde is another major island – the Isle of Bute. Given its strategic location at the entrance to the middle and upper Clyde, Bute played a vital naval military role during World War II.
Govan is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated 2.5 miles (4.0 km) 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 and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It 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 War in Afghanistan.
The Senchus fer n-Alban is an Old Irish medieval text believed to have been compiled in the 10th century. It provides genealogies for kings of Dál Riata and a census of the kingdoms which comprised Dál Riata.
The University Royal Naval Units (URNU) are Royal Navy training establishments who recruit Officer Cadets from a university or a number of universities, usually concentrated in one geographical area. There are 17 URNUs in the UK, with each URNU having land-based facilities near the universities they recruit from, with the exception of URNU Virtual, whose drill nights are conducted virtually.
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.
Renfrewshire or the County of Renfrew is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The lieutenancy area covers the three modern council areas of Inverclyde, Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire, and this area is occasionally termed Greater Renfrewshire to distinguish it from the modern council area called Renfrewshire. The historic county additionally included territory on the south-western edge of Glasgow which was gradually transferred to the administrative area of the city as it grew.
HMS Ceres is a Royal Naval Reserve unit located in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
HMS Eaglet is a Royal Navy Reserve unit based in Liverpool. She is the main occupant of the Royal Navy Regional Headquarters in Liverpool, Merseyside. The base is also the home to a number of units, including:Royal Marines Reserve Merseyside, Naval Regional Command Northern England, Liverpool URNU, HMS Biter, HMS Charger, Sea Cadet Corps, and the Liverpool Royal Navy and Royal Marines Careers Office.
HMS Cambria is the lead Royal Naval Reserve unit in Wales. HMS Cambria's present headquarters is located on Cargo Road in Cardiff Bay.
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.
HMS Cambria is the lead Royal Naval Reserve unit in Wales. It is based at Sully near the Welsh capital, Cardiff.
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.
The Renfrewshire Fortress Royal Engineers was a Scottish volunteer unit of the British Army under various titles from 1888. Its main role was defence of the ports and shipyards on the River Clyde, but it also provided detachments for active service in the field during both World Wars. Its successors continue to serve in the Army Reserve.
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.
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
