HMS ''St Christopher'' was a

Coastal Forces Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Fo ...

Training Base of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

operational during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and located in and around Fort William,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

History

Commissioned in October 1940, HMS ''St Christopher'' was in service for a total of four years, until being decommissioned in December 1944. The base was first commanded by Commander A.E.P. Welman DSO DSC RN, and existed to train the crews of a variety of different inshore patrol craft. To enable this, an

Admiralty Floating Dock The Royal Navy had a number of floating drydocks for the repair of warships where there was no fixed dry dock available. The docks did not receive a name and were known as "Admiralty Floating Dock" with a number. In size they went up to ones capa ...

was moored at Corpach in

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe () is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe'' is derived from the Gaelic w ...

for some of the time. Most of the courses lasted a number of weeks and involved such activities as firing

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, su ...

es from Motor Torpedo Boats. A

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

or a

Blackburn Skua The Blackburn B-24 Skua was a carrier-based low-wing, two-seater, single-radial engine aircraft by the British aviation company Blackburn Aircraft. It was the first Royal Navy carrier-borne all-metal cantilever monoplane aircraft, as well as ...

would occasionally fly over the base to allow practices on anti-aircraft guns. Over its time in service, the base is estimated to have trained around 55,000 personnel from a number of different allied countries. The base had a staff of several hundred, billeted in hotels around the town, with extra space being provided by

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Majo ...

s. Most of the engineering and mechanical works were based at Corpach, and consisted of a number of sheds and

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

s. The base was defended by a number of anti-aircraft guns and searchlights, which were also used to defend the town of Fort William herself. By April 1942 there were around 80 to 90 boats at the training base, comprising a number of different flotillas. They consisted of nine Motor Torpedo Boats, thirty seven

Motor Gun Boat The motor gun boat (MGB) was a small, high-speed British military vessel of the Second World War, which was armed with a mix of guns, in contrast to the physically similar motor torpedo boat (MTB), whose main offensive weapon were torpedoes. ...

s, fourteen high speed motor anti-submarine boats, and a number of

motor launch A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches. ...

es, many of them of the B Class Thorneycroft -Fairmile design. Several harbour defence motor launches were also attached to defend the base. A number of different boats were attached at different times to serve as depot ships, training vessels and accommodation ships. The Admiralty Floating Drydock ''AFD 22'' was used as the base's main repair facility. After the base closed in 1944 she was towed to

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(now

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

), where she replaced ''AFD 23'' which had been damaged beyond repair in an accident.

Legacy

A number of the outbuildings and storage sheds can still be seen today, as can some of the old searchlight and gun emplacements. There are a number of commemorative and memorial plaques in the town, often located at the hotels where the recruits were billeted. The base is also commemorated in the name of the Lochaber

Sea Cadet Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

unit's current training ship, the TS ''St Christopher''.

References

*
History of HMS St Christopher
{{DEFAULTSORT:St Christopher Royal Navy bases in Scotland Training establishments of the Royal Navy Fort William, Highland

History

Legacy

See also

References