Martin Briscoe
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Fort Williams' HMS St. Christopher

The Boats

The April 1942 edition of the Navy List shows that at that time there were around 80 to 90 boats at the training base.  The different flotillas were made up of nine motor torpedo boats (MTBs), thirty seven motor gun boats (MGBs), fourteen high speed motor anti-submarine boats (MASBs), and an undisclosed number of motor launches (MLs), many of which would have been of the B Class Thorneycroft -Fairmile design. Also attached were several harbour defence motor launches (HDMLs).  Later in the life of the base some of the MLs were experimentally fitted with torpedo tubes to increase their potency.  One of them, ML 158, received two torpedo tubes from HMS CAMPELTOWN, which was being prepared at Portsmouth for the famous raid on St Nazaire. The vital statistics of these boats were as follows

¨      Typical ML - 110 feet long, two or three 600hp engines, speed 20 knots - 25 knots, armament two 0.5 inch machine guns, one Three Pounder and two 21 inch torpedo tubes or depth charges. Crew - two officers, two Petty Officers and 12 ratings.

¨      Typical MGB / MTB - 73 feet long, speed 42 knots, three engines of 1200 HP. Armament varied but could include twin 0.5 inch machine guns in a power turret, twin 20MM Oerlikon, one Six Pounder or two 21 inch torpedo tubes. Crew: two Officers and 12 ratings.

At the pier of the nearby Aluminium Smelter Works (which is used as a ‘Dive Centre’ today) could normally be found a specially fitted boat that was used for gunnery training.  It is believed that at different times in the life of the establishment the following four ships served or were attached to the base; TIERCEL (Pennant No. 4.83) a 489 GRT yacht built in 1913 and hired as an armed boarding vessel 1939-45; ABERDONIAN (pennant no. F.74), of 1,648 GRT built in 1909 and hired as a depot ship at Fort William 1940-41; BOURNMOUTH QUEEN (pennant number 4.270) of 350 GRT built in 1908 and hired as an auxiliary anti-aircraft vessel in 1941 and as an accommodation ship in January 1944; and ORIOLE (ex EAGLE III)  a paddle steamer of 441 GRT built in 1910 and hired for experimental work with Motor Launches 1941-43, and served as an accommodation vessel 1943-45. The Admiralty Floating Drydock (AFD 22) was also part of the base and was used as the main repair facility.  Having a crew of some 32 fitters, turners, joiners, wireless operators, seamen and stokers, the dock provided considerable employment for the local people of Corpach.  However, in 1944 she was towed to Trincomalee, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), where she replaced the vast 50,000 ton AFD 23 which had been damaged beyond repair in an accident. 

 PICTURES

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Short History of HMS St Christopher    Piratical beginnings in the Caribbean!!

Fort William HMS St Christopher
Introduction    The Boats    The Shore Establishment    Personnel    Disaster    Crasher Chesney    Today's Legacy

CASUALTIES

PICTURES    More Pictures

Buildings in Corpach    Buildings in Fort William    List of Boats

Short History of Training Ship St. Christopher

LINKS    BOOKS

Derrick Warner
T.S. St. Christopher
Coire Lochain
Letterfinlay
Spean Bridge
Inverness-shire
PH34 4DZ

T.S. St. Christopher
October 2004